Dylan Coluzzi

Word Count: 1018

Sideways (2004)

Cinema Paradiso (1990)

For this essay I decided to watch the movies Sideways directed by Alexander Payne and

Cinema Paradiso directed by Giuseppe Tornatore. The basic definition of an independent film is

when it is produced outside the studio system, focuses on personal issues, and features

relativity unknown actors. I believe that these two movies meet all of the basic definitions and

at the same time go beyond them. How they manage to do this is by having unique timelines,

unconventional endings, and camera techniques that make the movies more than the basic

definition.

The first thing that I want to mention that took these movies and pushed them to

something special were their timelines. In the Movie Sideways it is set over a week with each

day being separated and mentioned. Within this week the two main characters Miles and Jack

learn a lot about their selves and each other. The actors in this film had to be able to know what

happened the day before in the story and then have that effect how their character will act the

next day. In the Movie Cinema Paradiso, the timeline takes place over roughly 40 years

showing the main character Salvatore Di Vita as a child, a teenager, and as an adult. Neither

one of these films follow a normal timeline and use time almost as a character in the story.

Relating this to the actor’s performance they had to all play the same character but show

evolution of the character over time. The adult version of Salvatore must act like the child

version so that the audience would believe that they are the same person. They were able to
pull this off by using similar facial expressions and body language. When the movie transitions

from child to teenager and then finally to the adult version of Salvatore you never feel like you

are watching a different character.

Furthermore, the ending of these films both don’t follow the normal Hollywood way. In

the film Sideways the movie revolves around Miles trying to get over the fact that his ex-wife

has gotten remarried. At the end of the movie we see him knocking at the door of Maya a

woman he had met on a bachelor party trip for his friend Jack. After he knocks on the door the

movie ends. Why I think this goes beyond the basic definition is since the ending doesn’t give

you a completely satisfied feeling as too what happens with Miles and Maya. This is left up for

the audience to decide but we are left with the feeling that Miles may have finally started the

recovery process. With Cinema Paradiso the movie also has an ambiguous ending in my

opinion. The film end with Salvatore returning to his hometown of Giancaldo, Sicily for his

childhood best friends funeral after being gone for 30 years. He then sees that the movie

theater that he worked at is getting torn down. The movie officially ends with Salvatore

watching a short film of scenes he had cut together when he was a child while tearing up. This

ending takes the movie past the basic definition since it makes the viewer reflect on all of the

moments of the film just like Salvatore and how they has influenced his position in life now. The

movie doesn’t outright tell you what happens in the 30 years he was gone nor the emotions

he’s feeling once he returns. The actor’s performance is what’s telling us how Salvatore feels at

this moment. The actor’s performance in the ending of both of the films I mentioned is what

separates them from most films. They are booth able to show their evolution through the film

through the evolution of their body language and facial expressions. In Sideways Miles walks up
to Maya’s door standing up straight and overall looking confident. While in Cinema Paradiso

Salvatore watches the film with a small grin and with his eyes slightly watering. The emotional

performances of these actors are what makes the endings so special and different from other

independent films I’ve seen.

The camera techniques in both movies are a big part of what makes the films different

from most independent films. In one particular scene in Sideways Miles is stumbling out of a

bar after getting intoxicated and the camera effect plays a big part in making this scene work so

effectively. What the director does is position the camera a few feet away from the door and

then once Miles walks out camera is out of focus in till Miles is nearly on top of the camera and

is eventually revealed in full focus. This technique is so great since it gives the viewer the

impression that Miles’s judgment at the moment is fuzzy and that he isn’t in a good place. Paul

Giamatti the actor playing Miles has a great performance in this scene by stumbling and

swaying while at the same time appearing distraught. In the film Cinema Paradiso, the camera

techniques work to express Salvatore’s interest in movies. There are many shots in the film

where you can see Salvatore sneaking up on Alfredo the camera operator in order to learn how

to operate a projector. The shots work so effectively since we can only see a small part of

Salvatore’s face as he looks through the small windows and cracks in the walls. These shots do a

great job at expressing the childhood wonder that Salvatore is having and lets us the viewer

relate to him. The director in both films is able to help out the actors create these emotions by

using camera techniques that help the audience know what they are going through.

In my opinion both films go above and beyond in going over the basic definition of an

independent film. Using having unique timelines, unconventional endings, and camera
techniques. The performances of the main actors in both films and the combination of directing

techniques are able to create these two films that tell important stories about how we live our

lives.