Cinema Paradiso
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Cinema Paradiso

Year:
Duration:
155 min | Italy:173 min (Europa Cinema Festival) | 124 min (cut theatrical version)
Genres:
Drama
IMDB rate:
8.5
Director:
Giuseppe Tornatore
Awards:
Won Oscar. Another 20 wins & 22 nominations
Details
Country: Italy
Release Date: 1990-02-23
Filming Locations: Bagheria, Palermo, Sicily, Italy
Earnings
Opening Weekend: $16,552 (USA) (11 November 2013)
Gross: $12,397,210 (USA) (11 November 2013)
Cast
Actor
Character
Antonella Attili
Maria Di Vita - Younger
Enzo Cannavale
Spaccafico
Isa Danieli
Anna
Leo Gullotta
Usher
Marco Leonardi
Salvatore 'Totò' Di Vita - Teenager
Pupella Maggio
Maria Di Vita - Older
Agnese Nano
Elena Mendola
Leopoldo Trieste
Father Adelfio
Salvatore Cascio
Salvatore 'Totò' Di Vita - Child
Tano Cimarosa
Blacksmith
Nicola Di Pinto
Village Idiot
Roberta Lena
Lia
Nino Terzo
Peppino's Father
Jacques Perrin
Salvatore 'Totò' Di Vita - Adult
Brigitte Fossey
Elena Mendola - Adult
Philippe Noiret
Alfredo
Nellina Laganà
Turi Giuffrida
Mariella Lo Giudice
Giorgio Libassi
Beatrice Palme
Ignazio Pappalardo
Angela Leontini
Mimmo Mignemi
Margherita Mignemi
Giuseppe Pellegrino
Turi Killer
Angelo Tosto
Concetta Borpagano
Franco Catalano
Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle
Boxer (archive footage) (uncredited)
Antonio Arcidiacono
Ntoni
Junie Astor
Natacha (archive footage) (uncredited)
Ignazio Balsamo
Francesco Messana (archive footage) (uncredited)
Brigitte Bardot
Juliete Hardy (archive footage) (uncredited)
John Barrymore
The Baron
Isa Barzizza
Toto's Conquest (archive footage) (uncredited)
Ingrid Bergman
Ivy Peterson
Vilma Bánky
Yasmin (archive footage) (uncredited)
Clara Calamai
Ginevra (archive footage) (uncredited)
Mario Castellani
Jealous Husband (archive footage) (uncredited)
Nicola Castorino
Nicola (archive footage) (uncredited)
Charles Chaplin
Referee / The Lone Prospector (archive footage) (uncredited)
Gary Cooper
Lt. Frederic Henry (archive footage) (uncredited)
Olivia de Havilland
Maid Marian
Vittorio De Sica
Count Prospero B. (archive footage) (uncredited)
Kirk Douglas
Ulysses
Errol Flynn
Robin Hood
Jean Gabin
Wasska Pepel (archive footage) (uncredited)
Clark Gable
Ace Wilfong (archive footage) (uncredited)
Greta Garbo
Grusinskaya - the Dancer (archive footage) (uncredited)
Vittorio Gassman
Walter (archive footage) (uncredited)
Massimo Girotti
Il pretore Guido Schiavi (archive footage) (uncredited)
Farley Granger
Il tenente Franz Mahler (archive footage) (uncredited)
Cary Grant
Walter Burns (archive footage) (uncredited)
Georgia Hale
Georgia (archive footage) (uncredited)
Laurence Harvey
Joe Lampton (archive footage) (uncredited)
Helen Hayes
Catherine Barkley (archive footage) (uncredited)
Louis Jouvet
Le Baron (archive footage) (uncredited)
Anna Magnani
Maddalena Cecconi (archive footage) (uncredited)
Silvana Mangano
Anna /
Marcello Mastroianni
Mario (archive footage) (uncredited)
Amedeo Nazzari
Neri Chiaramontesi (archive footage) (uncredited)
Suzy Prim
Vassilissa Kostyleva (archive footage) (uncredited)
Donna Reed
Mary Hatch
Jane Russell
Rio McDonald
Rosalind Russell
Hildy Johnson (archive footage) (uncredited)
Yvonne Sanson
Rosa Carrisi (archive footage) (uncredited)
Maria Schell
Natalia (archive footage) (uncredited)
Norma Shearer
Jan Ashe
Simone Signoret
Alice Aisgill (archive footage) (uncredited)
Alberto Sordi
Alberto (archive footage) (uncredited)
James Stewart
George Bailey
Giuseppe Tornatore
Projectionist (uncredited)
Totò
The Suitor - Disguises Himself as Dummy / Band Leader (archive footage) (uncredited)
Spencer Tracy
Dr. Henry Jekyll
Claire Trevor
Dallas (archive footage) (uncredited)
Rudolph Valentino
The Sheik
Alida Valli
La contessa Livia Serpieri
John Wayne
Ringo Kid (archive footage) (uncredited)
Did you know?
