{"id":21886,"date":"2020-12-27T11:08:57","date_gmt":"2020-12-27T19:08:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/?p=21886"},"modified":"2020-12-27T11:08:57","modified_gmt":"2020-12-27T19:08:57","slug":"blasts-from-the-past-blu-ray-review-cinema-paradiso-1988","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=21886","title":{"rendered":"Blasts from the Past! Blu-ray Review: CINEMA PARADISO (1988)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This Special Edition Blu-ray is currently available from Arrow Academy. A 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray of the film is also available from the distributor. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Back in the late 1980s, the Italian\/French co-production Cinema\nParadiso<\/em> became something of a phenomenon. The North America distribution\nrights were picked up by Miramax and for this reviewer it seemed as though the\npicture found an adoring audience immediately upon its release. This movie ended\nup winning the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film and more than 30\nyears later, it still stands as one of the 50 Top Rated Films on the IMDb\nwebsite. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, it\u2019s easy to see why the feature has such an\nappreciate audience. This reviewer remembers seeing it during its original run\nand being affected by the admittedly sentimental tale of a filmmaker\nreminiscing about his childhood in Sicily with the village projectionist. The movie\nwore its heart on its sleeve and the cast were so exceptional that they eked\nevery ounce of emotion they could out of the subject matter. Arrow Academy have\nnow released an incredible Special Edition Blu-ray of the movie which presents a\n4K restoration of the original Oscar-winning feature, along with a second disc\ncontaining an extended Director\u2019s Cut (which runs an extra 50 minutes) in 2K. It\nalso comes with some fantastic bonuses and surprising revelations (at least to\nthis reviewer), that suggest that the movie had a much more complicated journey\nthan this reviewer had believed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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For those who weren\u2019t around when it was released, the story\nbegins with successful but career-obsessed film director Salvatore ‘Tot\u00f2’ Di\nVita (Jacques Perrin) receiving a call from his mother on the island of Sicily.\nShe tells him about the death of a family friend and begs him to return home\nafter 30 years away on the mainland. The conversation inspires flashbacks of young\nToto (Salvatore Cascio) living in squalor after the end of World War II. He\nforces his way into the company of local cinema projectionist Alfredo (Philippe\nNoiret) and the two form an unexpected friendship when the older gentlemen\nteaching him everything that he knows about his job and movies in general. As\nthe years pass, their relationship grows even closer. Alfredo starts offering\nan older Toto (Marco Leonardi) career advice and warn of the pitfalls of\nfalling in love, specifically with a village girl of higher social standing\nnamed Elena (Agnese Nano). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Over its running time, the story covers a lot of ground. It\nis impressive in its ability to veer from comedy, involving the young\nprotagonist\u2019s cute hi-jinks and the local church\u2019s censorship of the movies\nbeing shown, to serious and tragic elements. Again, the cast deserve much of\nthe credit for selling a movie that could easily have come off as overly saccharine.\nCascio is surprisingly naturalistic as the child and the screenplay itself is\nanchored by Noiret, who is remarkable as Alfredo. He starts off irritated by\nthe kid before slowly forming a life-changing bond. This is also a tale about\nthe history of cinema and the film references are not only fun to see, but play\na huge part in the emotional finale. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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So, as expected, Cinema Paradiso<\/em> is most assuredly a\nclassic. The original movie still effectively tugs on the heartstrings and\nworks just as well as did when it came out more than 30 years ago. And the new\ntransfer from Arrow is astonishing. Like other releases from the distributor,\nit looks better than it ever has\u2026 and that includes having seen it as a youth\non the big screen. The image is stunning, clear and the colors incredibly\nvibrant. From shots of the village town square at sunset to shafts of light\npouring out from the cinema projector, it\u2019s beautiful to witness. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As far as bonuses go, there\u2019s an extended interview with\ndirector Giuseppe Tornatore (which appears to have been conducted for the 2006\nFrench release on disc). In it, he details his own life in Sicily, the part\nthat this region played in his development as a filmmaker and documentarian, as\nwell as how it influenced his Oscar-winning opus. He also goes into his own\nmovie-making philosophy and discusses his other features, including A Pure\nFormality<\/em> and The Legend of 1900<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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There\u2019s also a lengthy documentary on the movie itself and a\nfascinating commentary with Italian cinema expert Millicent Marcus, who knows\nTornatore personally and served as a translator for him during publicity tours.