Cinema Paradiso (Ennio Morricone)

(1988)

Oscar winner for Best Foreign Language film of 1988, Cinema Paradiso is probably the best film to come from Italy since the days of Fellini.  Written and directed by Giuseppe Tornatore, the film was both a critical and commercial success, the film is considered a classic by many, and rightfully so.  It was also the first collaboration between Tornatore and legendary composer Ennio Morricone, who has scored all his subsequent films to date.

Morricone is one of those composers who always delivers, even when scoring films that are utter garbage.  He’s scored more than his fair share of dreadful films, but it’s when he composes the score for a masterpiece like Cinema Paradiso that he reaches an altitude that no other film composer could ever hope to match.  Honestly; I don’t think I’ve ever heard a more beautiful film score.  It’s forty minutes of, well…paradise.

Every cue of the score introduces yet more charm and beauty that you wouldn’t have thought possible after having heard the last one.  The score itself is based around a series of some of the finest themes ever written for film.  The two best known are of course the piano led main theme, and the simply stunning love theme, composed by Morricone’s son Andrea.  Both these themes are woven intelligently with new ideas throughout the score, with the best possible results.  Other noteworthy cues include “Maturità” with its lovely guitar performances, which is later heard in a varied form in “Prima gioventù”.  A change of tone is heard in “Cinema in Fiamme”, accompanying the scene of the burning cinema, with the wailing string movements not dissimilar to Bernard Herrmann’s famous music from Psycho, as well as the jazz-style “Dal sex-appeal americano al primo Fellini”.

Like most of Morricone’s best work, Cinema Paradiso is a difficult score to do justice in a written review.  In sum, it is one of the few scores that genuinely deserves the title of “classic masterpiece”.  The fact that it was not nominated for an Oscar is reason alone to dismiss those ridiculous awards.  A truly magical score in every way.  Don’t miss out on this one.

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Track Listing

1 – Nuovo Cinema Paradiso

2 – Maturità

3 – Ripensandola

4 – Infanzia e Maturita

5 – Cinema in Fiamme

6 – Tema d’amore

7 – Dopo il crollo

8 – Prima gioventù

9 – Tema d’more per Nata

10 – Visita al cinema

11 – Quattro interludi

12 – Fuga, ricerca e ritorno

13 – Proiezione a due

14 – Dal sex-appeal americano al primo Fellini

15 – Toto e Alfredo

16 – Per Elena

Credits

Music Composed, Orchestrated, Conducted & Produced by Ennio Morricone

“Tema de amor” (Love Theme) Composed by Andrea Morricone

Performed by Orquesta Unione Musicisti di Roma

Awards

BAFTA Award for Best Music (Won)

Insert Notes

The album’s packaging is all in Italian.  The insert contains a few pictures from the film and a list of credits, but no additional information.

All artwork and images are Copyright © Acoua Records / Miramax Films.