Tag: Giuseppe Tornatore

The Beloved Italian Movie CINEMA PARADISO Now Available on Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD From Arrow Academy

The Beloved Italian Movie CINEMA PARADISO (1989) directed by Giuseppe Tornatore is now available on Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD From Arrow Academy

A CELEBRATION OF YOUTH, FRIENDSHIP, AND THE EVERLASTING MAGIC OF THE MOVIES

A winner of awards across the world including Best Foreign Language Film Oscar, 5 BAFTA Awards including Best Actor, Original Screenplay and Score, the Grand Prize of the Jury at the Cannes Film Festival and many more.

Giuseppe Tornatore s loving homage to the cinema tells the story of Salvatore, a successful film director, returning home for the funeral of Alfredo, his old friend who was the projectionist at the local cinema throughout his childhood. Soon memories of his first love affair with the beautiful Elena and all the highs and lows that shaped his life come flooding back, as Salvatore reconnects with the community he left 30 years earlier.

The original award-winning theatrical version of Tornatore s classic is presented here for the first time on 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray. This edition also includes the expanded Director s Cut, which delves deeper into Salvatore s backstory [Blu-ray].

SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS

  • 4K (2160p) UHD Blu-ray presentation in Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible) of the 124 minute theatrical version
  • High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation of the 174 minute Director s Cut
  • Uncompressed original stereo 2.0 Audio and 5.1 surround sound options
  • Optional English subtitles
  • Audio commentary with director Giuseppe Tornatore and Italian cinema expert critic Millicent Marcus
  • A Dream of Sicily A 52-minute documentary profile of Giuseppe Tornatore featuring interviews with the director and extracts from his early home movies as well as interviews with director Francesco Rosi and painter Peppino Ducato, set to music by the legendary Ennio Morricone
  • A Bear and a Mouse in Paradise A 27-minute documentary on the making of Cinema Paradiso and the characters of Toto and Alfredo, featuring interviews the actors who play them, Philippe Noiret and Salvatore Cascio as well as Tornatore
  • The Kissing Sequence Giuseppe Tornatore discusses the origins of the kissing scenes with clips identifying each scene
  • Original Director s Cut Theatrical Trailer and 25th Anniversary Re-Release Trailer

The Magic of the Movies – The Hi-Pointe Theatre Reopens With CINEMA PARADISO July 3rd

” When will this rotten summer end? In a film, it’d already be over. Fade-out, cut to a storm. Wouldn’t that be great? .”

Director Giuseppe Tornatore’s beloved CINEMA PARADISO played in St. Louis at The Hi-Pointe (1005 McCausland Ave.) when it was new. It ran several weeks to big crowds. I saw it there several times during in its initial run. CINEMA PARADISO was such a perfect movie for the Hi-Pointe, which doesn’t look too much different than it did when it was built in 1922. . Something about its city locale, its nostalgia factor, its retro interior, and the fact that they sell wine by the bottle make me think that Tornatore would have been proud that his masterpiece screened there.

This weekend, starting July 3rd, CINEMA PARADISO will be back at The Hi-Pointe. After a 3 1/2 month shutdown, the theater has made the wonderful decision to open back up with this special film. Support films in theaters. Support the Hi-Pointe. It’s a St. Louis treasure. Showtimes Friday, July 3 – Sunday, July 5 are 4pm and 7pm. Check out The Hi-Pointe’s site HERE

A famous Italian filmmaker, haunted by the memories of his first love, returns to his hometown after an absence of 30 years. Upon his return, he reconnects with the community and remembers the highlights and tragedies that shaped his life and inspired him to follow his dream of becoming a filmmaker. His most cherished memories involve falling in love with the movies at the cinema of his home village and forming a deep friendship with the cinema’s projectionist. For those who have never seen CINEMA PARADISO…and those who have never forgotten it…director Giuseppe Tornatore’s cherished, Academy Award-winning motion picture will be back on the big screen at the Hi-Pointe

In case you missed it… ‘The Legend of 1900’

‘The Legend of 1900’ (La Leggenda del pianista sull’oceano, 1998) is one of those little gems that slipped through the cracks. This film was written and directed by the marvelously brilliant, yet sporadically working Italian storyteller Giuseppe Tornatore (Cinema Paradiso, Malena). Truth be told, I had heard of the film but never seen it until just recently when a friend and co-worker of mine had recommended this as a film he thought I would enjoy. So, now I’ve seen it and I have Zak to thank because this is a good movie with a great story.

