Cinema Paradiso

Nostalgia is a very interesting concept. I've spent quite a bit of time over the last few weeks and months thinking about the past, particularly as things in the present have become a little more testing of late. A few weeks ago I spent the weekend in Aberdeen with a few friends from university. We spent time reminiscing and I looked back pretty fondly of my time as a student, and in a way wished life was as good as it was then.

The problem with nostalgia though is that it requires you to ignore all of the difficulties. It requires you to wear a pair of rose tinted spectacles, and to only see the good in everything. Thinking back I do have some regrets of things that were missed of my time at uni, and part of me does wish to go back and do it all again.

Which brings me on to Cinema Paradiso. I knew nothing about this film before it appeared on this list, in fact I hadn't even heard of it. I was a little disappointed in the fact that I only got the theatrical version of the film and not the Directors cut, although on having read up on what was cut, I'm not so sure.

The film itself is very interesting, and I do love a bit of nostalgia - particularly for something with a bit of history in it. As I said previously in a post, I would loved to have been in 1920s/30s America, I think I may add 1950s Southern Italy to that category too. It's very weird, in that I don't think I want to live in a small town now, but all of my historical fantasies have me in a small community like the one portrayed in this film.

What I'm not so fixated on here is the storyline itself. I like some of the ideas, like the need to leave the town to follow your dreams, but I'm just not convinced that the dreams were ever developed before Salvatore left. I loved the relationship between Alfredo and Salvatore, particularly when Salvatore was a young boy. I just felt that overall the storyline was a bit weak for a film in the Top 100.

It is definitely worth watching, but at the moment I am undecided about its merits. Maybe after a few weeks of reminiscing I might be in a better position to decide!