Nuovo cinema Paradiso (1988)

Director:

Giuseppe Tornatore

Writers:

Giuseppe Tornatore (story)
Giuseppe Tornatore (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

23 February 1990 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

Tagline:

A celebration of youth, friendship, and the everlasting magic of the movies.

Plot:

A filmmaker recalls his childhood, when he fell in love with the movies at his village's theater and formed a deep friendship with the theater's projectionist.

Plot Keywords:

Projectionist | Village | Young Boy | Film Making | Theater

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 19 wins & 12 nominations

Cast

Antonella Attili	...	Maria Di Vita - Younger
Enzo Cannavale	...	Spaccafico
Isa Danieli	...	Anna
Leo Gullotta	...	Usher
Marco Leonardi	...	Salvatore 'Toto' Di Vita - Teenager
Pupella Maggio	...	Maria Di Vita - Older
Agnese Nano	...	Elena Mendola
Leopoldo Trieste	...	Father Adelfio
Salvatore Cascio	...	Salvatore 'Toto' Di Vita - Child
Tano Cimarosa	...	Blacksmith
Nicola Di Pinto	...	Village Idiot
Roberta Lena	...	Lia
Nino Terzo	...	Peppino's Father
Jacques Perrin	...	Salvatore 'Toto' Di Vita - Adult
Philippe Noiret	...	Alfredo
Brigitte Fossey	...	Elena Mendola - Adult, Director's cut only
Nellina Laganà
Turi Giuffrida
Mariella Lo Giudice
Giorgio Libassi
Beatrice Palme
Ignazio Pappalardo
Angela Leontini
Mimmo Mignemi
Margherita Mignemi
Giuseppe Pellegrino
Turi Killer
Angelo Tosto
Concetta Borpagano
Franco Catalano
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle	...	Boxer (uncredited) (archive footage)

Directed by
Giuseppe Tornatore

Writing credits
Giuseppe Tornatore		(story)
Giuseppe Tornatore		screenplay and
Vanna Paoli		collaborating writer

Produced by
Gabriella Carosio	....	delegate producer: RAI
Franco Cristaldi	....	producer
Giovanna Romagnoli	....	producer

Original Music by
Ennio Morricone

Cinematography by
Blasco Giurato

Film Editing by
Mario Morra

Production Design by
Andrea Crisanti

Costume Design by
Beatrice Bordone

Makeup Department
Laura Borselli	....	assistant makeup artist (as Laura Borzelli)
Paolo Borselli	....	hair stylist (as Paolo Borzelli)
Maurizio Trani	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Mino Barbera	....	general manager
Romualdo Buzzanca	....	production manager (as Aldo Buzzanca)
Eleonora Comencini	....	production manager
Aureliano Luppi	....	production supervisor
Salvo Luppo	....	production supervisor
Vittorio Noia	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Giuseppe Giglietti	....	assistant director
Pietra Tornatore	....	second assistant director

Art Department
Fabio Bonzi	....	assistant production designer
Benito Leonardi	....	construction foreman
Marco Maggi	....	constructor
Alberto Michettoni	....	first property master
Cinzia Milani	....	assistant art director
Marcello Molfo	....	second property master
Raffaele Pantaleo	....	construction foreman
Porfirio Perrone	....	constructor
Oreste Quercioli	....	set painter
Marina Zalapi	....	assistant production designer

Sound Department
Luciano Anzellotti	....	foley artist
Annia Bargagli	....	dubbing assistant
Alberto Doni	....	sound mixer
Franco Finetti	....	sound engineer
Massimo Loffredi	....	sound recordist
Stefano Nissolino	....	sound dubbing
Giulio Viggiani	....	boom operator
Dan Edelstein	....	supervising sound editor: special edition re-release (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Danilo Bollettini	....	special effects technician
Giovanni Corridori	....	special effects coordinator (as Corridori)

