Cinema Paradiso Redux
The Return to Giancaldo
So now let's return to the scene discussed on the first page. From the context now provided we can achieve a better grasp of what must have gone through Salvatore's head at the time the montage was screened: Father Adelfio's harsh censorship of "amorous scenes" shown at the Cinema Paradiso, the memory of his failed relationship with Elena, and Alfredo's wish that he never return to Giancaldo. On the surface it can be argued that the film's last scene is the final fulfillment of Alfredo's promise to give the young Toto the extracted film reels if he promised to stay away. The reels are his reward for following Alfredo's advice and going on to fulfill his dream to become a filmmaker.The Price of Fame and Success
From this surface-level reading of the film, audiences can perceive the film as a wistful love letter to the movies and a stirring bildungsroman which subscribes to Auguste Comte's study on the "Development of Human Intelligence." It can be argued that the three stages of Salvatore's life featured in the film can also be connected to Comte's three stages of positive development.- Theological or Fictitious: The wide-eyed young Toto is shown at the beginning of the film as an undisciplined street urchin. He has an unstable home life and his mother is still in morning over the disappearance of this father during the Second World War. The only place where a young person in Toto's position could find structure at this point is through the church. Yet it is shown that even at a young age the absurd rigidity of Father Adelfio causes Toto reject the church and instead immerse himself in the fictitious world of the cinema.
- Metaphysical or Abstract: As a teenager Salvatore falls in love with Elena. His indoctrination into the movies has filled him with a sense of romanticism and he builds a series of abstract connections between his budding relationship and the films he has watched. This can be seen in the sequence where during the screening of Ulysses he summons the rain and attempts to manipulate the world around him as if were a movie set.
- The Scientific or Positive: Now in his late 40s, the older Salvatore has abandoned his romanticism and has become a highly successful filmmaker known for his pragmatism. At this stage however, although Salvatore has now transitioned from avid consumer of films to the role of producer, his sense of awe and wonder is seemingly abandoned. Moreover, he has lived out a string of failed relationships that never could carry the same spark as his summer romance with Elena.
Nuovo Cinema Paradiso
In the 25th Anniversary Edition of Cinema Paradiso, Tornatore presents audiences with a 173 minute extended edition of his film. With close to an hour of additional footage, primarily involving scenes surrounding the older Salvatore's return to Giancaldo. While some fans of Cinema Paradiso hail the extended version as superior to its predecessor, others such as Gerardo Valero of Rogerebert.com argues "that the butchering of Director Tornatore's original 1988 vision saved his film from utter mediocrity, and it took it an all together higher level." The purpose of this project is not to consider which version of Cinema Paradiso is superior to the other, but instead is an attempt to demonstrate the multiple ways in which context in editing can ultimately shift a film's meaning to its intended audience. Here we will summarize several of the the most notable changes made between the original and re-release.- Salvatore loses his virginity to the theater prositute shortly before he meets Elena. So later in the film when he blames his clumsiness as a result of it being his "first time," becomes a lie and diminishes the innocence of their relationship.
- When Salvatore returns to Giancaldo he runs into a young girl who who looks like Elena (played by the same actress) and by following her he encounters the now older Elena.
- The older version of Elena is effectively competing with her younger version, who in fact is her daughter. She is unable to awake the same passion in Salvatore as their earlier romance. In an attempt to keep the spark alive the two have sex in the front seat of a parked car. The experience leaves Salvatore feeling more empty than before.
- Yet most significant at all, especially in interpreting the film's final scene: Salvatore learns that it was Alfredo who deliberately kept Salvatore and Elena and not her father. He had done this for the same reason he told Salvatore to not return to Giancaldo, that both Elena and the town would ultimately hold him back from fulfilling his dreams.
In the comments below, feel free to add your thoughts and responses into the contrasts between the two versions of the film:
- Does the meaning of Cinema Paradiso's ending change with these added insights?
- Can you think of other films where the Director's Cut changed your interpretation of a movie's ending?
