CINEMA PARADISO

by

Giuseppe Tornatore

FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY

Shooting Script

1  GIANCALDO. SALVATORE'S MOTHER'S HOUSE. EXT/INT. DAY

The October sun slashes through the gray clouds, cuts across the

shadow towards the sea, along the coast where the new suburbs of the

city of Giancaldo have been built up.

Bright light streams through the windows, glancing off the white

walls in an almost blinding reflection. MARIA, a woman a little over

sixty, is trying to find somebody on the phone.

MARIA

...Salvatore, that's right,

Salvatore. Di Vita Salvatore

...But, miss, what do you mean you

don't know him?!...I...Yes...

(She gives a nervous sigh.

She has dialed her way

through endless numbers

but still hasn't managed

to speak to Mr. Di

Vita. She finally heaves a

sigh of relief.)

...That's right, good for you!

Oh!...yes...And I'm his

mother. I'm calling from Sicily. Been

trying all day...Ah, he's not

there...But would you be so kind as

to give me...?...Yes...

(She nods at another woman

around forty sitting

nearby: it is LIA, her

daughter, who jots down

the numbers her

mother dictates:)

...Six, five, six, two, two, oh,

six...Thanks ever so

much...Goodbye. Goodbye.

She hangs up, takes the number LIA has jotted down, determined to have still

another try. LIA speaks to her as if she were a baby, to be more convincing.

LIA

Look, Ma...It's useless calling him.

He'll be terribly busy, God knows

where he is. Besides he might not

even remember. Do as I say, forget

it...He hasn't been here for thirty

years. You know how he is.

MARIA pauses to think it over. The decision she has to make is important. Then,

stubbornly.

MARIA

He'll remember! He'll remember!

(She puts on her glasses

and starts dialing

the number.)

...I'm positive. I know him better

than you do. If he were to find

out we hadn't told him, he'd be

angry. I know.

(She takes off her

glasses.)

...Hello? Good morning. Could I

please speak to Mr. Salvatore Di

Vita. I'm his mother...

2  ROME. STREETS. EXT/INT. NIGHT

It's late, but there is still traffic on the streets heading downtown.

Inside a high-powered car, a man  around fifty is driving. It is

SALVATORE Dl VITA. Elegant, just growing gray, a handsome face

creased by deep wrinkles. His weary expression hides the determined,

sell-assured manner of the successful self-made man. He must be a

heavy smoker judging by the way he draws the last puffs on his

cigarette.

He stops at a red light. He stubs out the cigarette and rolls down the

window, as a little Fiat Uno pulls up alongside. A rock tune plays full

blast on the radio. SALVATORE turns instinctively to have a look at the

man at the wheel  a BOY with a brush cut standing straight in the latest

fashion. He studies the Boy's expression with almost exaggerated

attention, but devoid of curiosity, coldly. The GIRL sitting beside him,

lots of curly hair, overripe red lips, returns SALVATORE'5 look,

provocatively. The BOY notices, turns to SALVATORE in a surly voice:

BOY

Hey! What the fuck you looking at!?

Green light. The Fiat Uno shoots off, leaving a trail of music in its wake.

3  ROME. SALVATORE S APARTMENT. INT. NIGHT

The apartment is luxurious, tastefully furnished. There is no one waiting for

SALVATORE. Through the picture window on the terrace, the city can be seen

slumbering in the night. SALVATORE gets undressed on his way to the bedroom. He

moves quietly, as if to make no noise. He doesn't even turn on the light,

finishes getting undressed in the pale blue glow coming from the picture window.

A rustling sound, a movement on the bed, the voice of a woman waking up.

CLARA

Salvatore...But what time is it?

She turns on the bedside light. It is CLARA, a young woman around thirty.

SALVATORE climbs in beside her under the covers, kisses her sweetly, then in a

whisper.

SALVATORE

It's late, Clara. Sorry, but I wasn't

able to let you know I wouldn't be

corning...

(He fondles her, but he is

tired, feels like

sleeping.)

Go to sleep now. Sleep.

He turns over on the other side. CLARA shuts her eyes, is about to drop off,

but whispers.

CLARA

Your mother phoned. She took me for

somebody else...

