Sep7

a direct passage to the soul.

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national cinema day 2026 is listed as the 5th or 6th or 7tth or 12th of september

depending on the source

in honor of the holiday

i plan to celebrate it a number of times in September

beginning with one of my all-time favorite films:

 

Cinema Paradiso/Nuovo Cinema Paradiso, (Italian),  is a coming of age, nostalgic, sentimental, comedy, drama, all rolled into one, written and directed by Giuseppe Tornatore in 1988.

 Set in a small town in Sicily, it is also a celebration of films and comes right from the heart. Mostly told in flashback, it focuses on the friendship between a young boy, Toto((Salvatore Cascio)), and an aging projectionist, Alfredo((Philippe Noiret), who works at the town’s cinema. When Toto  begins helping out in the cinema booth, he learns to love the magic of movies and develops a passion for films that shapes his life path.

Credited with revitalizing Italy’s film industry, Cinema Paradiso has been cited by some as one of the best films of all time, and a world cinema classic. It is particularly renowned for the ending , considered among one of the greatest endings in film history. It was a commercial success, received critical acclaim, and won several awards, including theAcademy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, the Cannes Film Festival’s Grand Prix, and 5 BAFTA awards.

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‘life isn’t like in the movies. life… it is much harder.

whatever you end up doing, love it.

the way you loved the projection booth when you were a little squirt.’

-Alfredo to Toto

 Ingmar Bergman described film as a direct passage to the soul.

 

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credits: miramax films, 1988

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55 responses »

  3. oh yes, I cannot tell you about How many times I’ve seen this film, in about every language, with and w/o subtitles – it’s one of my faves too! I probably have also bought the DVD, I’m sure. I’ve given away some 900 DVDs because I can’t watch them any longer (bad eye sight) – but interestingly enough, watching something on my iPad makes them less tired than watching stuff on the computer. Better resolution I guess. Thanks for this lovely reminder.

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  4. oh yes, I cannot tell you about How many times I’ve seen this film, in about every language, with and w/o subtitles – it’s one of my faves too! I probably have also bought the DVD, I’m sure. I’ve given away some 900 DVDs because I can’t watch them any longer (bad eye sight) – but interestingly enough, watching something on my iPad makes them less tired than watching stuff on the computer. Better resolution I guess. Thanks for this lovely reminder.

    Liked by 1 person

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  18. Wow.. for 2 decades I felt like I was ths only person who ever saw this movie. I watched it at an old theater in Fulham in 2002. It was such moving film. And everyone I asked or told about it, woukd just shrug.
    Thanks for sharing this. Brought back many fond memories, Beth.

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  27. saw another great movie last night: ‘THe Birds’ by Hitchcock. Even the first part, the interplay between chracters before the birds come, is rivetting, the build up — but after that, Wow !!!! they don’t make films like that anymore — or have I missed them

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