Movies: "Cinema Paradiso" (1990/restored 2002)

[Bob Pr.]

Shown in our monthly "Great Films @ the Cathedral" series

"Cinema Paradiso" (1988) Italian, Eng. subtitles. (US, 1990 version) 123 min., "PG" ; (2002, restored "director's cut" version), 170 min., "R"
#73 of 250 on IMDb's list of alltime best ever 250 films; Oscar for Best Foreign Film (1990) Cinema Paradiso (1988) - IMDb
Genre: Drama. Plot: (US 1990 cut version) A film-maker recalls his childhood when he fell in love with movies; (1998/2002 Restored version) and we follow his life into his late middle age, seeing the results of those early experiences.
Rotten Tomatoes: rated "ripe" by 89% of critics Cinema Paradiso (Nuovo Cinema Paradiso) - Rotten Tomatoes
Roger Ebert: 4 of 4 stars. "....Seeing the longer version is a curious experience. It is an item of faith that the director of a film is always right, and that studios who cut films are butchers. Yet I must confess that the shorter version of "Cinema Paradiso" is a better film than the longer....The 170-minute cut overstays its welcome, and continues after its natural climax."
1990: Cinema Paradiso :: rogerebert.com :: Reviews
2002: Cinema Paradiso: The New Version :: rogerebert.com :: Reviews

I agree with Ebert.

The shorter, cut version that was first seen in the USA and won an Oscar for BFF, is a tender, nostalgic film, gratifying to see. The longer (original/restored) version follows the principle character, "Toto," now a successful film director, into his fifties.

BUT, since the director of "Cinema Paradiso" (then in his 30's) also wrote its screen play, my very strong hunch is that the narrative (in its original form, now called the "restored version") is either his preferred view of his autobiography -- (or maybe a message to a girl friend or someone in his youth?) -- or SOME kind of intrusion of his view of his actual life into the narrative he wrote.

My ratings: 9 of 10 stars for the USA's originally seen cut version; 7 of 10 stars for the longer, restored "director's cut" original version.