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Academy award-winning film, Cinema Paradiso, hits the big screen on Tues. April 3 at the Terrace for a rare digital screening. The Guardian calls Cinema Paradiso “the greatest foreign film of all time,” and on this special evening you’ll get to enjoy both the film and an introduction by College of Charleston associate professor of Italian Giovanna De Luca. Tickets are $12 and can be purchased online.
The Observer‘s Philip French calls Cinema Paradiso, “A funny, deeply moving celebration of the experience of movies.” Empire Magazine writes, “Bathe in one of cinema’s great love songs to cinema.” It’s a really good movie, OK? In 2013, on the film’s 25th anniversary, The Guardian asked of the film, which was initially a flop in its home country of Italy, “What was the secret of its success?”
Unfortunately, a lot of the success has to do with the Weinstein brothers, including now-pariah, Harvey, whose influence helped sway “the relatively small voter-base for the best foreign film Oscar.” It begs the question — can we separate art from the artist, or at least its curator? (Sorry, we don’t have the answer, but let us know when you’ve found it.)
The Guardian also quotes Stephen Woolley, who helped release the film in the UK through his company, Palace Pictures (and who first saw Cinema Paradiso on the recommendation of that aforementioned Weinstein brother). Woolley says, “Cinema Paradiso is a movie about memory, and for our generation cinema was a place to congregate, a magical place to let your imagination run free. The character of the cinemas of my childhood and youth were all different and special.”
The Terrace’s screening of Cinema Paradiso is presented by Paolo’s Gelato and Gourmet, which will be serving up $3 paninis all night.
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