You are the only person who reacted to this masterpiece in the entire RU-vid - good job. This film has been dissected and studied in film schools for many years, and is widely regarded as the favourite film of many film makers. Today it seems like the general movie buffs have never heard of this film, it's like a film industry cult favourite that outsiders aren't aware of - that's sad.
Cinema Paradiso is my favourite film of all time and has had an unbelievable importance to me over the years. This Feb, I made a dream come true and stayed in Palazzo Adriano, the village that doubles for Giancaldo in the movie. It was like living on the set. I'm in a minority, but I actually prefer the Director's Cut, and feel that the extra scenes give closure and explain certain things unexplained in the more known cut. It is, however, a lot more bittersweet than this cut. Thanks for being the first and only on YT to react!
The ending is really beautiful, Toto realized thanks to Alfredo's advice, and Alfredo giving him the most beautiful gift they can give you after a lifetime.
The first time I watched Cinema Paradiso, it was during its original North American release, I was in a small theater in Pasadena, California for a matinee, with perhaps 20 or 30 other patrons, all of us so close, I could hear every other patron distinctly as they laughed or wept, the intimacy of shared emotions intensified by the darkness. It was then and ever since my favorite film, one that makes my heart joyful and sad, the latter acutely because I too lost my dad an an early age. You owe it to yourself to also watch the director's cut. It too is a profound work, and those who hate it do so because it is so very different from the theatrical release -- they feel as if someone has vandalized a movie they love. I love both films deeply. The director's cut tells a very different tale that casts key characters in an exceptionally different light. I will not share more than that because you should experience the director's cut without preconceptions.
Oh, i will definitely watch the directors cut. I just let some time pass to experience it with a clear mind. Thank you for sharing your thoughts about it.
@@watchingcodyrice Smart to let some time pass. The director's cut was not released on DVD until quite a few years after the theatrical release, so I too was able to get time in between. My wife was born in Southern Italy in a hill town not all that different than the one portrayed in the movie.
@@BigNews2021 I think Laemmle opened a number of years after Cinema Paradiso came out -- I saw it in 1990. I believe it might have been close to the Vons on W California Blvd. as I did some of my grocery shopping there and lived 10 minutes in the hills of South Pasadena -- I miss that neighborhood!!
@@jonsher7682 - On W California? I don't think that I know it. The one I was thinking of was called the Colorado Theater and had been open since the 1940's. In it's last 10 or 15 years of existance it was operated by Laemmle. It's some kind kind of church now, but the building hasn't really changed, it still looks like a theater. Edit: Never mind, I was thinking of the Esquire Theater, also on E Colorado and also a Laemmle. I can't believe I confused the two theaters.
I can't get over how fast the time went by and here we are, right on 'schedule'. That was a beautiful watchalong with you, thank you for that. I'm glad you chose to first go with this version. At least now that you've seen it, when some time has passed, you can always try out the director's cut and then decide for yourself what you prefer. I know it is an anomaly to not go with the preferred director's cut, but there ya go. I realized a while later after recommending this film to you and you said it was already on your list, I felt like I had given up my one free-movie pass/coupon for a flick you were already going to watch, lol. So if possible, maybe later on down the line, you might try any of these... The Commitments, Remains of the Day, Sleepers (1996), Wag the Dog... :)
Thank you, i'm glad you enjoyed it. "I felt like I had given up my one free-movie pass/coupon for a flick you were already going to watch" Keep in mind: Even though it was on my list i probably wouldn't have watched it for a long time since my list is very long (i mean veeeeery long!) and i didn't prioritize it that much. So it was good that you recommended it to me. From your new recommendations i've already seen Sleepers (fantastic film which gives me the chills even when i think about it) and Wag the Dog. I'll put the other two on my list but it will take a little longer this time. Just so you know. PS: Feel free to recommend as many as you like. I will put everything i haven't seen on my list. Then it's up to me to create a schedule to keep everyone happy. The hardest task of all 😅
@@watchingcodyrice Yeah, Sleepers is so 'good' I tend to flip straight to the present section where the two guys are walking into the bar (and bump into Kevin Bacon). The stuff prior I can do without, having seen it a couple of times already. The acting is so good, and what a cast. Keep up with whatever is on yer list, I like the variety and choices you've made so far.
