Review of Cinema Paradiso (2 disc collectors edition)

Introduction

A simple story of a young boy, Toto (Salvatore) who`s passionate about film and forms a close relationship with grouchy film projectionist Alfredo. We follow the trials and tribulations of Toto as he grows up into a young man and eventually a successful filmmaker. Falling in love not only with film, but also with Elena, his first true love.

Multi-award winning (including an Academy Award) film Cinema Paradiso gets another outing, this time featuring the original theatrical cut as well as the director`s cut. The latter weighs in at around 168-minutes and is long by any stretch, but does it have the staying power of the original or is it pure indulgence without any substance?

If you liked the original, you`re going to enjoy the director`s cut.

Video

Both films are 16x9 widescreen enhanced and look good. There is some film dirt but it`s not enough to detract from the film. Colours, contrast and detail are well balanced with the cinematography perfectly capturing the small Sicilian village. The new version has quite a few new scenes seamlessly inserted so you`d never pick out the physical quality. It`s very nice to watch.

Audio

Presented with an Italian Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack, Cinema Paradiso sounds fine. There`s more dialogue than anything else so this comes across very well. Morricone`s score flows well too and doesn`t make demands of your system.

Features

Easy to navigate animated menus with only a few extras:

• Arrow Catalogue - Other titles in the Arrow DVD collection.

• Scenes from the Director`s Cut - Static pages that inform you about the two different cuts of the film with five of the extended scenes to select from.

• Director`s Credits - A few pages showing the various films director Giuseppe Tornatore has been involved with.

Cinema Paradiso has DVD player generated English subtitles, which work well. The director`s cut has good subtitles too, but for some reason this is of the permanent burned in variety. It`s a pity there aren`t any other extras such as cast/crew interviews as I think it would be interesting.

Conclusion

If you`re already familiar with the film then you don`t need me to tell you how charming it is. This Director`s Cut makes quite a difference to the feeling of the first film and thankfully fills in some of those scenes that just seemed a little short or incomplete. Watching both versions back-to-back was very easy to do and proves how captivating the story still is. The most important aspect is the expansion of Toto`s love for Elena. An extra 51-minutes covers this side of Toto`s life as well as other aspects such as Alfredo after his accident at the cinema. Cuts in most films occur for length or lack of performance and/or story, but here the extra scenes flesh out more character and story. It quenched my thirst for more after the original film and doesn`t disappoint.

The film`s simplicity makes it all the more accessible too. Watching Salvatore growing from boy to man, still imbued with a love for cinema, is something that`s easily identifiable. The father figure cut by the projectionist, Alfredo, has a huge impact on the young boy and provides a lot of humour too. Performance wise I`m still amazed by Toto (Salvatore Cascio) who plays the expressive young boy. Alfredo (Philippe Noiret) too is top notch and you can see the chemistry between them. As with some coming of age stories where our characters age, our young Toto is played well by other actors as he gets older with appropriate angst.

Running at 168-minutes I feel the extra exposition is worthwhile seeing because it does change the way the film flows; not in a huge way, but it does manage to alter slightly one`s opinion of characters and scenes. If you have the original film you may want to rent this disc to see for yourself if the extra 51-minutes warrants a purchase.

Director Tornatore went on to make the superb Malèna with Monica Bellucci after Paradiso and further proves his ability to make a well-crafted film. Cinema Paradiso is a beautiful film to watch and comes heartily recommended.