Cinema Paradiso - Simply Beautiful.''

Cinema Paradiso

           Cinema Paradiso, an Italian film that came out in 1988, is a film that not only has touched the hearts of Italians but also world wide. Why is this so?

Toto

           The film centers a boy named Salvatore who is better known for his nickname Toto. Toto grew a strong passion about films and that is where he met Alfredo, a projectionist in the cinema.

  

He used to sneak in the cinema just to get a peak at the movie

                          










Why or how did Toto develop a passion for films?
        This can be seen in the beginning of the movie, Toto's father had left for war and it has been several years since he's been back. He has a yearning and longing for his Father and as well long to see his mother in the arms of his Father. Toto hides his yearning for his dad and his troubles behind films. The cinema was a place where he could forget his troubles and immerse himself into the films.

       From a psychological perspective, this is better known as Escape Theory, by immersing himself in films, it helped him to forget his troubles as well as the people in his life which he was not happy with.

           Thus, because of Toto's passion, he has met Alfredo who fulfilled his fatherly needs.

Totó: Now that I’m older and going to the fifth grade… I’m not saying I can start going to the projection booth, but why don’t we become friends?

                              
           Toto learned almost everything from Alfredo. Alfredo advised him and taught him. Toto looked at him as a role model; a father he never had. Alfredo has influenced his life so much that at one point in his life, he himself did the exact job Alfredo did; a projectionist. When Alfredo insisted that Toto leave Sicily and explore the world and work somewhere other than there, he obeyed him even when he did not want to do that.

           Bandura's Social Learning Theory clearly explains this. Toto took Alfredo as a role model, he learned his ways (learned from Alfredo's mistakes), observed him well and adored him.

   




"You’re young and the world is yours. I’m old.
I don’t want to hear you talk anymore.
I want to hear others talking about you."- Alfredo





            Alfredo's advice or rather demand that Toto leaves Sicily  did very much influenced his future as an adult. Toto made it big in the cinema, as a director of some sort. He heeded Alfredo's advice and never looked back. Alfredo's words drove Toto to succeed; the drive theory explains Toto's success in his adulthood. A drive theory is when someone's need are not met hence they look for solutions to meet these needs. Toto (Salvatore) probably became successful in the film industry because film was the closest thing that reminded him of Alfredo and the good times they had. This probably motivated him to work in an industry which he loved. Another reason to it could be metting his primary needs; food and shelter. Not forgetting of-course Alfredo's words of wanting Toto to make it big.   

  
          Finally, the ending is where it gets to all of the audiences. From what I have gather from the ending, your childhood defines who you are in the future. It shapes your very core and no matter how far you are from home, the memories of the past will be everlasting. 
  
        The demolishing of the cinema (when Toto comes back to pay respect to Alfredo) also shows how much culture have changed.

 I end with the fact that, the movie would not have had that big of an emotional impact if it was not for the music composed by Ennio Morricone. In the film, the music was present in most of the important parts of the movie thus conditioning viewers to have a bigger emotional impact at the end where the music was louder than the other parts of the movie thus, making this film known as having one of the best ending. The ending with the music really does bring out those emotions and nostalgia.