Reely Bernie Faves: Cinema Paradiso (1988)

My favorite coming-of-age movie is a tossup between E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (E.T.) and Cinema Paradiso, and I’m going to pick Cinema Paradiso because Spielberg represents other upcoming selections on my Reely Bernie Faves movies list.

Plus, you have to include the Italian filmmakers, right?

As an avid reader of Roger Ebert (RIP), I caught up on everything Federico Fellini, but I always found his work to be self-indulgent quagmire. Antonioni was too ambiguous and Vittorio De Sica too obvious.

Giuseppe Tornatore is a postmodern “just right” for me, and although Cinema Paradiso follows a conventional flashback formula, it is the quintessential sentimental, feel-good movie.

Boy befriends a Sicilian movie theatre projectionist, falls in love with the greats (Charlie Chaplin, Akira Kurosawa, Jean Renoir, John Wayne), and then falls in love with a girl.

Gradually, the boy’s rose-colored journey of movie magic encounters life’s inevitable darker tones when he discovers war, the ache of a broken heart, greed, and death. Despite it not being Director Tornatore’s complete vision, the edited cut is still my favorite. (The 170-minute director’s cut overstays its welcome.)

Between the standard flashback template are moments of warmhearted embrace, highlighted by cinema homage and a charming score by Ennio Morricone. Salvatore Cascio as the boy is adorable and believable. The lesson of “the grass is always greener” isn’t forced, and most important—the little Italian movie reminds us to celebrate our memories.

Through my now seasoned movie-watching eyes, I can observe in Cinema Paradiso what can be labeled today as sappy, yet such an observation enforces the appeal of what makes this movie so special: it is sappy. Sappy, dreamy, and idealistic are all appropriate descriptors for the sentimental movie, and such a movie is beloved by people with big hearts. I’d like to think I have a big heart.

Reely Bernie Faves:

1. Amadeus (1984)

2. Magnolia (1999)

3. Poltergeist (1982)

4. Pulp Fiction (1994)

5. The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

6. The Godfather Part II (1974)

7. Weekend at Bernie’s (1989)

8. Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981)

9. Goodfellas (1990)

10. Nosferatu (1922)

11. Pollock (2000)

12. Kicking and Screaming (1995)

13. Jaws (1975)

14. Fargo (1996)

15. Citizen Kane (1941)

16. The Blair Witch Project (1999)

17. The Endless Summer (1966)

18. Back to the Future (1985)

19. Angel Heart (1987)

20. The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928)

21. The Goonies (1985)

22. Trainspotting (1996)

23. King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters (2007)

24. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

25. Bambi (1942)

26. The Paradise Lost Trilogy (1996-2011)

27. Psycho (1960)

28. Parenthood (1989)

29. Swingers (1996)

30. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)

31. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007)

32. Smoke (1995)

33. Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981)

34. A Hard Day’s Night (1964)

35. Edward Scissorhands (1990)

36. City of God (2002)

37. 1917 (2019)

38. Black Swan (2010)

39. School of Rock (2003)

40. Mulholland Drive (2001)

41. Groundhog Day (1993)

42. If Beale Street Could Talk (2018)

43. The Greatest Showman (2017)

44. National Lampoon’s Vacation (1983)

45. The Florida Project (2017)

46. Cinema Paradiso (1988)

47. So I Married an Axe Murderer (1993)

48. Shadowlands (1993)

49. Steve Jobs (2015)

50. ¡Three Amigos! (1986)