Cinema Paradiso
Cinema Paradiso is set shortly after World War II in Salvatore Di Vita’s hometown of Sicily. Salvatore, nicknamed Toto, is a small child with a love for film who creates a close friendship with Alfredo, the cinema’s projectionist.
Youth, the first theme we will discuss involves the trials and tribulations Toto goes through at the start of the movie. Toto has lived at least a few years without a father figure as his father went away to fight in World War II. After the war, however, his father does not return as explained in Toto’s conversation with his mother when he asks, “Mama, if the wars is over, why doesn’t Papa come back?” (16:21). So Toto is fatherless, not only during the years since the war, but also however long it had been since …show more content…
In the first few minutes of the film we see that Toto is a grown man and has not been home to his village in Sicily in 30 years. Upon hearing that his mother has rung to inform him of Alfredo’s passing the film takes a “look back” at Toto’s life from his viewpoint as a child. He relives all the memories that made such an impact in his life and realizes that those memories are the exact reason he has become such a successful director.
Some political and social issues that affect the story are the fact that it is just a few short years after World War II, Toto is the son of a widower who still holds out hope for her husband’s return, and the townspeople, along with Alfredo, can see that the family is suffering.
These issues affect the characters of the play in many ways. As stated previous Toto is fatherless because of World War II, and even though his mother refuses to believe it, Toto knows he is not coming back. He tells her this after getting trouble for a fire starting from his movie clippings. His mother expresses her wish for her husband to come home so he can beat Toto because of the fire and Toto replies, “Papa won’t come home and I know why. He’s dead” (30:27). His mother is just as affected by her husband’s absence and has a false sense of hope that he will return, which she expresses to Toto by saying, “That’s not true. You’ll see. He’ll come back”
Youth, the first theme we will discuss involves the trials and tribulations Toto goes through at the start of the movie. Toto has lived at least a few years without a father figure as his father went away to fight in World War II. After the war, however, his father does not return as explained in Toto’s conversation with his mother when he asks, “Mama, if the wars is over, why doesn’t Papa come back?” (16:21). So Toto is fatherless, not only during the years since the war, but also however long it had been since …show more content…
In the first few minutes of the film we see that Toto is a grown man and has not been home to his village in Sicily in 30 years. Upon hearing that his mother has rung to inform him of Alfredo’s passing the film takes a “look back” at Toto’s life from his viewpoint as a child. He relives all the memories that made such an impact in his life and realizes that those memories are the exact reason he has become such a successful director.
Some political and social issues that affect the story are the fact that it is just a few short years after World War II, Toto is the son of a widower who still holds out hope for her husband’s return, and the townspeople, along with Alfredo, can see that the family is suffering.
These issues affect the characters of the play in many ways. As stated previous Toto is fatherless because of World War II, and even though his mother refuses to believe it, Toto knows he is not coming back. He tells her this after getting trouble for a fire starting from his movie clippings. His mother expresses her wish for her husband to come home so he can beat Toto because of the fire and Toto replies, “Papa won’t come home and I know why. He’s dead” (30:27). His mother is just as affected by her husband’s absence and has a false sense of hope that he will return, which she expresses to Toto by saying, “That’s not true. You’ll see. He’ll come back”