Cinema Paradiso

Cinema Paradiso tells the tale of renowned Italian film director Salvatore Di Vita, chronicling his life in the small town of Giancaldo from childhood until his ultimate departure in early adulthood.  The following post will explore several themes and concepts that were prominent in the film.

Death and All His Friends

The movie revolves around a few of the great inevitabilities in life, including heartbreak and death.  Told in the form of a flashback, it is the news of Alfredo’s death that provides the impetus for Salvatore’s reminiscence.  As the audience soon discovers, death has also claimed his father in the recent war.  As a young boy, Salvatore (then affectionately referred to as Toto) develops an interesting relationship with Alfredo, a projectionist at Cinema Paradiso.  At times, Alfredo would appear as a mentor to Toto, guiding him through the inner workings of the projection room at Paradiso; during others, it seemed as if man and boy were both of the same age at heart.  

Alfredo: Mentor, confidante, friend.

Undoubtedly, Alfredo was seen as a father-figure in Toto’s life.  Whether this relationship was due to the death of Toto’s father was not made clear in the film; however, this is typical in children who have experienced the loss of a parent, as there tends to be a shift from grief reactions to a search for acceptance and of replacement persons (Yates, 1985).  Taking into account a number of factors including developmental constraints, bereavement and grief manifest themselves differently in children than they do in adults.  According to Nagy (as cited in Yates, 1985), a child’s comprehension of death can be categorized into three different stages: whereby death is seen as reversible (Stage 1), whereby death is understood to be final but is something that only happens to others (Stage 2), whereby death is perceived as final, inevitable, and associated with the cessation of bodily activities (Stage 3).  It is likely that young Toto falls under Stage 3 of this model as he demonstrated the understanding that his father was dead and would not be returning from the war, even as his mother continued to hold out hope to the contrary.  Although the death of his father did not appear to have a lasting impact on Toto, it could be that Toto and Alfredo’s relationship began as a means for the boy to cope with the loss.

Monkey See, Monkey Do

Under Alfredo's tutelage, Toto learns the know-hows of being a projectionist. From casual observation to becoming Cinema Paradiso's very own projectionist after Alfredo's accident, Toto's acquisition of this skill is reflective of the Observational Learning model. According to Bandura (1974), observational learning involves four processes: attention, memory, initiation, and motivation. Toto had watched Alfredo at work on numerous occasions and could even replicate his actions to a certain degree, indicating attention and memory. Initiation refers to one's physical and mental ability to reproduce the model's actions, which Toto did indeed demonstrate. Finally, an individual must possess the necessary motivation to execute the action, and Toto was more than willing to operate the equipment in the projection room; thus resulting in successful reproduction of Alfredo's actions.

“Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn.”

Today: Tomorrow’s Nostalgia

Nostalgia is a theme that pervades the film from start to finish.  Toto’s nostalgia is clustered and undefined. He sees much in his childhood that he has since lost: a sense of belonging both to a family and a community, his lost-love, Elena, and his youthful passion.  However, these distinct ideas are all subsumed under the cinema because it is the context that made them all possible. For this reason, it is the cinema and its facility for moments of collective transcendence that affects this feeling of nostalgia in the audience.  

Nostalgia is oftentimes akin to a double-edged sword, with a pleasant experience capable of resulting in either positive or negative feelings.  Alfredo knew that Toto would not be able to move on to greater things if he kept reliving his time at Paradiso and Giancaldo. Boym (2002) identified two distinct types of nostalgia, restorative nostalgia (involving a desire to relive special moments) and reflective nostalgia (involving the acceptance that the past is behind us).  At the end of the film, Salvatore is visibly emotional upon viewing Alfredo’s film reel, which contains all of the romantic scenes the priest had ordered to be cut from movies.  As he savours the emotions evoked from the recollection of his time in Giancaldo, it is safe to assume that Salvatore is experiencing reflective nostalgia.  Reflective nostalgia revels in the fact that a memory is untouched by the present, existing solely within our minds for us to experience.  

"There is no greater sorrow than to recall a happy time when sorrow." -Dante

Despite its earlier classification as a form of psychosis, nostalgia has been shown to counteract loneliness, boredom and anxiety (Batcho, 2013).  It has also been known to increase one's sense of social support and connections, as well as enhancing an individual’s self-regard.  Ultimately, it is one’s attitude toward the past that influences its impact on us.

References

Bandura, A. (1974). Behavior theory and the models of man. American Psychologist, 29(12), 859. Retrieved from

http://www.uky.edu/~eushe2/BanduraPubs/Bandura1974AP.pdf

Batcho, K. I. (2013). Nostalgia: retreat or support in difficult times?. The American Journal of Psychology, 126(3), 355-367.

Boym, S. (2002). The future of nostalgia. Basic Books. Retrieved from https://books.google.com.my/books?id=7BbTJ6qVPMcC&lpg=PR7&ots=XVCJdG8jSK&dq=The%20Future%20of%20Nostalgia%2C%20Svetlana%20Boym&lr&pg=PA3#v=onepage&q&f=false

Yates, A. (1985). Bereavement: Reactions, Consequences, and Care. Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, 139(7), 678. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK217849/