tema d'amore (ennio morricone)
Listen.
What makes a film piece like this one so memorable and everlasting is something that goes beyond the musical beauty of its score--for me, it is the music's relationship with the film and how well it can (almost mysteriously) add to the moving image's thematic and emotional truth. The main theme to Giuseppe Tornatore's Cinema Paradiso is so special because it does exactly that. And if this work doesn't pluck at your heart strings, I don't know what will.
For some more serious plucking, please just watch the film. It is a story of Toto, an orphaned young boy from Sicily, who befriends Alfredo, the local cinema projectionist. Through their touching relationship, we see Toto grow and learn important life lessons around dreams, love, heartbreak, and friendship. There are so many memorable quotes from this movie but I had to pick one out:
Alfredo: Living here day by day, you think it's the center of the world. You believe nothing will change. Then you leave: a year, two years. When you come back, everything's changed. The thread's broken. What you came to find isn't there. What was yours is gone. You have to go away for a long time... many years... before you can come back and find your people. The land where you were born. But now, no. It's not possible. Right now, you're blinder than I am.
Toto: Who said that? Gary Cooper? James Stewart? Henry Fonda? Eh?
Alfredo: No, Toto. Nobody said it. This time it's all me. Life isn't like the movies. Life... is much harder.
Bottom line: this ultra-nostalgic film will make you laugh and cry many times over.
I paired the music with stills from two pivotal scenes from the film and I won't ruin it for those who haven't seen the film yet. I had a philosophical / creative debate about whether I should pair it with the film or not. Given the fact that the music was bespoke for the film, I could not justify what would really just become either a complete mispair or a substandard pairing at best. Going forward with film music, I expect to do the same.
P.S. Because I love this soundtrack so darn much, I couldn't help but drop in another little thing to listen to right here.
