Comments on: Movie Review – Cinema Paradiso (Director’s Cut, DVD) http://orumai.com/2010/01/31/movie-review-cinema-paradiso-directors-cut-dvd/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=movie-review-cinema-paradiso-directors-cut-dvd A Place on the Way Thu, 22 Jul 2010 02:53:32 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Josh http://orumai.com/2010/01/31/movie-review-cinema-paradiso-directors-cut-dvd/comment-page-1/#comment-75 Josh Tue, 02 Feb 2010 21:58:03 +0000 http://orumai.com/?p=501#comment-75 @HOLLIE: Thank you for the great comment. The fun of a director's "cut" is often to see what was put back in, but oh...oh...how I wish I could go back in time and see the "original" version first. But alas, I will have to see it in its own time... @HOLLIE: Thank you for the great comment. The fun of a director’s “cut” is often to see what was put back in, but oh…oh…how I wish I could go back in time and see the “original” version first. But alas, I will have to see it in its own time…

]]> By: Hollie http://orumai.com/2010/01/31/movie-review-cinema-paradiso-directors-cut-dvd/comment-page-1/#comment-73 Hollie Sun, 31 Jan 2010 22:36:01 +0000 http://orumai.com/?p=501#comment-73 I saw the original version of Cinema Paradiso when it was first released; loved it and was not surprised when it took the honors at the Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film for 1989. My experience with the director’s cut is that while it fleshed out many of the relationships and circumstances in the film, giving me a better understanding about why the protagonist had made certain choices in living his life, it went a step too far in resolving some of the tension that is key in this film. While I still prefer the original over the director’s cut – my ideal version, (in my own mind’s eye), now lies somewhere in between the two. Editing is everything. Often less is more, but sometimes more is more as well – just not at the expense of trying to wrap everything into a neat package and losing some of the important lessons to be learned in the process. Life is often “messy” and requires us to search our soul, come to acceptance, forgiveness, and the understanding that often our choice to follow one passion may be at the expense of another. Another truly simple film about passion is Il Postino. It is set in Italy during the 1950’s. It tells the story of a simple Italian postman who befriends the exiled poet Pablo Neruda and in the process learns to love poetry and use it to earn the love of the beautiful woman he has long admired. This movie has an emotional back-story that underscores the importance of pursuing one’s passion. See the film first and then research the leading man, Massimo Troisi. You may just come away from the experience with a whole new awareness of living purposefully. I saw the original version of Cinema Paradiso when it was first released; loved it and was not surprised when it took the honors at the Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film for 1989. My experience with the director’s cut is that while it fleshed out many of the relationships and circumstances in the film, giving me a better understanding about why the protagonist had made certain choices in living his life, it went a step too far in resolving some of the tension that is key in this film. While I still prefer the original over the director’s cut – my ideal version, (in my own mind’s eye), now lies somewhere in between the two.

Editing is everything. Often less is more, but sometimes more is more as well – just not at the expense of trying to wrap everything into a neat package and losing some of the important lessons to be learned in the process. Life is often “messy” and requires us to search our soul, come to acceptance, forgiveness, and the understanding that often our choice to follow one passion may be at the expense of another.

Another truly simple film about passion is Il Postino. It is set in Italy during the 1950’s. It tells the story of a simple Italian postman who befriends the exiled poet Pablo Neruda and in the process learns to love poetry and use it to earn the love of the beautiful woman he has long admired. This movie has an emotional back-story that underscores the importance of pursuing one’s passion. See the film first and then research the leading man, Massimo Troisi. You may just come away from the experience with a whole new awareness of living purposefully.

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