Blog Post # 6 : Strictly Ballroom (1992) : A Comedic Version of "Step-Up"

Strictly Ballroom is a 1992 Australian romantic comedy film directed and co-written by Baz Luhrmann. The film, which was Luhrmann's first, is the first in his The Red Curtain Trilogy of theatre-motif-related films and was followed by Romeo + Juliet and Moulin Rouge!. This widely acclaimed movie was nominated for one Golden Globe award and won 19 other awards in Australia. The movie was rated 7.3/10 on IMDB and a whopping 95% on Rotten Tomatoes.  

The Musical

Plot :

Strictly Ballroom tells the story of an Australian ballroom dancer, Scott Hastings, and his struggle to establish his personal style of dance on his way to win the Pan-Pacific Grand Prix Dancing Championship. Scott's steps are not strictly ballroom. Scott comes from a family with a history of ballroom dancing and has been training since childhood. Scott's mother Shirley teaches ballroom dancing, and his father Doug meekly handles maintenance chores at the dance studio. After losing a competition to a rival pair, because Scott started dancing his own steps, his dancing partner Liz Holt leaves him for the rival male, Ken Railings, after his partner Pam Short breaks both her legs in a car accident. With only weeks before the next Pan-Pacific competition, try-outs begin to find Scott a new dance partner but, unknown to his parents, Scott secretly begins rehearsing with frumpy outsider Fran, a beginner dancer at his parents' studio. Scott is initially skeptical, but when Fran introduces 'pasodoble' steps into their routine, Scott realizes her potential. He walks her home one night and finds her Spanish family living in a tiny home next to the railway tracks, where Fran's family show him the authentic Spanish pasodoble style. As their rehearsals progress, Fran grows more attractive and self-confident. A few days before the Pan-Pacifics, Fran's family decide they are ready to dance pasodoble. Scott and Fran are walking together and talking until they kiss. When Scott returns to the dance studio, he finds Barry Fife, the conniving president of the Australian Dancing Federation who proceeds to tell him "the truth" about his parents, Doug and Shirley — they too were ballroom dancing champions, especially his father, until they lost the Pan-Pacific Grand Prix because of Doug's self-obsession and unorthodox dance steps. According to Barry losing the contest left Doug a broken man, sustained by the hope that one day his son would learn from his father's mistakes and win the Grand Prix. Scott is convinced to dance with Liz instead of Fran so he can win "for his father's sake". However, this is later revealed as a lie, as a part of Barry's plot to fix the competition so Scott and Liz will lose. Meanwhile, Scott starts training with Liz, while a heart-broken Fran goes back to the beginners' class. At the Pan-Pacific Grand Prix, Scott's friend Wayne Burns and his partner Vanessa Cronin overhear Fife talking to Ken and his partner Tina Sparkle saying that they will win no matter what. Wayne tells Les Kendall (Scott's coach, Doug and Shirley's friend and one of the judges) who then confronts Fife about it. Meanwhile, Doug finally manages to pull Scott aside and tells him the real story — Doug never danced at the competition because Barry convinced Shirley the only way to win was to dance the conventional steps with Les, but Shirley and Les lost the contest anyway. After hearing his father's revelation, Scott finds Fran and asks her to dance with him. Fife tries to cut the music and stop them from dancing but Scott's sister Kylie and her partner Luke (from the children's division) interfere until Fife's loyal companion Charm Leachman cuts the music. Fife then disqualifies them, but Doug, along with Fran's family, claps out a beat which encourages Scott and Fran to "dance from the heart", drawing cheers from the crowd and tears of joy from Doug. Finally, Liz, having had a change of heart, turns on Barry and Leachman and restores the music. The couple's spirited dancing brings down the house. Doug asks Shirley to dance with him and the whole audience joins them on the floor. As the performance finishes, Scott and Fran kiss, the competition forgotten, as it was never about winning or losing.

