That Paradise

ONE GLORIOUS KISS AFTER ANOTHER. I'm late in the game, having watched Cinema Paradiso only last night, a good 22 years after its release. And boy do I despise it for filling me with so much emotion, grown constantly and exponentially and uncontrollably over a 3-hour run time, culminating in the most poignant montage of kisses that turned me into the soppiest mush of all.

If there is a movie heaven, this must be it. Oh the wonderful feelings it makes one feel.

If you haven't already seen it, be ready to pluck your heart out of your chest and offer it up on a platter to Giuseppe Tornatore for 155 minutes. He will do things to it like few filmmakers can.


Screenshots from Cinema Paradiso, 1988. Written and directed by Giuseppe Tornatore.