8.4 | / 10 |
Users | 3.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 3.4 |
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.
Starring: Antonella Attili, Enzo Cannavale, Isa Danieli, Leo Gullotta, Marco LeonardiDrama | 100% |
Foreign | 69% |
Period | 26% |
Melodrama | 15% |
Coming of age | 11% |
Comedy | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.64:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.66:1
Italian: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono (48kHz, 16-bit)
English, English SDH, Spanish
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (locked)
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 0.5 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
The spirit of Federico Fellini wafts through Cinema Paradiso like the unexpected gust of wind that magically propels the Priest’s cabinet door open early in the Giuseppe Tornatore film, revealing a musty old icon. As opaque as Fellini’s films can be, there is one thing that shines through many, perhaps most of them, namely the director’s love of the Italian spirit. And that same affection informs much of Tornatore’s lovely film, one which actually helped to resurrect the Italian film industry from its post-Fellini doldrums. There are many analogs between any given Fellini film and Cinema Paradiso, but for the curious, it might be instructive to have an evening’s double feature consisting of Tornatore’s opus followed by Fellini’s Amarcord. Both films depict life in small Italian villages, both are filled to the brim with eccentric, rustic characters, and while Fellini’s film is certainly more in keeping with a magical realist ethos than the Tornatore film, it can’t be denied that Cinema Paradiso also has elements of curious fantasy floating through it like those puffballs that drift through the opening scenes of Amarcord. Another Fellini film which might be seen as informing at least part of Cinema Paradiso is Fellini’s magnum opus, 8 ½, for like that semi-autobiographical journey through the interior world of famous film director Guido Anselmi, Cinema Paradiso also depicts the bittersweet memories of another famous (albeit equally fictional) film director, Salvatore De Vita (played by Jacques Perrin as an adult, Salvatore Cascio as a little boy, and Marco Leonardi as a teenager). Much like many of Fellini’s films, Cinema Paradiso looks back on a supposedly halcyon time through deliberately rose colored glasses, and the result, while undeniably sentimental, is also incredibly heartfelt and affecting.
Cinema Paradiso flickers onto Blu-ray with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.64:1. Anyone who saw this film theatrically or in its previous home video releases will know that it features a rather soft, often diffuse, image, and that continues with this latest high definition release. The opening sequence, which is further hampered by the opticals of the credits, looks distressingly soft, but things improve dramatically after we get past the brief prologue featuring Salvatore's mother and then the adult Salvatore and his girlfriend. Once the film gets into the bulk of its flashback segments, colors are nicely saturated and the image, while not mind blowingly sharp, is certainly a major step up from the old DVD releases. Fine detail is best in close-ups, as is to be expected, but some of the establishing shots of the town and its inhabitants pop rather nicely, all things considered. Grain structure is also well intact, and in fact some viewers may be bothered by some of the overly grainy sequences, especially in the more dimly lit scenes. The film does suffer from some noticeable edge enhancement and fairly consistent crush in the dark interior scenes.
Cinema Paradiso never had a very aggressive sound design, and that lack of a "wow" factor carries through to the lossless DTS-HD Master Audio mono mix (in the original Italian, with optional subtitles) offered on this Blu-ray. There's nothing horrible about this mix in any way, shape or form, other than its obvious narrowness. Dialogue is crisp and clear and Ennio Morricone's achingly evocative score sounds fantastic. The film is rather small scale, from a sound design standpoint, and while a 5.1 repurposing may have added some space and depth to the crowd scenes inside the theater, or a couple of sequences in the town square, otherwise there probably wouldn't have been much to gain from such a surround revision. Fidelity is very strong, with excellent dynamic range, and the soundtrack has no damage to report.
Theatrical Trailer (SD; 1:38)
I am unabashedly in love with Cinema Paradiso in both of its versions. It's true that the two versions impart substantially different messages, but the core of an inordinate love for cinema speaks directly to my heart in either version of the film, and should to yours, too, if you go slightly ga-ga over films from time to time (or even a lot of the time). This is a sweet, heartfelt and beautifully crafted film that is wonderfully affecting, and most will have a major lump in their throat, if not a tear on their cheek, as the film comes to a close. Highly recommended.
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