‘For me it was a game.

In 1988 film director Guiseppe Tornatore was in Sicily, looking

for a young boy to be in his next film, Cinema Paradiso.
Salvatore Cascio was eight years old with big, dark eyes and
a beautiful smile. He was perfect for the role of ‘Toto’.

He has wonderful memories of making Cinema Paradiso.

‘For me it was a game. I was the film’s mascot. Everybody
was sweet to me. And now I feel very proud that I was part
of it.’

Cinema Paradiso was a big success. In 1990 it was the

winner of the Oscar for best foreign language film. Many
people say that it is their favourite film of all time.

Salvatore was a fantastic actor when he was a child, but

now he doesn’t act. He says, ‘When you’re a child it’s easy
– you’re just playing. But when you’re older, acting is hard
work.’ Today he has a restaurant in Sicily, called ‘L’Oscar dei
Sapori’ (‘The Oscar for flavour’).

For Salvatore, Cinema Paradiso is about dreams: people

watch great films and forget their problems, and Toto
dreams of being a great director. ‘In today’s world the film
tells us that we can always dream.’

Adapted from The Guardian newspaper

A002209

English File third edition Beginner • Student’s Book • Unit 10B, p.60 © Oxford University Press 2015 1