\nThe track also features a few English-language tidbits from the director\nhimself during specific and important moments in the feature. It\u2019s an excellent\nbonus that helps points out all of the motifs and creative nods used in the\nfilm. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Viewers will also learn the surprising trouble that the film\nexperienced before it received its acclaim. Perhaps it is because I wasn\u2019t old\nenough at the time, but all of the details being addressed were completely new\nto me. The 174-minute Director\u2019s Cut was initially released in Italy, but\nflopped and received less-than-enthusiastic notices from the local press\n(Tornatore was told that the extended running time was a major issue). After\nits disastrous domestic run, the producers found it difficult getting the movie\naccepted into international film festivals. For a while, it seemed as if the movie\nmight fade into obscurity. Desperate to solve the problem, the director cut the\nmovie down to 124 minutes and got it booked at major film festivals, where it ultimately\nfound distributors from around the world and became a smash success. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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While the 174-minute version has always been readily\navailable in its homeland, it usually comes as a surprise to those in other\nparts of the world that such a significantly different edition exists at all. As\nthis has come to light, there are now differing opinions as to which version is\nsuperior. The Director\u2019s Cut offers a few more interactions and extended\nexperiences set in and around the movie theater. But the most direct and\nexplicit new material comes in the extended final act when the adult Toto\ndecides to return home. It results in a reunion between the lead and a\nsignificant supporting character that puts an entirely different spin on the\nmovie. In fact, this version details more of that happened to them and the\nreveal adds a more manipulative spin on the Alfredo character. It\u2019s fascinating\nto see and lends more of a darker edge to the material, marking a significant\nchange from the shorter version.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet, while it may in part be due to the fact that the\n124-minute version was the first version to make an impression this reviewer, I\nmust admit that I prefer the shorter cut. While it may not be as somber,\nthere\u2019s actually more of a sense of mystery in the short version. It doesn\u2019t\nend in a series of conversations where everything is spelled out and all loose\nends are tied up. You still get a general sense of Alfredo\u2019s influence on Toto\neven if it isn\u2019t as explicit. The lack of knowledge about the reasons for some\nof the supporting character\u2019s significant decisions add a relatable element to\nthe lead\u2019s journey\u2026 especially as he tries to make sense of his past and where\nit has ultimately led him in life. It\u2019s a little more subtle and the omission\nof some details allows a viewer\u2019s mind to wander and make their own\nconnections, evoking an effective combination of emotions about the story\u2019s\nevents.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Whichever take on the story you may prefer, many thanks\nshould go to Arrow Academy for making both of these versions available on the\nsame release. I learned things about this feature that I never knew, which has heightened\nmy enjoyment of it even more. Cinema Paradiso<\/em> is a phenomenal feature\nand this new Special Edition Blu-ray is a must-own for any fan of world\ncinema.  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This Special Edition Blu-ray is currently available from Arrow Academy. A 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray of the film is also available from the distributor. Back in the late 1980s, the Italian\/French co-production Cinema Paradiso became something of a phenomenon. The North America distribution rights were picked up by Miramax and for this reviewer it seemed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":21894,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[121,671,855,1832,1834,1836,3073,4427,4430,4431,4433,6251,7754,7798,10042,10159,13182,15495,16048,17548,24355],"class_list":["post-21886","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dvdblu-ray-reviews","tag-121","tag-academy-award","tag-agnese-nano","tag-arrow","tag-arrow-academy","tag-arrow-video","tag-blu-ray-review","tag-cinema","tag-cinema-paradiso","tag-cinema-paradiso-blu-ray-review","tag-cinema-paradiso-review","tag-drama","tag-foreign-language","tag-france","tag-italy","tag-jacques-perrin","tag-marco-leonardi","tag-oscar","tag-philippe-noiret","tag-salvatore-cascio","tag-winner"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21886","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=21886"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21886\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=21886"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=21886"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=21886"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}