Analysis & Reflection :

"A life lived in fear is a life half-lived". Fran's family motto indicates the main theme in the movie, which is fear. In the movie, many of the characters have encountered fear in their lives, for example, Scott's mother, Shirley. Shirley was afraid of losing the Pan Pacific Grand Prix in her time by dancing with her husband, Doug, who insisted they dance unconventional moves, so she ended up dancing with Les; a decision that was influenced by Barry Fife. They lost the competition anyway, and was therefore very scared when Scott wanted to dance unconventional moves as well. The conniving villain in this movie, Barry Fife, despite his manipulative and intimidating exterior, also lived in constant fear. He was a popular dancing coach and teacher in the movie and when Doug and Scott both chose to dance unconventional moves, he (Barry) tried to stop it, going so far as to try to disqualify Scott from dancing his unconventional moves. This was because he intended to maintain the status quo and only taught strictly ballroom techniques of dancing. As he mentioned in the movie, if people had it in their heads that they could create their own dance moves like Scott did, there would be no more dance teachers around, and that would put him out of a job, or at the very least lower his status quo and significance in society.

OMG. Out of a job?

In addition to that, other recurring themes in this movie from a psychological perspective include conformity, compliance, and obedience. Firstly, conformity was seen in the form of every other dancer at the competition, for example, Liz Holt and Wayne Burns. They all were appalled at the idea of Scott trying new dance moves, and conformed to the general consensus in their dancing community that dancing ballroom only was the only acceptable option.

Yuck to those new dance moves.

Secondly, compliance was seen in the form of a deal made between Wayne and Barry Fife, where Wayne was to try and convince Scott to dance strictly ballroom and Barry was to help show Wayne a hidden technique for his bogo pogo dance. Liz was also portrayed as being compliant in the first competition at the start of the movie, following Scott's lead, where they lost the competition due to Scott dancing his unconventional moves.

Disclaimer : This is not about rape

Lastly, obedience was seen in the form of all dancers, following the rules of the competitions set forth by Barry Fife, the president of the Australian Dancing Federation, with the exception of Scott and Fran. On the contrary, the latter two are more involved with disobedience, with Fran sneaking out and going to the competition anyway, going against her father's orders, and Scott rebelling throughout the whole movie, with his dream of dancing his new moves.

Warning : Rebelling can do this to you

Beginner Dancer

They will never find us up here

Conclusion :

This movie is a good mix of comedy, emotional moments, and good looking individuals, so I would highly recommend watching it. The whole concept of going against social norms to achieve one's dreams might be a cliche' in movies in this day and age, but back then when this movie was released, it was a unique piece of animation. The movie would also really appeal to those who love dance, romantic flicks, or have had experiences in their teenage years rebelling against parents and society on the path of achieving their own dreams. "A life lived in fear is a life half-lived" indeed. This movie teaches us that we only have one life to live, so live it well :)

YOLOOOOO

Rating : 7/10     

The best moves are the ones you make on your own

Blog Post # 5 : Eat Drink Man Woman (1994) : Review

This film, released worldwide in the year 1994, was the first ever box office success of famous Taiwanese director Ang Lee. The film received the Asia Pacific Film Festival Award for Best Film in 1994, and in 1995 it received an Academy Award Nomination for Best Foreign Language Film. IMDB rates this film 7.8/10 and Rotten Tomatoes a whopping 93%.

Movie Review Blog Caption

Plot :

The setting is 1990s contemporary Taipei, Taiwan. Mr. Chu, a widower who is a master Chinese chef, has three unmarried daughters, each of whom challenges any narrow definition of traditional Chinese culture. The oldest daughter, Chu Jia-Jen, is a school teacher nursing a broken heart who converted to Christianity. Chu Jia-Chien , the middle daughter, is a fiercely independent airline executive who carries her father's culinary legacy, but never got to pursue that passion. Lastly, Chu Jia-Ning, the youngest, is a college student who meets her friend's on-again off-again ex-boyfriend and starts a relationship with him. Each Sunday Mr. Chu makes a glorious banquet for his daughters, but the dinner table is also the family forum, or perhaps “torture chamber,” to which each daughter brings “announcements” as they negotiate the transition from the traditional “father knows best” style to a new tradition which encompasses old values in new forms.

Analysis & Reflection :

First of all, the name of the movie, "eat drink man woman" as explained in a scene in the movie by Mr Chu, referred to the natural basic desires of man, in this context 'eat' referring to meat, and 'drink' to wine, while 'man woman' referred to sexual desires. All these could be classified under 'physiological or biological needs, according to Maslow's hierarchy of needs. It is the basic form of needs humans have in order to survive, and should be viewed as a natural occurrence, hence the meaning of the movie's title. 

