Rating summary

Movie		5.0
Video		3.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		3.5
Overall		3.5

Cinema Paradiso Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov May 21, 2010

Winner of the Grand Prize of the Jury at the Cannes Film Festival and Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, Giuseppe Tornatore's "Nuovo cinema Paradiso" a.k.a "Cinema Paradiso" (1988) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Arrow Films. The supplemental features on the disc include "A Bear and a Mouse in Paradise: A Documentary"; "The Kissing Sequence"; photo gallery; the film's original English-language theatrical trailer; and Ennio Morricone's full music score. In Italian, with imposed English subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

The beginning

Giuseppe Tornatore's Cinema Paradiso tells the story of Salvatore/Toto (Salvatore Cascio), a charismatic boy living in a small Sicilian town who loves movies, and his best friend, Alfredo (Philippe Noiret, Tango, Alexandre le bienheureux), a film projectionist, who treats him as if he is his son.

The film begins with the end. Toto (Jacques Perrin, Girl with a Suitcase, The Desert of the Tartars), who has become a famous film director in Rome, is informed that Alfredo has passed away. Shocked and saddened by the news, he immediately heads to Sicily, hoping to arrive in time for his friend's funeral. Once in the town, Toto begins remembering - the days when Alfredo would let him stay in the projection booth and talk to him about films; Elena (Agnese Nano, Il lungo silenzio), the beautiful girl he fell in love with but could not have; his decision to leave behind everything he had ever loved and move to Rome to pursue a dream.

As Toto begins remembering, we are also introduced to a number of colorful characters from the town, mostly as they come to the theater to see the latest big film projected by Alfredo - Giuseppe de Santis' Riso Amaro, Howard Hughes' The Outlaw, Charlie Chaplin's The Gold Rush, Jean Renoir's Les bas-fonds. Then we see how as cinema begins to change so does the town.

It may sound pretentious to describe cinema as life, but Tornatore's Cinema Paradiso proves that it is precisely that. I personally cannot recall another film that captures so well the very essence of cinema and makes it so clear why we love it as well as Cinema Paradiso does. Its finale is absolutely stunning - simple yet so powerful, magical yet so real.

Since its premiere, Tornatore's Cinema Paradiso has appeared in three different versions. The original 155-minute version of the film was first released in Italy in 1988, but, after a series of lukewarm reviews, was quickly pulled from the local theaters. The 124-minute version was prepared by Tornatore before his film went on to win the Grand Prize of the Jury at the Cannes Film Festival and then the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. The third and final version of the film, the Director's Cut, running at approximately 174-minute, was released during the mid 90s.

I prefer the 174-minute director's cut of the film, which Miramax released in the United States in 2004. In it, Toto and Elena meet again after years of living apart from each other. It is a deeply moving reunion, one that apparently both had dreamed about, but also feared. The sequence where Toto and Elena ponder what could have been is so sad yet so beautiful.

In the Director's Cut of Cinema Paradiso there is also additional footage with Elena's daughter. There is a sequence during the final third of the film where Toto sees her from afar and immediately recognizes her. Elena's daughter is beautiful and elegant, looking exactly like the girl who once stole his heart. Toto can barely breathe. The camera slowly moves, and for a short moment Tornatore shows Toto's eyes. It is an incredible sequence.

Cinema Paradiso is complimented by a truly wonderful soundtrack courtesy of legendary composer Ennio Morricone (Le Professionnel, Once Upon a Time in America, Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion).

Cinema Paradiso Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.66:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Giuseppe Tornatore's Cinema Paradiso arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Arrow Films. For the record, the Blu-ray disc contains only the film's international version (125 min).

This is a good but fairly inconsistent transfer. Generally speaking, during the daylight scenes fine object detail and clarity are pleasing; contrast levels fluctuate but are never problematic. Most of the nighttime scenes, however, are plagued by minor noise. Occasionally, mild edge-enhancement is also noticeable. During specific scenes, soft halo effects are also present. Additionally, random noise corrections have also been applied. Still, Cinema Paradiso has never looked as good as it does on this Blu-ray disc. First, the heavy macroblocking that is present on the R1 SDVD release, courtesy of Miramax, is missing. Second, the film's color scheme is a lot more satisfying on the Blu-ray; blacks, grays, blues and greens look much healthier. The reds, however, seem slightly boosted to me. Third, stability is greatly improved on the Blu-ray, though a few minor image fluctuations remain. Finally, I don't see as many tiny flecks and scratches on the Blu-ray as I see on the SDVD. All in all, there is most definitely room for improvement, but at the moment this is indeed the best presentation of Cinema Paradiso, and fans of the film should definitely consider adding it to their collections. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray disc. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your PS3 or SA regardless of your geographical location. For the record, there is no problematic PAL or 1080/50i content preceding the disc's main menu).

Cinema Paradiso Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two audio tracks on this Blu-ray disc: Italian DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and Italian LPCM 2.0. For the record, the English subtitles for the main feature are imposed (they cannot be turned off).

I prefer the Italian LPCM 2.0 track over the Italian DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track. I found the added surround activity on the Italian DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track to be fairly ineffective and balance inconsistent. Ennio Morricone's wonderful score also sounds slightly tighter on the Italian LPCM 2.0 track; the progressions of the dynamics is more natural. On both tracks, however, the high-frequencies are not overly convincing; I noticed mild distortion during the clarinet solos. The dialog is clean, mostly stable and easy to follow on both tracks. There are no pops, cracks, or heavy hiss that I noticed.

Cinema Paradiso Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Note: Some of the supplemental features on this Blu-ray disc are encoded in PAL. Therefore, if you reside in North America, or another region where PAL is not supported, you must have a Region-Free player capable of converting PAL to NTSC, or a TV set capable of receiving native PAL data, in order to view them.

A Bear and a Mouse in Paradise: A Documentary - in this wonderful documentary director Giuseppe Tornatore recalls how Cinema Paradiso came to exist, and talks about his love for cinema, his experience as a film projectionist, the film's reception at the Cannes Film Festival, etc. French actor Philippe Noiret also discusses the film, its characters and message. In Italian and French, with optional English subtitles. (28 min, PAL).

The Kissing Sequence - director Giuseppe Tornatore talks about the film's unforgettable finale. In Italian, with optional English subtitles. (7 min, PAL).

Trailer - the original English-language theatrical trailer for the director's cut of the film (2 min, PAL).

Photo gallery - (1080p)

Full Ennio Morricone Score - (56 min).

Cinema Paradiso Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Despite a few minor flaws with the presentation, in my opinion this release of Cinema Paradiso is still very much worth adding to one's collection. I do, however, prefer the director's cut of the film, and truly hope that sooner rather later we would get a proper release of it. RECOMMENDED.