Finally someone’s reacting to it!! I saw this movie almost a year ago and absolutely fell in love with it. I went on RU-vid to see if anyone has reacted to it and nothing ever came up. Thanks!
One important thing that people miss at the beginning, and you missed it as well: it's not that he has not seen his mother for 30 years, on the contrary, she comes and visits him regularly in Rome. It's that he won't go back home.
hello i am from Sicily and i watched your video because i was curious to see the reaction and perception from your side since you are a foreigner, first of all let's do some context the movie in the first part is set in the years after the war, the Anglo-Americans had recently left Sicily and the church had a relevant role in the local culture, in contrast to this you can see how in reality the sicily of those years was living the American dream precisely because it wanted to forget the war and the 20 years that will officially end on April 25, 1945 reason why until 1954 illiteracy was still widespread here is explained why alfredo takes the diploma, as it was necessary for him not only for culture but to continue working. One aspect i want to underline is that this film abroad is perceived as an italian film, in reality this film is purely Sicilian. From this film you can learn how a Sicilian expresses himself, how a Sicilian thinks and also the Sicilian sense of humor which is made up of gestures and expressions, expressions that the subtitles cannot fully represent, which is why you may have found unclear moments in the dialogues. All these elements that i have described to you have remained unchanged over time. the explanation of the love story between Salvatore and Elena: beware there is a spoiler here: the love story is explained and developed in the director's cut the two meet as adults when salvatore returns for alfredo's funeral and in a very poetic dialogue with wonderful editing they retrace their love story. SPOiLER in reality both had never stopped loving each other and writing to each other but Alfredo prevented them from receiving each other's letters making them both believe that the other had forgotten her forever. You must find the scene to see how powerful it is the square guy it's a veteran who got mad because of the war so he is the mad of the village explanation of the Neapolitan citizen in Sicily: in reality at the time it could have been a normal fact imagine that up to 100 years before Naples and all the lands up to Sicily were a united, sovereign and independent state so it was not difficult for them to find themselves there. it's a film that talks about love, about the sense of family, a patriotic film intended as Sicilian patriotism curiosity: for a few years now, a small film festival has been held at the location of the film i hope with this comment i have answered some unanswered questions and satisfied some of your curiosity and not offended anyone's sensibilities. thank you, greetings from Sicily.
Oh, man, would I love to discuss this film with you! The director's cut explains Elena and why Totó respected Alfredo's orders to never come back (and his reasoning for demanding this). Maria would go and visit Totó in Rome, as would his sister and her family. The Neapolitan who won the lottery and fainted was the guy who bought the new cinema. The people showing Totó respect at the funeral, to me, is kind of bittersweet. It seems they respect him for his film career, but that only serves to emphasise how little of him exists there anymore, even to people he knew (with the exception of Anna, Alfredo's wife). When a place means so much to you, and you realise the life you lived there means little or nothing to those you shared it with, I'm telling you, it hurts.
Totó explains the moral of the tale of the soldier and the princess in the Director's Cut. That moral has pretty much defined every instance of my life since I saw it nearly 30 years ago.
The crazy guy from the square won the lottery. With the proceeds, he built the Nuevo Cinema Paradiso. Perhaps if you weren't thinking about what you were going to say next so much, you would attend to the detail.
Congratulations, you were the only one who made a reaction to this wonderful film, full of love, sadness, nostalgia, regrets, joy. This film is loved all over the world and you can't help but cry with joy and sadness. AN HYMN TO CINEMA. Thank you.
