Product Details

• Actors: Philippe Noiret, Enzo Cannavale, Antonella Attili, Isa Danieli, Leo Gullotta
• Directors: Giuseppe Tornatore
• Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, NTSC, Widescreen
• Language: English
• Dubbed: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Studio: LIONSGATE
• DVD Release Date: April 15, 2011
• Run Time: 174 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (453 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B004SIP6E0
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,119 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
  • #34 in Movies & TV > DVD > Foreign Films
• Learn more about "Cinema Paradiso" on IMDb

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Cinema Paradiso's complex, interwoven tales of wartime Italy, a boy's coming of age, and the history of cinema can be viewed in their entirety on the Director's Cut included in this Deluxe Edition. Director Giuseppe Tornatore's additional 50 minutes of footage provides closure for the saga's detailing Alfredo's death, and Salvatore Di Vita's lost relationship with his teenage love, Elena. Most of the 50 minutes serves as a continuation of the story, rather than as previously deleted scenes. The original, already celebrated Cinema Paradiso follows Toto (Jacques Perrin), a Sicilian boy who persuades the town projectionist, Alfredo (Philippe Noiret), to teach him how to show films. Spanning nearly 50 years, the film craftily draws parallels between Toto's life and those lives he sees on screen. As Toto matures into Salvatore, a successful Italian filmmaker, the Cinema Paradiso ages as well. Salvatore's return home for Alfredo's funeral is also a goodbye to his Paradiso, demolished to become a parking lot. The film's heightened sense of nostalgia subtly mirrors our humanistic love of movies, making it a tribute to cinema as an artistic genre. The Director's Cut can be fulfilling if one felt unsatisfied by the more ambiguous ending of the theatrical release, but it also feels slightly overwrought. Two documentaries in this package feature fans and critics praising Cinema Paradiso, proving its endurance as a classic. However, as Salvatore discovers over the course of the film, there is no need to improve a masterpiece. --Trinie Dalton

Product Description

A famous Italian filmmaker, haunted by the memories of his first love, returns to his hometown after an absence of 30 years. Upon his return, he reconnects with the community and remembers the highlights and tragedies that shaped his life and inspired him to follow his dream of becoming a filmmaker. For those who have never seen it -- and those who have never forgotten it -- director Giuseppe Tornatore's (BAARIA, THE STAR MAKER) cherished Academy Award®-winning motion picture (1990, Best Foreign Language Film) is now in high definition, fully restored and digitally remastered.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

548 of 559 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars What's Different about the New Version March 9, 2004

By --corinne--

Format:DVD

Cinema Paradiso is one of my favorite movies. I finally found the new version available for rent through Netflix when I couldn't find it in any Blockbuster.
For those who have already seen Cinema Paradiso it needs no introduction. For everybody else, it won the Academy Award for Foreign Language Film in 1989 and features one of the most nostalgic treatments of the role of movies in people's lives. Ennio Morricone's theme song has also been recycled in countless commercials and movie montages and trailers.
What's good about the Director's Cut or "New Version" DVD is that one can view the director's cut with added scenes on one DVD side and the originally released version on the other.
For those of us who wanted some kind of closure to Toto and Elena's relationship, the Director's Cut has it-- there's about an hour more of footage of their relationship. The new version also more footage of Toto's military service and his adulthood. The added scenes somewhat mute the focus of the movie, so I could see why they were originally cut out. But, at the same time, the added scenes fill in the blanks that originally made a lot of us think, "Hey-- What about...?" And although Toto's childhood scenes are, as far as I can tell, unchanged from the original version, we also find out more about Alfredo.
After finishing the New Version I appreciated the original version better. I highly recommend the new version not because it makes Cinema Paradiso more of a masterpiece, but because it adds more characterization to what, arguably, is a masterpiece. The added scenes can be a bit superfluous, but they show how important editorial decisions are to shaping the structure and momentum of a movie.

189 of 199 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Begs the question: When is a movie too long? February 24, 2003

By D. Movahedpour

Format:DVD

I became aware of the existence of over 50 minutes of additional scenes in this film in the past two years. The original, pruned version received the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1990. I have owned the video for a decade. Then, last summer, the "new version" was shown in limited release, and a DVD was promised. With the addition of the deleted scenes, an entirely different film is created. Owning this DVD is owning a brand new version of the film's events.

Initially, the film was considered too long, and massive scenes were cut, removing any and all references to whatever happened to Salvatore's great love, Lina. The original version of the film focused mainly on the young boy, fatherless in post-WWII Sicily, bonding with the childless cinema projectionist, Alfredo. The young Toto grows into the teen-aged Salvatore, who falls in love with the beautiful and unattainable Lina. They are parted. That is the last we see. Salvatore returns to his village many years later to attend the funeral of Alfredo, and the film is told nearly entirely in flashback.

In this version, Salvatore is reunited with his lost love when he returns for the funeral. To think that this entire plot was removed from the film initially is almost unthinkable. There are other parts of the film that could have been edited to keep these additional scenes in. I don't know what the producers, directors or the studio were thinking when they edited a huge part of the movie out.

Well, now the film is complete. Whereas the original version focused mainly on the relationship of Toto and Alfredo, we now see a conclusion to Toto and Lina as well. And, we understand the ending of the film in an entirely, much less sentimental light. Salvatore has spent the bulk of his life mourning his lost love, not returning to his village, and not knowing of Alfredo's hand in the matter. He is facing life-changing decisions, and must ultimately dip into a pool of acceptance and forgiveness. Without the addition of these scenes, the point is lost.

This was an excellent film to begin with, now it is nearly perfect. It is bittersweet and touching, and all the more realistic with the deleted scenes returned. If you own the original version, you must own this version. You will see this film in a completely different light.

33 of 34 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Watch the 'Cut' version before watching this! February 24, 2004

By A Customer

Format:DVD

Cinema Paradiso is a definite classic and is a must-watch for any self-respecting film buff. I first watched this movie (the cut-version) in 1994 on television. I loved it so much that I watched it frequently on tape thereafter. I think I've watched it 2 times a year (on average) and that would make it 20 times by now!

The innocence of childhood, the passion of first loves, the cruel reality of adulthood are all depicted to perfection in the movie. Its bitter-sweet ending tops the theme of the whole movie off and it never failed to make me tear. I had so many questions each time after I watched the movie and that in itself, further reinforced the various main themes of the story: lost loves and most importantly, the great sense of regret that is a result of a lifetime filled with multitudes of unanswered questions. It was incredibly disappointing as I knew I'd never know the answers to all the questions that I had about the film. I had great pity for Toto as well as he'd never know. But this was all before I realised that there was an uncut version.

I upgraded to the DVD version sometime ago but never got around to watching it. I loaned it out to a friend and got it back months later. I decided to watch it on a particularly boring afternoon. As I knew the film so well, I realised that there were scenes in the DVD version which I never saw in the 'old' version. As I watched further, more of such scenes came up. And it dawned on me that this version could contain some answers to the many questions which I had! I watched it right to the end and it still made me tear. But this time, I was touched not by the storyline itself but by the fact that all the questions that I ever had about the film have finally been answered. A chapter in Toto's life had finally been closed and for myself, it was also like closing a chapter in my own 'cinematic life'.

I suggest all interested viewers to watch the 'cut' version first, then the 'uncut' version. It's a wonderful cinematic experience and allows you to understand and fully appreciate the true essence of the film. The film was previously cut as it was too long. With the release of the 'uncut' version, it serves to strongly remind the audience of the greatness of cinema, particularly how the same film can invoke such different emotions by the mere act of cutting some scenes.