The review of the film states that the director seems to lose his narrative focus during Toto's adolescent years, and that his footing is most sure in the first and third parts. However, the end of the movie seemed a bit contrived and almost unrealistic - yet another ironic feature in a movie that advances the belief that life does not mimic movies. The movie seems to be impaled upon its own sword in that sense. Additionally, the ending almost seems to push the idea of change vs. constancy in a manner that is too blatant and one dimensional. Is the viewer really to believe that this man turned his back on his entire past without any backlash from the family and friends that he left behind? And the idea that he chooses not to petition to save the theatre that he loved so much out of a refusal to live immersed in the past is once again a little too neat and convenient. Cinema Paradiso certainly succeeds as an evocative story that will pluck the heartstrings of its viewers, and if the director's intention was to create this sense of pervasive irony, he has succeeded in that respect as well. If, however, he was hoping to leave the viewer with some sense of profound truth regarding the relationship between cinema and life, it seems that he has failed to surmount the obstacles set in his own path by the film's claims about the separation between reality and cinema.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Cinema Paradiso
In Giuseppe Tornatore's film, Cinema Paradiso, the Italian director examines the role that cinema plays in the lives of a young boy who grows to adulthood throughout the film, as well as the boy's relationship with an older film projectionist who becomes a type of mentor and father figure. The film raises many interesting questions regarding the interplay of film and life, and in doing so, creates an obvious yet still intriguing additional dimension in which the viewer is watching a film within a film and seeing the impact of cinema on other fictional characters. The irony of certain scenes in the movie is incredibly apparent - for example, when Alfredo offers Toto one of his last poetic bits of advice, and then explains that life is not like the movies, and that the real world doesn't function like the fictional world of film. This leaves the viewer wondering what truths can be extracted from the film itself, considering that one of the central characters has just made it clear that what they are seeing cannot and should not be taken as reality.
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I think that your thoughts about the end of the scene are really interesting. Though I see exactly where you are coming from I did not think of it as unrealistic. And yes, I think that the fact he never came back to town brings up the question: "Is the viewer really to believe that this man turned his back on his entire past without any backlash from the family and friends that he left behind?" However I think because he never came back showed the strong relationship between him and Alfredo. Alfredo was a father figure to Toto and the film clearly shows the growth of their relationship, from young Toto to Alfredo's death.
ReplyDeleteI like how you talk about the issues surrounding how this film is about film. Like the interplay between film and life. It does feel like the audience is forced to acknowledge the relationship between the characters (the main ones and the entire town) and their theater. But a big question is what is this film trying to say when at the end there is a demolition of the theater? There is not even a comment in the film that resolves where film stands in the life of the towns people.
ReplyDeleteAlso I think the point of the ending of the movie does point out a connection rather than separation between cinema and reality. I got the message that cinema and reality are connected in the way that both have the ability to come to an end without any big revelation or so-called "happy ending" The final words of FINE (the end in italian) alone says it all.
http://softlighthardfocus.blogspot.com/2009/01/feature-presentation-as-films.html
ReplyDeleteI really like your treatment of the irony that pervaded Cinema Paradiso and its interplay between cinema and life. Alfredo’s speech in which he told Toto that “life is not like the movies” struck me as having problematic consequences as well. As you stated, this conversation between Alfredo and Toto left me wondering about the validity of the conclusions that I may draw from Cinema Paradiso itself! So, you are definitely correct that, in a sense, the film is complicating its message through its own transmission. I think that this shows the inherent difficulty in using cinema as a medium to put forth this theme.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I agree with you that there are many obstacles inherent in Tornatore’s quest to evoke truth concerning the relationship between cinema and life, I do not believe that the complications previously mentioned were insurmountable. I think that the film presented a great demonstration of the social and collective aspects of film going as well as a persuasive argument for its ability to provide a source of solace and familiarity despite external circumstances.
You mention Alfredo's advice in the movie, that "the real world doesn't function like the fictional world of film", and also that at the end the movie felt contrived. I believe you are saying that this is ironic because it is a movie that "advances the belief that life does not mimic movies" while also failing at mimicking movies.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your analysis insofar that it does fail at mimicking life. It is rather ridiculous that Salvatore woos his girl with the method which Alfredo offers (which undoubtedly was lifted off some other movie), and that the theater was coincidentally closing down when Salvatore returns.
But perhaps Cinema Paradiso is not trying to make a movie which mimics life, but a movie which examines the power of film, outside of "reality", whatever that means. After all, it is a comedy, a genre not known for being strictly true to life.
It is not ironic that Paradiso is contrived, or that absurd coincidences occurs, rather, it merely demonstrates that movies, while poor compasses for reality, are profound in their own way.