Foreign Film Critique

Use the following format for your international film review; answers must be typed below the questions and
all questions must appear in full on your final copy. You can use this document as your template. Pay careful
attention to the required number of words for those questions that have them. Failure to follow the
instructions here and on your syllabus will result in a substantially low grade. Minimal answers poorly written
are a D grade or less. Elaboration of points, excellent arguments, and good writing garner higher grades.
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Name Eriene Oh
Class time period TR 11:30-12:50
1)
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Title of Film Cinema Paradiso

Year of release: 1988
Language of original film: Italian
Director: Giuseppe Tornatore
Actors: Philippe Noiret, Salvatore Cascio, Marco Leonardi, Jacques Perrin

6) Give a brief plot summary (should be 150-250 words and not be plagiarized from the web):
Cinema Paradiso starts off with a call from the main characters mother, calling him to tell him that
Alfredo has died, and that his funeral will be tomorrow. From this call, we can surmise that he has not seen
his mother and sister for over 30 years. The movie then goes into flashback of Totos (his pet name when he
was younger) childhood, and the kind of friendship that he and Alfredo an older man who worked the town
cinemas (Paradiso) projectors. Toto admires and respects Alfredo and naturally, takes on a fascination to
the projectors. Later on, Alfredo teaches Toto to work the projectors. One night, while a movie is showing,
the film catches fire and Alfredo is left blind, although Toto manages to save him from the burning Paradiso.
After a new Paradiso is built, Toto becomes the new projectionist, although he is only a child. Alfredo comes
to visit often, giving him advice about both life and his work. Toto grows into a strapping young man, and he
falls in love with a new girl in town. However, circumstances prevent them from being together, and he loses
touch of her. One day, Alfredo gives harsh advice to Toto, telling him to leave Giancaldo (the village they
live in) for Rome, to bigger and better things. Alfredo tells Toto to never come back, to never visit. A much
older and successful Toto attends Alfredos funeral and it is apparent why Alfredo said what he did; he was
afraid that if Toto came back, he would never leave.
7) Analyze the social and philosophical issues the film addresses. Make sure you include the point of view
of the movie, the context of the movie, what audience the movie is targeting, and why. (i.e. you should
address and reflect upon the argument or meaning of the work. This should be analysis, not just summary
of issues in the movie) {your answer should be at least 500 words}
The film addresses many social and philosophical issues. One of them is the subject of Lost Love. When
Toto is older (in his 40s), he is not yet settled down. One comes to wonder if this is because he lost his one
true love Elena to distance. His love for her is apparent in the movie, as when he was a young man, he was
the first to confess his love to her and although it was not reciprocated, he told her that he would wait outside
her window every night after work, until she changed her mind. This was also after the fact that Alfredo had
told him a story of a knight that fell in love with a princess and would stand outside her window for 100 days
(day and night) to convince her of his love, but the story was never resolved (the ending was that after the 99th
day, the knight took his chair and left.) This shows that Toto was willing to try anything to win the heart of

Elena, and one comes to wonder what mightve happened if cell phones and the internet were invented then.
Another issue addressed is the captivation of nostalgia. Alfredo brought this up when persuading Toto to
leave for Rome, to bigger and better things. Alfredo warned Toto not to give in to nostalgia, because things
change and they dont stay the same. What was once something happy, might not hold the same meaning for
us anymore, although we are sometimes too blind to see that (because we want so much for it to mean the
same.) Alfredo told Toto to let it go, whatever was holding him back from going to Rome. This brings me
to the thought of homesickness and how the whole reason behind this feeling is because we are worried that
life back home has gone on without us, and that we miss the things and people that we once held so close and
dear to our hearts. Personally, having experienced this, I can attest that although I experience homesickness
and miss the nostalgia of it all, whenever I visit home, I realize that nothing much has changed, and that
people are still going about their lives like normal. From this, I learnt that what I truly missed was not home
itself, but the idea of the simple happiness and memories that my past brought me.
Also addressed in this movie was family. In this movie, Toto only had his mother and sister to call family,
as his father had died in the war. He also regarded Alfredo to be a father figure and you could see how the
close the community was. This made me think about how different everyones family is, and how we even
come to define family. Family doesnt have to be a blood relative many people consider their pets as family.
My opinion is that although it is true that we dont get to choose our family, in many cases, we do. Some
people who come into our lives mean so much to us that they become much more than friends. These are the
people we want to have stick around in our lives for a very, very long time, because of the value they bring
into our lives and the friendship that they share with us. I have often heard people say that friends come and
go, but no matter what, family stays. Isnt this then what we want for some people in our lives to stay?
8) What is your response to the message of the film? Why do you respond this way? Show that you are
thinking about your own thinking here and the biases/assumptions about the world you bring to your viewing.
Did the film change the way you view the subject? Why, or why not? {at least 250 words}
The gist of the message of the film that spoke to me most was a line that Alfredo said to a teenage Toto
Real life is not like in the movies. Real life is hard. I agree entirely with that statement, because reality can
easily affect us as a person, and it constantly does day in, day out. The reason I concur with this statement is
because it tells the truth, that real life is for living, which includes pain, suffering, joy, happiness and the
millions of other emotions that one can feel. This is especially true for me because despite my mostly
sheltered childhood, I began to see through the cracks early on. As an 11 year old, I worried about my parents
finances after learning that my father was in debt because of his business. Then, being the paranoid child that
I was, I worried about my parents health and what would happen to my brother and I if anything were to
happen to them. At the age of 15, I decided to move out on my own because of the stifling circumstances
(divorce, heartbreak, life) that I was put in (did someone drop me into the deep end and forget all about me?).
Being on my own has given me time to think and reflect on my past, my experiences and my current thoughts
about the world. If anything, I have found that my younger days of worrying and paranoia was not all that
unjustified, as real life does happen and death happens as well did we forget, we are mortals afterall.
Preparation for the unexpected is all that matters, and thats all we can do, although we never truly are
prepared for anything that comes to us in life. So yes, life might be hard, but we can also make it worth our
while.
9) What cultural differences did you notice in the film (philosophical outlook, humor, architecture, customs,
clothes, cities, weather, food, music, dancing, lifestyles, etc.)? What did you learn about history, economics
or politics? {There are always differences; look for them} [at least a 250 words]
I noticed that the architecture and customs were different. For example, village that it is set in

