Cinema Paradiso

"An enchanted village. A wonderful friendship. Star-crossed lovers. And the magic of the movies."

1988 2h 4m IT

🙌

8.4

BANGER

★8.4TMDB · 5,002

DramaRomance

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

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.

“An enchanted village. A wonderful friendship. Star-crossed lovers. And the magic of the movies.”

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Cast

Philippe Noiret
Alfredo
Jacques Perrin
Salvatore 'Totò' Di Vita (adult)
Marco Leonardi
Salvatore 'Totò' Di Vita (teen)
Salvatore Cascio
Salvatore 'Totò' Di Vita (child)
Agnese Nano
Elena Mendola (teen) / Elena's daughter (in Director's cut)
Antonella Attili
Maria Di Vita (young)
Pupella Maggio
Maria Di Vita (aged)
Brigitte Fossey
Elena Mendola (adult)

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Giuseppe Tornatore
Writers: Giuseppe Tornatore, Giuseppe Tornatore, Vanna Paoli
Languages: Italian
Countries: Italy, France

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Made its money back 7.2× over at the box office.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

38 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 2 countries: Italy, France.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Giuseppe Tornatore, shot by Blasco Giurato. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Ennio Morricone. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Mario Morra shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Philippe Noiret and Jacques Perrin and Marco Leonardi carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

AWARDS

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "An enchanted village. A wonderful friendship. Star-crossed lovers. And the magic of the movies.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Giuseppe Tornatore directs. Blasco Giurato behind the camera. Ennio Morricone scores. Mario Morra cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in Italy, France. Dialogue in Italian.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Made its money back 7.2× over at the box office.
238 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
3International production across 2 countries: Italy, France.
4Directed by Giuseppe Tornatore, shot by Blasco Giurato. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Ennio Morricone. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Mario Morra shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Philippe Noiret and Jacques Perrin and Marco Leonardi carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "An enchanted village. A wonderful friendship. Star-crossed lovers. And the magic of the movies.".
9IMDB entry: tt0095765 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Classified under 13 themes, including "parent child relationship", "sicily, italy", "movie business", "kiss".

The technical file

Cinematography: Blasco Giurato
Original score: Ennio Morricone
Editing: Mario Morra
Production design: Andrea Crisanti
Costume design: Beatrice Bordone
Makeup / hair: Maurizio Trani
Runtime: 124 min · 2h 4m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $5,000,000
Box office: $35,962,062
Return: 719% of budget
Original language: IT
Certification (US): PG
IMDB: Cinema Paradiso (1988)

Awards

European Film Academy Special Jury Award
Silver nugget for the best foreign film
European Film Award for Best Actor
Cannes Film Festival Grand Prix
Academy Award for Best International Feature Film

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Giuseppe Tornatore

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Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

Andres Gomez2012-11-13
★ 8/10
Nice comedy-drama about the youth at the small town of an Italian kid.
Shreyance Parakh2017-05-04
★ 10/10
Soulful Why did it had to end... The movie was like a breath of fresh air.Every thing about it was so refreshing and soulful that you can never get bored of it.It's one of those movies that you can watch again and again and again...The music, the story, the acting, the direction, the editing, all of it makes this an absolutely beautiful gem of a movie. One of the best movies that i ever saw and will ever see not because it was any different from other movies or better written, directed or acted, but because it's MAGIC, it stays with you.The soul of the movie stays with you beyond the credits.It stays with you forever. I just can't stop smiling remembering the scenes, the smiles on the characters faces, the music... Everybody who wants to FEEL happiness must watch this movie.In one word it's just SOULFUL !!
tmdb863700502017-05-14
★ 9/10
When you think about cinematography, nowadays you usually think about digital cinematography. But during the early '50s, '60s, and onward, there was a use of this thing called film. Film was what they used in cameras before cameras actually saved them into memory slots digitally. Projectionists actually had to crank the film projectors early on, before the automatic film projectors started coming in, otherwise the film would catch on fire. This movie is about friendship between a projectionist in a film watcher/altar boy, and the film watcher/altar boy was young, maybe 4th grade age. This movie is great! I haven't seen foreign films, in fact, this is the first foreign film I've ever seen. But I'm glad this is the first one to be a foreign film that is a first for me. Want to know why? Because this movie is phenomenal! The little soundtrack that there is has been greatly by whoever composed it. Jacquees Perrin is a good adult version of Toto. The only bad thing I have to say about this is the lack of character development in terms of Elena's character development. I mean, she is a love interest for until Salvatore gets back to the town after his stint in the military, and then she is never heard from again. This movie is a classic, and it is also the definition of a classic. Anyone who watches movies, or plans to see a movie should watch this movie. This is a must see film for any era, and any generation of film viewers.