Sexual desires are a part of life

In this movie, there were many key points that set it apart from the rest, for example, the father, Mr. Chu, started off as a typical Chinese man and father. But, as the story developed he was seen to be not as traditional as the stereotypical traditional Chinese father in classic Chinese movies. This was seen with how he faced with his first and third daughters' relationship when Jia-Jen and Jia-Ning blurted out the news from nowhere during their usual Sunday banquet dinner. After they confessed to having a baby and being already married, he calmly wished them well and saw them off to their new life with their new partners. A typical Chinese father would have forbidden their daughters from having a relationship with another unknown person. Mr. Chu's reaction to the situation was portrayed as silently accepting and him giving his blessings to them out of love.

A baby? Is it a son?

The Chinese would usually express themselves through body language, facial emotions, and the action of concern to each other which makes us behavioral interdependence instead of affective interdependence. Therefore, we usually take for granted for what has been there without much interest until one expresses what was really inside their hearts. One of these was shown by the interaction with the first and second daughter while washing plates. Biologically a male, it would be harder for a man to read the emotions of a woman, but Mr Chu manages to understand his daughters feelings and emotions towards his food and also does laundry for his daughters, which in Asian culture, is rare.

The things I do for love :')

To me, the most heartwarming father to daughter relationship theme in the film was how he wakes every daughter up before and after his morning jogs. I believe after seeing all his daughters settled down and having their own family and goals, he, himself decided to pursue his own future by announcing his unexpected relationship with Jin-Rong. Knowing about the Holland project (Jia-Chien's Amsterdam promotion), he made up his mind to sell the house and led a new life where I believe it was to make Jia-Chien less obliged to him and strive for a better future.

Go. Live your life.

All in all, Bronfenbrenner's ecological theory would explain the heavy aspect of culture in this film, in terms of the difference in culture contrasting to the stereotypical norm. The ecological theory explains that each individual is affected by their 'systems' as they develop into adults, and as mentioned before above, Mr Chu is a man who goes against the stereotypical norms of the Chinese culture; hence, there is reason to believe that Mr Chu raised his three daughters with his values, and that formed their current personality as well. 

Conclusion :

This movie is a heartwarming one, consisting of various themes like filial piety, the value of family, love and sex, and the beauty of food. Thus, watching this movie when one is terribly hungry is not advised. :)

YUUUUUUUUUUMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

Rating : 7.5/10 

Blog Post # 4 : Gandhi (1982) : The Legend

This is the largely acclaimed biographical film of the legendary Indian leader, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, also known as Mahatma Gandhi. This 3-hour long movie received 11 Oscar nominations and won a staggering 8 Oscars, cementing it's place in history as one of the best films of all time. It is rated 8.1/10 on IMDB and 88% on Rotten Tomatoes.

That feeling when a nation rallies behind you

Plot :

The film begins on the day of Gandhi's assassination on 30 January 1948, where after an evening prayer, an elderly Gandhi is helped out for his evening walk to meet a large number of greeters and admirers. One of these visitors, Nathuram Godse, shoots him point blank in the chest. Gandhi exclaims, "Oh, God!" and then falls dead. The film then cuts to a huge procession at his funeral, which is attended by dignitaries from around the world. The movie then proceeds to a flash back of his entire life, starting with the faithful incident that started it all in 1893, where the 23-year-old Gandhi is thrown off a South African train for being an Indian sitting in a first-class compartment despite having a first-class ticket. Realising the laws are biased against Indians, he then decides to start a non-violent protest campaign for the rights of all Indians in South Africa. After numerous arrests and unwelcome international attention, the government finally relents by recognising some rights for Indians. After this victory, Gandhi is invited back to India, where he is now considered something of a national hero. He is urged to take up the fight for India's independence from the British Empire. Gandhi agrees, and mounts a non-violent non-cooperation campaign of unprecedented scale, coordinating millions of Indians nationwide. There are some setbacks, such as violence against the protesters and Gandhi's occasional imprisonment. Nevertheless, the campaign generates great attention, and Britain faces intense public pressure. After World War II, Britain finally grants Indian independence. Indians celebrate this victory, but their troubles are far from over. The country is subsequently divided by religion. It is decided that the northwest area and the eastern part of India (current-day Bangladesh), both places where Muslims are in the majority, will become a new country called Pakistan. It is hoped that by encouraging the Muslims to live in a separate country, violence will abate. Gandhi is opposed to the idea, and is even willing to allow Muhammad Ali Jinnah to become the first prime minister of India, but the Partition of India is carried out nevertheless. Religious tensions between Hindus and Muslims erupt into nationwide violence. Horrified, Gandhi declares a hunger strike, saying he will not eat until the fighting stops. The fighting does stop eventually, but Gandhi is now too weak. Gandhi spends his last days trying to bring about peace between both nations. He thereby angers many dissidents on both sides, one of whom (Godse) is involved in a conspiracy to assassinate him. As Godse shoots Gandhi in a scene seen at the start of the movie, the film cuts to black and Gandhi is heard in a voice-over, saying "Oh, God!" The audience then sees Gandhi's cremation; the film ending with a scene of Gandhi's ashes being scattered on the holy Ganga.

