Review of Cinema Paradiso (1988) by Frederick M — 14 Oct 2009

I did not enjoy it. A very long and tedious story that takes itself very seriously and believes its better than it really is. I've seen much better foreign films than this. There was little substance, I didn't really like the characters that much and the story was extremely drawn out.

I did watch the 3 hour extended version but I think this still wouldn't have been very good at 2 hours. 2 hours would have been enough pain and suffering in one very ugly looking Italian town. Everything about this movie was incredibly bleak.

This movie is extremely highly rated but I was very disappointed overall.