Thought's on Cinema Paradiso

I watched Cinema Paradiso a few years back, but I was too young to understood the symbolism and significance of many things.

Being an old-fashioned movie, it took its time in unfolding the story. Compared to movies in the 21st century, it may be considered as slow and boring at times. On the other hand, during certain parts, the story takes a turn and things get more interesting. It starts with Salvatore, AKA Toto, as a small kid, to being a young man, and all the way to a career man. I felt that the movie was portraying about the journey of life itself, with all of its beginnings and ends, its ups and downs.

In particular, I noticed the love story between Toto and Elena and their romantic beginnings. Toto was immediately smitten by Elena, as though a heavy lighting bolt of love struck his heart. She was a beautiful slender girl, with curly hair, fair skin, piercing blue eyes and a symmetrical face, suggesting youth and fertility. The physical attractiveness stereotype would explain why Toto was attracted to her, perhaps even perceiving her as a goddess that had descend onto earth. Shy and awkward initially, he eventually became bold and confessed his love to her. However, she turned him down firmly. Even so, he was not fazed and continued to pursue her. Here, it was interesting to see how Elena, who started from only seeing Toto as a friend, began to fall for him too. Perhaps this is due to reciprocal liking, whereby we like people who like us.

Soon, the pair fell deeply in love. Nonetheless, due to their family circumstances, they were separated, with Elena being forced to move away with her family. Just before she left, both of them tried to reach out to each other, to establish a means of contact. Alas, that was not the case. They missed each other due to a series of unfortunate events. They fell out of touch and never saw each other again for many, many years. Even so, they never moved past this part of their lives, especially on an emotional level.

Personally, the separation between Toto and Elena, due to circumstances outside their control, resonated within me. It wasn't that they did not put in the effort to find each other. They simply couldn't. Because life pulled them apart cruelly. That is how I feel in my life too. There are too many things out of my control. No matter how hard I try to stay in contact with my friends, sometimes we just drift apart anyways. It could be because of distance, disagreements, or just mutual silence. It hurts. But as Cinema Paradiso portrays, it's part of life. We just gotta accept that and continue moving forward in life.