Cinema Paradiso

            The last movie for this subject is “Cinema Paradiso”, also known as “Paradise Cinema”. As Dr. Goh mentioned in class, it is a film about film, where the story revolves around the main character, Salvatore, also known as “Toto” as his nickname in the movie, and his passion towards movie.

            From the beginning of the movie when Salvatore was still young, we can see that how much passion he had for movie. He always visits his “old” friend, Alfredo and amazed by the movie projector. His passion was shown through the collection of the movie clips that was deleted and cut from the tape. He can even memorize the lines in those scenes. His passion for movie even made Salvatore threatens Alfredo in exchange of teaching him to use the movie projector for exam answers. This showed that any kind of influences is most effective when the impact was during the age of children. This also reminded me that parents need to set an example for children as they are constantly observing and learning. For example Salvatore was able to turn off the projector only by watching Alfredo done it few times.

            The movie also showed that how mass media can change perception of thinking of people. In the beginning of the movie, the priest was shown “monitoring” every movie before it went screening just to censor scenes which he thought was inappropriate, such as kissing scenes. People then were more reserved. However after the cinema burnt down and renovated, scenes like that were not censored. People began to be more “sexually active” as we can see scenes like boys doing masturbating action while watching movie, a couple that looked like having sexually intercourse during the movie. This showed how people became more open-minded to sex just because the movie did not censor.

            The movie towards the end showed Alfredo asks Salvatore to leave the town to pursue his future, and warned him to never return. Salvatore obeyed his wishes and only returned for Alfredo’s funeral. The quotes that Alfredo told Salvatore was probably the most motivating to any one of the movie audience, “Whatever you end up doing, love it. The way you loved the projection booth when you were a little squirt.” The last few conversations between Alfredo and Salvatore also became a mirror to all people. Love what you do, do what you love!