Analysis & Reflection :

Whilst watching the movie, it is apparent that the whole theme of the movie is of the prejudice and discrimination against the Indians by the British, and it is precisely this that fuels Gandhi's passion to try to gain independence for India and equality through non-violent means. First of all, prejudice is an unjustified or incorrect attitude (usually negative) towards an individual based solely on the individual’s membership of a social group. On the other hand, discrimination is the behavior or action(s), usually negative, towards an individual or group of people, especially on the basis of sex/race/social class, etc. Racial discrimination and social class discrimination are very evident in this movie. 

Prejudice includes all three components of an attitude, namely Affective (A), Behavioural (B), and Cognitive (C) of the ABC model while discrimination only includes the behavioural component. The affective component consists of the emotions felt by someone, and in the context of this movie, an example could be "I am disgusted by Indians". The behavioural component is how one behaves when influenced by the attitude we have, which in the context of this movie could be "I will kick an Indian out of the train if I see one in the first-class department". Lastly, the cognitive component is the set of beliefs that a person has, for example, "I think Indians are inferior to British people'. All these components explained the attitude of the guards at the train, which ultimately led to them kicking Gandhi out of the train, which is an act of discrimination.  

Don't discriminate :)

Throughout the movie, Gandhi is presented as a humble individual and as the movie progresses to its end, Mahatma looks frail but his message is not shaken and he does not easily give up on what he has fought for. His resilience and consistency as well as an unraveled desire and quest for truth pays off in the end when the government of South Africa recognizes Indian rights after international pressure. Through this movie, I have learned that the use of violence is not the only option. This is especially the case when in the modern world, nations and some extremist groups are resulting to the use of force to make their stand known on a wide variety of issues. Through this movie, Gandhi can convince a lot of people that victory can be achieved without any kind of violence and other unrighteous tactics. He also shows that all of the people in this world are always in a great need for equality, in order to achieve the prosperous and blissful life.

Gandhi always instills the thought that no individual should be discriminated against based on their race, societal status, religion, sex and color. These values instilled within him might also have come from the ABC model of attitude, with his life experiences (such as being kicked off the train) influencing and creating his feelings (A), and his beliefs (C) that ultimately fueled his behaviour (B) (as seen in the movie).

Conclusion :

This movie brought me to the realization that we are all equal human beings and hence the social segregations we are accustomed to need not exist. In the movie, Gandhi is occasionally imprisoned for his convictions but his unfailing fighting spirit convinces me that no challenge is so great that it cannot be overcome by someone who works and tries their hardest to achieve what is desired. Furthermore, not only does Gandhi succeed through relentlessness and resilience, he also achieves it through non-violent means, which suggests that there is yet hope for world peace on Earth.

Non-violence is the best thing on Earth

 Rating : 8/10

It's always okay, cause in the end YOU WIN.

Blog Post # 3 : Running On Empty (1988) : A Family Underground

So this is the third movie blog post, and it seems that like the first two movies watched (see previous blog posts), this third one was a heartwarming one too. This suggests a trend for future movies to be watched as the semester progresses, but it's okay, since I love movies with a heartwarming ending :). "Running on Empty" is the masterpiece of director Sidney Lumet ; one which earned 2 Oscar nominations and won 5 other various awards. The movie was rated 7.7/10 on IMDB and 85% on Rotten Tomatoes.