Trivia
In some versions of the shorter theatrical release a shot of a far older Elena can be seen in the final credits montage (perhaps intentionally).
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When Salvatore returns to his home and looks at the room his mother prepared for him, there's a picture on the wall from the movie The White Sheik (1952), a Federico Fellini movie starring Leopoldo Trieste, who plays Father Adelfio in this movie.
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By the end of 1956, it was Italy which had the largest network of cinemas in the whole of Europe. A total of 17,000. This was the highest ever reached in the "old world".
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Goofs
When Toto is a kid, and he and Alfredo are writing the exam, Toto throws a ball of paper to Alfredo. In one frame, he is throwing it with his left hand and in another frame he is throwing with his right hand.
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When Toto is young, the films that Alfredo gave him catch fire. They burn and ruin the only picture that his mother had of his father. When Toto is a grown up, this "burnt" picture is hanged on the wall totally unharmed.
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When the subtitles are shown for the film "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" it reads "Unforgivable songs" rather than "Unforgettable songs"
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Quotes
Alfredo: Once upon a time, a king gave a feast. And there came the most beautiful princesses of the realm. Now, a soldier, who was standing guard, saw the king's daughter go by. She was the most beautiful one, and he immediately fell in love with her. But what could a poor soldier do when it came to the daughter of the king? Well, finally, one day, he managed to meet her, and he told her that he could no longer live without her. The princess was so impressed by his strong feelings that she said to the soldier: "If you can wait 100 days and 100 nights under my balcony, then at the end of it, I shall be yours." Damn! The soldier immediately went there and waited one day. And two days. And ten. And then twenty. And every evening, the princess looked out of her window, but he never moved. During rain, during wind, during snow, he was always there. The bird shat on his head, and the bees stung him, but he didn't budge. After ninety nights, he had become all dried up, all white, and the tears streamed from his eyes. He couldn't hold them back. He no longer had the strength to sleep. All that time, the princess watched him. And on the 99th night, the soldier stood up, took his chair, and went away.
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Alfredo: Get out of here! Go back to Rome. You're young and the world is yours. I'm old. I don't want to hear you talk anymore. I want to hear others talking about you. Don't come back. Don't think about us. Don't look back. Don't write. Don't give in to nostalgia. Forget us all. If you do and you come back, don't come see me. I won't let you in my house. Understand?
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Salvatore 'Toto' Di Vita - Adult: Salvatore, forgive me. I'll explain later what happened. Not finding you here was terrible. Unfortunately, this evening, my mother and I are leaving for Tuscany. We're moving there. But you' re the only one I love, I'll never be with anybody else, I promise. Here's the address of a girlfriend of mine where you can write to me. Don't abandon me. Love and kisses, Elena.
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Faq
Q
A Note Regarding Spoilers
A
The following FAQ entries may contain spoilers. Only the biggest ones (if any) will be covered with spoiler tags. Spoiler tags have been used sparingly in order to make the page more readable.
Q
What is it that Toto's mother should never tell Toto?
A
If you only see the shorter version of the movie, this comment by Alfredo's wife wouldn't make any sense, but it is answered in the extended version. Alfredo was responsible for Toto and Elena not hooking up. Alfredo worked behind the scenes to make sure they never met again. Apparently Toto's mother knew about it but Toto did not. Alfredo told Toto's mother that Toto should never know that Elena really did want to meet him. Alfredo wanted Toto to think that she dumped him so he would pursue his movie vocation and not be distracted by her.
Q
How much sex, violence, and profanity are in this movie?
A
For detailed information about the amounts and types of (a) sex and nudity, (b) violence and gore, (c) profanity, (d) alcohol, drugs, and smoking, and (e) frightening and intense scenes in this movie, consult the IMDb Parents Guide for this movie. The Parents Guide for Cinema Paradiso can be found here.
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