Stunts
Angelo Ragusa	....	stunt double

Camera and Electrical Department
Luca Biamonte	....	still photographer
Nazzareno Brescini	....	chief electrician (as Neno Brescini)
Claudio Diamanti	....	grip
Giuseppe Di Biase	....	camera operator
Fabio Lanciotti	....	assistant camera
Carlo Passari	....	first assistant camera
Giuseppe Petrignani	....	key grip
Giuseppe Sciarra	....	electrician
Giuseppe Sgarra	....	electrician
Elio Tolles	....	electrician
Doriano Torriero	....	grip

Animation Department
Massimiliano Cerchi	....	animator (as Alvaro Passeri)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Jacopo Bellini	....	assistant seamstress
Luigi Bonanno	....	costume assistant
Amedeo Monti	....	seamstress

Editorial Department
Ida Cruciani	....	assistant editor
Giancarlo Mammetti	....	color technician
Luca Montanari	....	assistant editor
Stefano Quaglia	....	assistant editor

Music Department
John M. Davis	....	music editor (director's cut)
Enrico DeMelis	....	general music coordinator (as Enrico De Melis)
Andrea Morricone	....	composer: love theme
Franco Tamponi	....	musician: violin

Other crew
Nestore Baratella	....	administrator
Cesare Barbetti	....	dubbing director
Cesare Barbetti	....	voice dubbing: Jacques Perrin
Luigi Biamonte	....	press agent
Riccardo Caneva	....	coordinator
Lillo Capoano	....	continuity director
Claudia Catani	....	voice dubbing: Agnese Nano
Vittorio Di Prima	....	voice dubbing: Philippe Noiret
Vittoria Febbi	....	voice dubbing: Brigitte Fossey
Peter Fernandez	....	voice director (US version)
Elizabetta Gizzi	....	administrator (as Elisabetta Gizzi)
Francesco Liberati	....	production secretary
Fabrizio Manfredi	....	voice dubbing: Marco Leonardi
Bruno Morganti	....	production secretary
Vanna Paoli	....	researcher: film clips
Carla Pettini	....	coordination secretary
Alba Maria Ruggeri	....	cashier
Luciano Vittori	....	print production

Production Companies

• Cristaldifilm
• Les Films Ariane (co-production)
• Radiotelevisione Italiana (associate production)
• TF1 Films Production (associate production)
• Forum Picture (collaboration)

Distributors

• Herald Ace (1989) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Nippon Herald Films (1989) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Miramax Films (1990) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Transmundo Films (1990) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• HBO Video (1990) (USA) (VHS)
• Transmundo Home Video (THV) (1990) (Argentina) (VHS)
• Miramax Films (2002) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release) (director's cut)
• Umbrella Entertainment (2002) (Australia) (DVD)
• Alliance Atlantis Home Video (2003) (Canada) (DVD)
• Miramax Home Entertainment (2003) (USA) (DVD)
• Aquarius TV (2004) (Greece) (DVD)
• Aquarius TV (2004) (Greece) (TV)
• Asmik Ace Entertainment (2005) (Japan) (theatrical) (restored version)
• Dolmen Home Video (2007) (Italy) (DVD) (director's cut)
• Weinstein Company, The (2007) (USA) (DVD)
• Emerald (2008) (Argentina) (DVD)
• Concorde Filmverleih (1989) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Sandrew Film & Teater (1990) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• Columbia TriStar (Brazil) (VHS)
• Home Box Office Home Video (HBO) (19??) (USA) (DVD)
• Homescreen (2009) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Spentzos Films (Greece) (VHS)
• Svensk Filmindustri (SF) (2003) (Sweden) (DVD) (director's cut)
• Svensk Filmindustri (SF) (2004) (Sweden) (DVD) (International version)
• Versátil Home Vídeo (Brazil) (DVD)
• Vestron Video (1990) (West Germany) (VHS)

Other Companies

• DRG Records  soundtrack published by
• Penta Studio  titles
• Solare Location & Casting  casting

Also Known As:

Cinema Paradiso (Australia) (France) (UK) (USA)
Cinéma Paradiso (France)
Cinema Paradiso: The New Version (USA) (director's cut)
Cinema Paradiso (Argentina) (Spain) [es]
Cennet sinemasi (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]
Cinéma Paradiso (Canada: French title) [fr]
Cinema Paraíso (Portugal) [pt]
Cinema Paradiso (West Germany) [de]
Cinema Paradiso (Hungary) [hu]
Cinema Paradiso (Brazil) [pt]
Cinema Paradiso (Sweden) [sv]
Cinema Paradiso (Finland) [fi]
Cinema Paradiso (Norway) [no]
Kino Paradiso (Poland) [pl]
Mine aftener i Paradis (Denmark) [da]
New Cinema Paradise (Japan: English title) [en]
Sinema o Paradeisos (Greece) [el]

MPAA:

Rated R for some sexuality. (director's cut)

Runtime:

155 min | Italy:170 min (extended version) | 124 min (International version)

Country:

Italy | France

Language:

Italian | English | Portuguese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:L | South Korea:15 (director's cut) | Spain:T | South Korea:All (original rating) | West Germany:12 (f) | Italy:T | Argentina:Atp | Australia:PG | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG | Chile:TE | Finland:S | France:U | Germany:12 | Hong Kong:IIB | Norway:10 | Peru:PT | Singapore:M18 (director's cut) | Singapore:PG | Sweden:11 | UK:15 (director's cut) | UK:PG | USA:PG (original rating) | USA:R (director's cut) (2002)

Filming Locations:

Bagheria, Palermo, Sicily, Italy

Company:

Cristaldifilm

Trivia:

When Salvatore returns to his home and looks at the room his mother prepared for him, there's a picture on the wall from the movie Lo sceicco bianco (1952), a Federico Fellini movie starring Leopoldo Trieste, who plays Father Adelfio in this movie.

Goofs:

Continuity: In the scene of the cinema fire, Alfredo is showing the film to a packed piazza because the theatre is closed for the night but the crowd outside wants more. Yet, when the theatre catches fire crowds of people are shown running OUT of the theatre as young Toto rushes in.

Quotes:

Alfredo: Once upon a time, a king gave a feast. And there came the most beautiful princesses of the realm. Now, a soldier, who was standing guard, saw the king's daughter go by. She was the most beautiful one, and he immediately fell in love with her. But what could a poor soldier do when it came to the daughter of the king...
[...]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Holiday (2006)

The Loves Of 'Toto' Beautifully Told

After seeing this special edition DVD which shows the entire 174-minute film (in addition to the 121-minute one that most of us had seen over the years,) my rating of this film was elevated. This review is of the longer "director's cut."

Most of the new footage involved the main's character's romance while he was a young man. The story then is continued years later when that character comes back to his hometown for a funeral and runs into the woman he was in love with but never was able to get for his own. It turns out to be a somewhat tragic love story.

The first part of the film, with Salvatore Cascio as "Toto" a young boy is a love story about two people sharing their love of movies: the kid and an adult "Alfredo" (Phillpe Noiret) who runs the local movie theater. Their love of film bonds them for life.

The word "love" is used repeatedly in this review because that's the dominant theme: the love people had for others and for the world of film, something all of us on this website share.

The second and third parts of the film are the above-mentioned love story of Toto (Marco Leonardi as an adolescent and then Jacques Perrin as an adult) and "Elena" (Agnese Nano/ Brigitte Fossey). The first third of this director;s cut edition is much livelier and interesting, frankly, than the last two-thirds. Although not boring, it does drag in a few spots but the longer version is better in the long run because it makes the whole story much more meaningful.

It's very nicely filmed and you get a real feel for the Italian people and their little town. The director of the movie, Giuseppe Tornatore, went on to make other great visual films, two of which I also like: Malena and The Star Maker.....but Cinema Paradiso, I believe, is considered his "masterpiece."