When you don't wanna run no more

Plot :
The story revolves around parents Annie and Arthur Pope who in the 1970s were responsible for the anti-war protest bombing of a napalm laboratory which accidentally resulted in a janitor who wasn't supposed to be there ending up being blinded and paralyzed. They've been on the run ever since, relying on an underground network of friends who help them financially and other services, such as dental. At the time of the incident, their son Danny was two years old and he is portrayed in his late teens in this movie. At the start of the movie, him and his family (along with younger brother Harry) are again relocating and assuming new identities. As the film progresses, Danny's overwhelming talent playing the piano catches the attention of his music teacher at school, and this causes the teacher to pry into Danny's personal life, particularly questioning why records from his previous school are unobtainable. While he pushes Danny to audition for famous university for performing arts, Juilliard, Danny also falls in love with Lorna, the teacher's teenage daughter. As the pressure to have his own life and realize his own dreams intensifies, Danny reveals his family secret to Lorna. Meanwhile, Annie finds out about Danny's audition, and begins to come to terms with the fact that she must let her son go and find his 'own' way. This does not sit well with Arthur, even as Annie risks their safety to contact her estranged father and arrange a home and life for Danny if they should decide to leave him behind. In the end, when Arthur hears on the radio that one of their underground colleagues has been shot and killed running from the authorities, he realizes that it is better for his son to pursue his dreams than to continue living a dangerous life on the run for which he bears no responsibility. Arthur then asks Danny to stay behind and heads off for their next identity in a new town.

Analysis & Reflection :

When watching the movie, two major themes came to mind, which were family, and love. The whole movie focused on the importance of family and how it influenced decisions made in the film. For example, Danny wanted to pursue a life of his own and go to Julliard, but he did not want to abandon his family and as he said in the movie, his dad needed him. This act of unselfishness showed the importance of family to him up to the point where it was prioritized over his dreams of going to Julliard. This is because family systems are built on the foundation of love, attachment, loyalty, and trust, which in turn fulfills safety and status needs, according to the psychology of family. Another example in the film included Arthur saying that they 'exist as a unit', which indicates that his family was the coping mechanism employed by him in coping with the situation. It could also be seen how important family was to Annie, up to the point where she loved Danny so much that she tried to make plans for Danny to go to Julliard to live a better life than he was currently living, even at the risk of possibly never being able to see him again. 

In this movie, there were two types of love displayed, namely passionate love, and companionate love. Obviously, passionate love existed between Danny and Lorna in the film, and their relationship showed that the love that existed between them two affected and influenced Danny's decision in telling her about his family's secret, knowing that it was dangerous. On the other hand, companionate love refers to the love he has for his family, which has already been discussed in the paragraph above.

In addition to the two themes mentioned, Erik Erikson's theory of development also can be used to explain certain events in the movie. This can be seen when Danny starts to have the desire to 'live his own life' and discover what he wants to do in his life but is yet hesitant to leave his family behind. His conflicting desires indicate that he is in Erikson's stage of identity vs role confusion, in which Danny tries to discover and decide his path in life.

Ciao

Furthermore, his (Danny) relationship with Lorna also indicates that he is experiencing the intimacy vs isolation stage of Erikson's theory, in which he starts to fall in love with a person, and as shown in the movie, the effects and influence of this crucial stage of development on an individual's decisions and outlook on life.

Conclusion :
A heavy emphasis on the importance of family this movie has, so after watching it, viewers might have a sudden urge to hug their family members. Furthermore, the movie has good plot and acting, so it is definitely worth watching, if not as a remembrance of talented actor River Phoenix.

The Popes : 90s-Pop-Album-Cover-Pose

Rating : 7 /10

There , done.

  

Blog Post # 2 : Awakenings (1990) : An eye-opening experience

It is the time of the week again, and this time the movie watched is a tragic one, depicting the real-life experiences of neurologist Oliver Sacks in hospitals and dealing with mental patients, starring famous actors Robin Williams and Robert De Niro. Sounds familiar? It probably should, since this movie got 3 Oscar nominations according to IMDB and was rated 7.8/10 on the same site and 88% on Rotten Tomatoes.