Giancaldo has simple brick homes and buildings. Given that it is set in the early late 1900s, once can see
that nothing much has changed over all that time. Another thing that I noticed was interesting was that Totos
mother punished him by beating him. This would not float in todays world, as it would be considered as
child abuse. However, Alfredo is kind and realizes that this is no way to treat a kid, so whenever he is in the
picture, he tries to intervene Totos mother from beating him.
The humor used was pretty universal, I thought, as I laughed at the parts I deemed funny. For
example, earlier in the movie, there was the priest who would sit in to watch the films that was going to be
showcased to the townsfolk and whenever a kissing scene came on, he would tell Alfredo to censor them.
This is particularly funny when later on in the movie the priest no longer gets a say in what is censored and
when he, along with the townsfolk see their first ever kissing scene on the big screen, he shouts out I dont
watch pornography and leaves. Another reoccurring scene I thought was pretty funny was when theres a
scene showing the town square. A seemingly homeless man runs out into the square and shouts Get out of
my square! to the people walking in it. Also, whenever someone brings up that the square is public property,
the same man will shout back NO! Its MY square. This holds true even when Toto comes back for
Alfredos funeral.
Another thing I thought was pretty cool was their New Years tradition. At midnight, people casually
started throwing what seemed to be plates, out their window (and it fell onto the grown and broke.) So yeah,
broken plates! Also, the movie starts off with Alfredo as an alter boy, who is in charge of helping the priest
keep his pace (by ringing a bell) when saying his prayers. This, I thought was interesting, as it reminded me
of a metronome to a piano player. I learnt that in this small little village of Giancaldo, hardly anyone was rich
and people were mostly religious (my best guess is Catholicism.)
10) What techniques did the filmmaker use that were different from what you see in the films you normally
watch? Think about lighting, dialogue, atmosphere, setting, music, and how the filmmaker might play upon
your own biases, etc. {150 words}
The filmmaker used the topic of film and childhood to make his movie interesting. Not only that, he made
sure that harmless humor was added, to ensure a light tone among the many deeper tones of the film. The
dialogue was simple and easy to understand and the intents of the main characters were clear, right from the
beginning. I enjoyed the way the filmmaker showed the film, wherein he started the movie with Totos
mother and sister calling Toto, but unable to reach him, to tell him about Alfredos funeral. One then starts to
wonder about this Alfredo character and the flashback style of this movie only helps build the audiences
fondness and admiration for this Alfredo character, as well as the main character, Toto. By using the theme of
nostalgia and love (things that Ive experienced and can relate to), the filmmaker was able to keep me focused
on the plot and movie throughout the 2 hours.
11) Discuss how what you saw in the film relates to one of the assigned readings or class discussions we have
had. Be specific. (150 words)
One thing that I saw towards the end of the film was the demolition of the Paradiso. The reason for this
demolition was that the cinema went out of business, because of the advancement of technology, and no one
wanted to go watch movies anymore. I thought this was quite an interesting prediction that the filmmaker
made, as we can see today that contrary to the fact, cinemas are still in business. Speaking of which, I felt that
this relates most to the Is Google Making us Stupid? reading, as it reminded me of how the community is
slowly pulling away from communal activities and instead retreating into their homes and turning to their TVs
and radios. Both the author and the filmmaker make a good point about the negative side effects of
technology, but as long as this generation and future generations keep in mind this side effect, we can easily
rearrange our priorities to ensure face-to-face conversations and spending time together doing meaningful
activities.

12) Why do you think I assign a foreign film?

I think you assigned a foreign film so that we would be exposed to other cultures and their values
and customs. Not only that, to help us understand and open our minds to what the world might be
like the way they are thinking and feeling and why. Maybe you want us to be more considerate
of others and their different cultural backgrounds. Maybe it is because you hope this will help
cultivate empathy in our hearts for others. Most of all, I think you want to help us realize that
other people, even if they are the world over, want the same things as we do.