‘The Legend of 1900’ begins with Max Tooney (Pruitt Taylor Vince) reluctantly entering a music shop near the docks, as if walking to his own death. Max plays the trumpet and he’s a darn good jazz musician, so the thought of selling his trumpet is like selling his very lungs. As he toils with the thought of letting his livelihood go, Max begins to tell the shopkeeper a story about the greatest piano player he’s ever heard, known simply as 1900, after hearing what he thought was a long lost phonograph matrix playing in the shop.

Tim Roth (Reservoir Dogs, Incredible Hulk) plays Danny Boodmann T.D. Lemon Nineteen Hundred, otherwise known as ‘1900’ for short. 1900 was abandoned as an infant on a cruise-liner and found by Danny Boodmann (Bill Nunn), a stoker for the ship’s steam engine. Danny raises 1900 as best he can and when he dies from a work related accident, 1900 ends up choosing to spend his entire life on the ship without ever setting foot on dry land.

Continue reading In case you missed it… ‘The Legend of 1900’

S.L.I.F.F. Review: ‘The Unknown Woman’

Jeremy:

It has been nearly 20 years since Giuseppe Tornatore directed his masterpiece, ‘Cinema Paradiso’, one of the most moving cinematic events this critic has ever experienced. Â  Since then, he has directed some decent yet forgettable films that never really supplanted nor even came up to the level of his earlier effort. Â  With ‘The Unknown Woman’, he takes his direction into the realm of Hitchcock. Â  That is, in subject matter only. Â  As far as execution, ‘The Unknown Woman’ isn’t quite on par with Hitchcock, but how can you really expect that?

‘The Unknown Woman’ is about a Ukrainian woman, Irena, played by the mature and hauntingly simplistic Xenia Rappoport, who moves to a city in northern Italy. Â  She works as a cleaning lady, yet she begins stalking the members of a well of family. Â  Irena quickly maneuvers herself, violently at times, into the position of nanny for the family’s daughter. Â  Who is this woman? Â  Why is she paying special attention to this family? Â  How far is she willing to go? Â  These are all questions that make up the backbone of this film’s story.

The less said about Irena’s past the better. Â  It is very clear early on as to where certain story arcs are going. Â  We are shown quick instances of flashbacks into Irena’s past, and most of it, as a puzzle, is easy to piece together. Â  In fact, as a mystery, ‘The Unknown Woman’ is nothing breathtaking. Â  There are certain “surprises” that come off half-cocked and not all together thought out. Â  The unraveling of the film’s mystery is not dealt with as tightly as you would hope, and, to that end, the story is nothing extraordinary.

Tornatore’s direction, on the other hand, is something to behold. Â  He has a way of holding the camera on certain characters or things, and, without movement, they seem to come to life. Â  Early on, we are shown an upward shot of a spiraling stairwell. Â  It’s a steady shot, and, in all honesty, it’s not a very innovative shot. Â  However, the spiral seems to be moving, and, for a split second, you get a sense of vertigo. Â  Tornatore, along with his cinematographer, Fabio Zamarion, is able to craft some beautiful shots while dealing with things that are otherwise commonplace or even boring.

Add to this the combination of Rappoport’s incredible performance and the beautiful music brought to us by the legendary Ennio Morricone, and you see the potential that ‘The Unknown Woman’ has. Â  Books are written about how incredibly articulate and moving Morricone’s music is. Â  With this film, he doesn’t hold back one bit, and it’s some of the most astonishing movie music heard all year.

Unfortunately, the story gets in the way of all of that. Â  The first half of the film is slow bordering on monotonous. Â  We are supposed to be trying all this time to figure out what is going on and who this woman really is, but those answers are easily sorted out far too quickly. Â  The second half of the film is where the tension is supposed to have been turned up to 11, but that isn’t the case either. Â  Instead, we are left dealing with a number of plot holes and certain character motivations that just seem downright ludicrous.

  ‘The Unknown Woman’ is a film that is beautiful to look at and beautiful to listen to.   Unfortunately, the faulty screenplay behind it doesn’t make the film that beautiful to think about.   In fact, ‘The Unknown Woman’ is a film whose story you will probably forget soon after leaving the theater.   As a director, Tornatore is still far above most others working today.   He just needs an above average script to guide him.

[Overall: 2.5 stars out of 5]

Festival Screening Date: Friday, November 14 @ 9:30 pm + Saturday, November 15 @ 6:45 pm (Frontenac)