You Really Want to Read Rebecca Redshaw’s “Picture This!”

Business is tough. The movie business is even tougher…

By Rebecca Redshaw

Reprinted from NotesFromHollywood.com

Business is tough. The movie business is even tougher because in addition to putting your money on the table, your heart and soul take hits as well.

“Don’t call us, we’ll call you.” “We’re not taking on any new talent at this point.” “The director liked you for the part, but the studio insisted on a package deal with the agency.”

Door slams and unreturned phone calls become routine and when you finally do get a break, your footage winds up on the cutting room floor.

Just when you begin to think the movie business stinks, along comes a film like “Cinema Paradiso” to remind you of its magic.

Originally released by Miramax in 1988, this movie triggers the real reason most of us got into this business in the first place and is definitely worth a second look.

Sensitively directed by Giuseppe Tornatore, Alfredo, the illiterate projectionist is befriended by the fatherless, precocious Toto. The Cinema Paradiso is the war torn Italian village’s only source of entertainment and people of all ages marvel at the images on the silver screen.

The Catholic priest, acting as sole (and soul) censor makes certain no one is exposed to the sinfulness of the movies. (Now, of course, the good father would barely be able to screen a short if he snipped out what he determined to be “racy.”)

In the movie, the boy grows up, the town changes, and the importance of the movie house fades. But somehow in spite of life’s many disappointments, the magic of film is never lost on Toto. Me either.

NOTE: The picture was re-released this year on DVD as a Director’s Cut with forty-eight additional minutes. I thought it was a tad too long at the original 123 minutes.