Nuovo cinema Paradiso (literally "New Paradise Cinema") is a 1988 French-Italian coming-of-age drama film written and directed by Giuseppe Tornatore. It was internationally released as Cinema Paradiso in France, Spain, the UK and the US. A…
Nuovo cinema Paradiso (literally "New Paradise Cinema") is a 1988 French-Italian coming-of-age drama film written and directed by Giuseppe Tornatore. It was internationally released as Cinema Paradiso in France, Spain, the UK and the US. Audio in Italian with English subtitles.
Set in a small Sicilian town, the film centers on the friendship between a young boy and an aging projectionist who works at the titular movie theatre. This Italian-French co-production stars Philippe Noiret, Jacques Perrin, Leopoldo Trieste, Marco Leonardi, Agnese Nano and Salvatore Cascio. The film score was composed by Ennio Morricone and his son, Andrea, marking the beginning of a collaboration between Tornatore and Morricone that lasted until Morricone's death on 6 July 2020.
In 1988 Rome, Salvatore Di Vita, a famous film director, returns home late one evening, where his girlfriend sleepily tells him that his mother called to say someone named Alfredo has died. Salvatore shies from committed relationships and has not been to his home village of Giancaldo, Sicily in thirty years. As his girlfriend asks him who Alfredo was, Salvatore is not able to fall asleep and flashes back to his childhood.
Credited with revitalizing Italy's film industry, Cinema Paradiso has been cited as one of the greatest films of all time. The ending is considered among the greatest endings in movie history.
It was a commercial success, and won several awards, including the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film and the Cannes Film Festival's Grand Prix. It was nominated for 11 BAFTA Awards and won five; including Best Actor for Philippe Noiret, Best Supporting Actor for Salvatore Cascio, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Foreign Language Film, a record for a foreign language feature until it was broken by All Quiet on the Western Front in 2023.
Cast & Characters:
Philippe Noiret as Alfredo
Salvatore Cascio as child Salvatore Di Vita
Marco Leonardi as teenage Salvatore
Jacques Perrin as adult Salvatore
Agnese Nano as Elena Mendola
Brigitte Fossey as adult Elena (extended cut only)
Antonella Attili as Maria Di Vita
Pupella Maggio as old Maria
Enzo Cannavale as Spaccafico
Isa Danieli as Anna
Leopoldo Trieste as Father Adelfio
Roberta Lena as Lia
Nino Terzo as Peppino's father
Leo Gullotta as the Usher
Tano Cimarosa as the Blacksmith
Nicola Di Pinto as the Village Idiot
Cinema Paradiso was shot in director Tornatore's hometown Bagheria, Sicily, as well as Cefalù on the Tyrrhenian Sea.
