Recently I’ve just screened a film
called Cinema Paradiso, an Italian
drama film that was released in 1988, and still viewed till this day. It is the
story of a young boy named Salvatore in Giancaldo, Sicily who has a love for
films and often visits the projection booth where he befriends the
projectionist Alfredo. Though Alfredo finds the boy a bit irritating at first, they
both eventually form close bond of love for each other, like a father and son
bond.
The
film starts with Salvatore as a grown middle-aged man who’s a successful film director
and his girlfriend tells him that his mother called to inform that Alfredo has
died, and when asked who he was, he starts to have flashbacks of his past and
we see what his life was like as a little boy till he grown into a young man.
The film has a very touching and deep story, and I believe it is a coming of
age story, where Salvatore experiences many hardships and happiness.
What
I find quite extraordinary and impressed was the use of the cinematography for
a drama genre film in 1988. I can tell that both the cinematographer and director
must have put a lot of thought and effort into this film in a specific and yet
ironically, the story of the film does most of its focus on cinematography. The
main character Salvatore always wanted to learn how the movie projector works. At
first Alfredo wouldn’t teach him because he believed that it wasn’t a fit life
for a young boy, warning him that it’s an endless job of misery with not much
to do, but the boy kept begging him until he eventually gave in and taught him.
These ongoing lessons strengthen the bond of the two, and Alfredo became his
mentor whenever he needed life advice. I noticed that there were many medium
close-up and close-up shots when showing the important characters of the film,
such as Salvatore, Alfredo, Elena and a few others.
I believe that they did that to show
the importance of these people, of how their roles have an impact to the film. If
you notice, the camera isn’t shot as well at the minor characters, even if they
focused on them, it would be for a brief moment for a particular reason. For example,
his sister wasn’t shown much and made a bit more appearances towards the end of
the film. When they show the scene when his house caught fire when returning
form a funeral, you see his little sister crying from the shock for a few
seconds and then the camera is turned away from her.
A scene that I found powerful was the
close-up shot of Salvatore and Elena kissing in the rain, with a great quality
focus on just those two as the rain in the background progresses.
A similar job was done when older Salvatore & Elena kissed for the first time in 30 years in the director’s cut version.
Upon learning a bit more about cinematography, I
realize that it’s a difficult and overwhelming job, though it’s worth the work,
but yet quite time consuming.
There are many things a cinematographer must know and learn to fulfill his or her role. From deciding what angle to use, to how the contrast should be, it’s an exciting challenge for them. 
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