"if U have to watch 1 movie..watch cinema paradiso ....that is one movie very special to me..rafis kadir"

Whichever Cinema Paradiso you watch, the long or the short, it's a magical and emotional example of filmmaking at its finest.

Cinema Paradiso tells the story of Salvatore (nicknamed Toto), a boy who grew up fatherless in a small Sicilian village in the forties and fifties. Now a successful film director, he returns home for the funeral of Alfredo, his old friend who was projectionist at the local cinema throughout Salvatore's childhood. Memories come flooding back as he remembers his love affair with the beautiful Elena.

The film flows like a love letter, capturing the very magic behind cinema. Through the story we discover how vital movies can be in the lives of ordinary people. We see how dynamically films were changing during the old glory days of Hollywood.

Director Giuseppe Tornatore chose to film Cinema Paradiso in his hometown of Bagheria, a worthy setting considering he also wrote the film as what is essentially a semi-autobiographical account of his early life.

Cinema Paradiso is a foreign film that crosses language barriers to bring its evocative celebration of cinema into the hearts of its viewers. Winner of the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar, it is a must-see for anyone who loves the movies.

"Cinema Paradiso is a wonderful film, completely faultless. Direction: perfect. Acting: perfect. Script, cinematography, editing, musical score: perfect. All the awards that it won - Cannes Grand Jury Prize, foreign language Oscar, five Baftas, and countless others - were richly deserved. Any that it didn't win must have been a fix. Cinema Paradiso is perfect... "

"As a well known Italian film director returns home for the funeral of an old friend, he remembers his early life encompassing his love affair with the beautiful Elena, devotion to movies and friendship with Alfredo, projectionist at the Cinema Paradiso..."

****from WIKIPEDIA:

Nuovo Cinema Paradiso (1989) is an Italian film written and directed by Giuseppe Tornatore. It was internationally released as Cinema Paradiso in the U.S. and France.
It was originally released in Italy at 155 minutes. Due to poor box office performance in its native country, it was shortened to 123 minutes for international release. This version won the Special Jury Prize at the 1989 Cannes Film Festival and the 1989 Best Foreign Language Film Oscar. In 2002, the director's cut 173-minute version was released (known in the U.S. as Cinema Paradiso: The New Version).
It stars Jacques Perrin, Philippe Noiret, Leopoldo Trieste, Marco Leonardi, Agnese Nano, and Salvatore Cascio.
It was produced by Franco Cristaldi and Giovanna Romagnoli, and the music was by Ennio Morricone.
Told in flashback, it tells the story of the return to his native Sicilian village of a successful film director "Salvatore" for the funeral of his old friend "Alfredo", who was the projectionist at the local "Cinema Paradiso".