Cinema Paradiso

Cinema Paradiso, written and directed by Giuseppe Tornatore, is a 1988 romantic drama about a famous Italian film director Salvatore Di Vita, who recalls his childhood when he fell in love with the movies at his village's 'Cinema Paradiso' and formed a deep friendship with the theatre's projectionist, Alfredo.

It also tells the story of his return to his native village for his friend Alfredo's funeral. Ultimately, Alfredo serves a a wise father figure to his young friend who only wishes the best to see Salvatore succeed, even if it means breaking Sal's heart in the process.


 * A Date with Rosie Palms
 * Bittersweet Ending
 * Chekhov's Gun: Twice - once when Alfredo talks about the dangers of fire in the projector room and it happens, then.
 * Coming of Age Story: A rather bitter example.
 * Confessional: Salvatore, though not a priest, sneaks into the priest side, and the girl he likes comes in the other side to make confession.
 * Crash Into Hello
 * Creator Cameo: Tornatore appears as a film projectionist working for adult Salvatore near the end of the film.
 * Director's Cut: The first version of the film was unpopular with Italian audiences and reduced to 2 hours for its international cinema release, which was highly successful. Later, around 50 minutes were re-added for the director's cut of the movie, available on DVD.
 * How We Got Here: Most of the film is taken up by Salvatore remembering his childhood.
 * I Want My Beloved to Be Happy
 * I Will Find You
 * Moral Guardians: The village priest insists on previewing every film shown at the cinema and makes Alfredo censor all the "sexy" bits, including if the characters so much as kiss.
 * Oscar Bait: Cinema Paradiso won most European film awards in 1989, and the Oscar for best non-English-language picture. It's a movie about the greatness of cinema, after all.
 * Show Within a Show
 * Stranger in a Familiar Land
 * The Movie Buff: Alfredo loves the films he's projected, and can quote most of them extensively (in Italian, as they're dubbed).
 * The Reveal
 * Timeshifted Actor: Salvatore is played by three different actors (child, teenager, adult).
 * Train Station Goodbye
 * Whole-Episode Flashback
 * Whole-Episode Flashback