There is no such thing as a simple miracle

Plot : 
In the year 1969, Dr. Malcolm Sayer (Robin Williams) gets a job at a local hospital in the Bronx, New York City. After working extensively with catatonic patients who have been diagnosed with encephalitis lethargica, he discovers that there are certain stimuli that can elicit a reflex reaction beyond their catatonic states from the patients, such as ball-throwing and listening to certain types of music. He also discovers that a patient, Leonard Lowe (Robert De Niro), is able to communicate with him via an Ouija board. After attending a conference, Dr, Sayer has the idea of trying to use a new drug, L-Dopa to help his own group of patients, all of which end up successful. Leonard completely 'awakens' from his catatonic state and Dr. Sayer tries to get donors to fund the medication for all the other catatonic patients. Meanwhile, Leonard experiences the simple things in his life that he never has had the chance to : walking, making his own decisions, and love. Slowly, Leonard starts to resent the restrictions placed upon him and demands more freedom. In the midst of Leonard's rebellion against his doctors, he starts displaying tics and slowly starts to suffer full body spasms, up to the point when he can't move. In the end, all the other catatonic patients slowly revert back to their catatonic, regardless of the dosage amount of L-Dopa administered. The movie ends with Dr. Sayer standing behind Leonard with his hands on Leonard's on an Ouija board, and him saying "Let's Begin".

Analysis & Reflection :
At the beginning of the film, when Dr. Sayer entered into the local hospitals and the states and condition of the mental patients were shown, with mass hysteria and then moments of silence and blank stares from the catatonic patients being displayed, I thought I was watching a horror movie. Furthermore, with a name like "awakenings" and me being an avid movie buff, I assumed that the plot was about exorcisms and spiritual possessions. But enough about me, let's talk about the movie. There were many events that occurred in the plot throughout the movie, for example, the catatonic patients discovery that they were already old and not as young as they were back when they contracted encephalitis lethargica. Their reactions all provoked a thought within me : what if I were to have undergone a similar process? What would I do if I woke up one day and found myself a 22-year old man in a 60-year old body? This brought to mind Erik Erikson's theory of development. As stated in the theory, us humans go through the stages of development as we age and mature throughout our whole lives. This being said, Leonard is a school-age kid who wakes up 30 years later in an adult's body, and he has had no prior training or experience for his new role in life, making it a terrifying experience, as seen by another patient's reaction, in which the woman said, "I just can't imagine being older than 22. I have no experience at it. I know it isn't 1926, I just need it to be". These reactions would indicate that the patients would most likely be in the identity vs identity diffusion stage, in which they start to discover their new self-identities.

Another key point in the movie that can be associated with the same theory is when Leonard takes a liking to Paula, a patient's daughter who visits. This indicates that Leonard is in the stage of intimacy vs isolation, and is discovering young adult love for the first time in his life. 

Another theory by Orbuch & Veroff in 2002 stated that physical attractiveness, apart from similarity, proximity, and familiarity (mere exposure) are also determinants of interpersonal attraction and Paula fits all four determinants, making this theory a valid explanation of why Leonard took a liking to Paula.

How's this for close proximity?

Conclusion :
This movie ultimately teaches us to appreciate the simple things in life. As Dr. Malcolm Sayer spoke towards the end of the movie, it might have looked like only the doctors were giving the patients awakening, but in turn, the patients gave the doctors and nurse a new sense of awakening, that being the behaviour of humans taking the simple things in life for granted, with it only pointed out when contrasted with a catatonic patient's mindset.

This movie also changes our perspectives on catatonic patients and people with mental or physical disorders in general, showing that things are not always as it seems.

Very clearly awake

Rating : 7.5/10

Thank you for reading. See you in the next blog post!! :)

                                                                      

                                                                        References :

Orbuch, T. L., & Veroff, J. (2002). A programmatic review: Building a two-way bridge between social psychology and the study of the early years of marriage. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 19(4), 549-568. doi: 10.1177/0265407502019004053

Blog Post # 1 : Cinema Paradiso (1988) - Cinephilia at it's finest

It is said that movies can wield a strange power over those who sit in the darkened seats of a theatre. The truly great ones manipulate your perception of reality, suspend your disbelief, and ultimately either alter or affirm your view on life. If ever there was a movie that came from the heart, it would be the famous 'Cinema Paradiso' directed by Giuseppe Tornatore. Originally called 'Nuovo Cinema Paradiso', the film was released internationally as 'Cinema Paradiso'. This movie received critical acclaim and was rated 8.5/10 on movie site IMDB and 90% on Rotten Tomatoes. 

If you like foreign movies, this is a must-watch. If you don't, watch it all the same.

