The Techniques of Cinema Paradiso

English

Q: Explain how the techniques used by the author were effective in shaping your understanding of the central ideas in Cinema Paradiso.

Cinema Paradiso is about a character in his middle years reflecting on the influences on his life as he grew up in a small village. Flashbacks, bells, movie clips, lighting, imagery and silence were all used in Cinema Paradiso were effective tools in helping to shape my understanding of the central ideas in the movie, about Toto growing up.

Most of Cinema Paradiso is told through flashbacks, which I think are the most significant technique. The movie starts with Toto receiving news that Alfredo has died, and before he goes back to the village he reminisces about his childhood and growing up in Giancaldo. The flashbacks go back to key points in Toto’s life and then it goes straight back to the middle aged Toto.

The first, and I think the most important flashback scene goes back to Toto at church as an altar boy, and we see his...