Plot :
Cinema Paradiso tells the tale of a young boy, Salvatore, also nicknamed Toto, who finds passion in cinematography in a village called Giancaldo, Sicily, and befriends the local projectionist, Alfredo. The movie starts with an older Salvatore receiving news from his girlfriend that Alfredo has passed away. Salvatore then recalls his past, when he was a kid. It was through Alfredo, Salvatore learned to fall in love with cinematography and the movie magic that was the village's main source of entertainment. The movies screened at the cinema were missing scenes that were cut off or censored by Alfredo, accommodating to the local pastor's wishes. Seeing Toto's love for movies, Alfredo then teaches him to operate the projection booth. When Alfredo unfortunately gets blinded by fire emanating from the highly flammable nitrate film reels, it is up to Toto to operate the projection booth in his stead. He (Toto) grows up and meets a new girl, Elena, the daughter of a wealthy banker, in his school. Eventually, after countless efforts on his part, she succumbs to his advances and they become romantically involved. Toto eventually has to enlist in the military and in that time, Elena's family moves away to an unknown location, rendering all his efforts to write to her fruitless. Alfredo then urges Toto to leave Giancaldo permanently to achieve his dreams, and to forget everyone and everything in the village; to never turn back. The film then fast forwards to the funeral. Before Salvatore leaves to return to Rome, Alfredo's widow hands him an unlabeled film reel (Alfredo left it for him), which he watches when he gets back to Rome. Cinema Paradiso ends as the movie reel, containing all the censored scenes from the past, ends on the screen with a teary Salvatore after watching it.

Analysis & Reflection :


There are many key points in the film to discuss, so let's start from the beginning. At the start of the movie, it is implied that Salvatore shies away from committed relationships, as his mother does not even recognize the voice of his girlfriend. To quote her, "Everytime I call you, it is a different woman picking up the call". This could stem from Salvatore's tragic past experiences, in which he lost the love of his life, Elena. This could have caused Salvatore to avoid committed relationships due to the fear of being hurt again.

What is love? :'(

Another key psychological scene was when Toto managed to put in the film reels and project them on the cinema screen whilst Alfredo was distracted. He had no prior lessons and had just learned via observational learning. This behaviour displays the social learning theory that Albert Bandura famously introduced to the world of psychology in 1971.

Smart eh? I learned it watching you :D

A major key point was when Alfredo forcefully urges Salvatore to leave Giancaldo and forget everyone and everything in the village. In psychology, role models are essential and seeing Alfredo as a father figure (the father he never had), he consented and left to pursue his dreams.  Hence, Alfredo was the one that made the decision for Toto and he has indeed lived a life of success, but at the cost of his friends and family. When he left Giancaldo to pursue his dreams, he did not contact anyone at all in his village, true to Alfredo's instructions, for over 30 years. This means that although Salvatore led a successful life in the end, it was most probably a lonely one, which begs the question, "Was Alfredo right in making Salvatore walk this path?".   

Wearing sunglasses because Toto's future is too bright

Lastly, the finale. The final scene ended as inexplicably as it began, with Salvatore watching the movie montage that Alfredo made for him. What I got from the ending was a sense of closure, in the sense that Salvatore left his whole life behind to achieve success, and in the end, he realized while he was watching the movie that the deluge of concentrated ardor depicted on the screen acts as a forceful yet simple reminder of the one thing that has been missing from his life ever since he lost his one true love, Elena; passion in love. 

In addition to that, the last bequeathment from Alfredo to Toto indicated that the deal was complete due to the two conditions being fulfilled, one, Salvatore leaving Giancaldo, and two, the film was to stay in Alfredo's possession. In the end, Salvatore's tears when as he watched the tape could have been a reaction to the experiences in his life ( the lost love & last bequeathment). That scene, depending on how one interprets it, was probably the most moving scene in the entire movie to me.

Kissing? STILL UNACCEPTABLE

Conclusion :
As seen in this movie, cinemas were much more popular back in the day. In this technological day and age, movies are streamed online, sold as VCDs and DVDs, and even pirated. People still go to the cinema to watch movies for the experience, but the cost usually deters viewers. Even then, people who watch movies in cinemas do not appreciate the cinematic experience as much as they used to, with so many forms of entertainment available nowadays. I, for one still love watching movies in cinemas, and rather watch movies in cinemas than on television or online. In cinemas are where the magic is, now and forever. If you have not noticed by now, I really liked watching this movie and strongly recommend it, totally not biased due to my cinephilia.

Rating : 8.5/10 

Best. Movie. Ever.