SALVATORE

(Surprised)

And what'd you tell her?

CLARA

I played dumb, so as not to

disappoint her. We had a nice little

talk. She says you never go see her,

and when she wants to see you she has

to come to Rome...Is it true?

SALVATORE doesn't answer. God only knows how often he's heard that question

before.

SALVATORE

She phoned just to say that?

She reaches out to switch of the light, buries her head into the pillow.

CLARA

She said a certain Alfredo had died.

And the funeral's taking place

tomorrow afternoon...

(A strange look suddenly

comes into SALVATORE'S

eyes. The idea of going to

sleep has clearly left

him. It's a piece of news

he didn't expect. That's

taken him off-guard. CLARA

would like to carry on the

conversation, but

sleepiness makes

it almost impossible. An

she can manage is one last

question in a faint little

voice:)

Who is it? A relative of yours?

SALVATORE

No. Sleep. Go to sleep.

She falls asleep in the dead silence of the night. SALVATORE is seized by a

sort of chill a deep, troubled feeling. He gazes through the window al the city,

with its shimmering lights still moving in the darkness, suddenly shrouded in a

heavy curtain of rain. But he gazes off, beyond the row of houses, beyond the

dark sky; the shadow of a wind chime plays across his face summoning up endless

memories, drawing forth from the infinite depths of oblivion a past that he

thought had vanished, been wiped out, and instead now re-emerges, comes back to

life, takes on light, superimposing itself on the mellow middle-aged features of

his face, in the shadow of the city shaken by the storm, until another image is

formed, an ancient, remote image...

4  GIANCALDO. CHURCH AND SACRISTY. INT. MORNING

An image from over forty years before. In the baroque church of

Giancaldo. SALVATORE is nine years old. Dressed as an altar boy, he

is kneeling by the altar with a little silver bell in his hands. The

congregation is also kneeling. The PRIEST is consecrating the Host.

Little SALVATORE has just got out of bed, is still half-asleep, yawns

and doesn't notice that the PRIEST is standing there with the Host in

the air glaring at him, as if trying to tell him something.

PRIEST

Pss! Pssst!

SALVATORE finishes yawning and opening his eyes meets the

withering look of the PRIEST. He gets the message at once and

rings the bell. Now the PRIEST can carry on, lifts the chalice and

the bell is heard again.

Cut to:

The service is over. The PRIEST is in the sacristy removing his

vestments. And SALVATORE is also there, removing his altar-boy

tunic.

PRIEST

But how can I make you understand?

Without the bell I just can't go on!

Always half asleep, you are! What do

you do at night anyway? Eat instead

of sleep?

SALVATORE

Father, at my house we don't even eat

at noon. That's why I'm always

sleepy. That's what the vet says.

The PRIEST has finished disrobing. He takes the bell

SALVATORE was holding during the service and turns to leave.

PRIEST

All right, Toto, get moving, I've got

things to do. Say hello to your

mother.

SALVATORE

Can I...

PRIEST

(Interrupting him)

And don't ask if you can come...

Because you can't!! Shoo, shoo, off

with you!!

SALVATORE gives a shrug and leaves. The PRIEST goes down a

corridor, opens a door, another corridor, and finally a door

leading to an outside courtyard. He cuts across it and disappears

into another door.

5  CINEMA PARADISO AND PROJECTION BOOTH. INT. MORNING

The PRIEST enters a movie house. Not very big  200 seats on the main

floor and another seventy in the balcony. Along the walls, posters of

films to be shown are stuck up between the light fixtures. In one corner,

a statue of the Virgin Mary with flowers. The CLEANING LADY has

finished work and is leaving. Up in the balcony, over the last row of

seats, are the holes of the projection booth. The middle hole is

camouflaged by the huge head of a roaring lion, all in plaster, and the

lens of the projector can be glimpsed between its sharp teeth.

there are two smaller holes, through which the figure of a man can be

made out, appearing and disappearing...It is ALFREDO, the

projectionist. He is around forty, skinny and bony with a tough

peasant face. He has finished loading the projector and is checking the

carbons in the arc lamp. Then he removes the glass from one of the

holes and looks down into the theatre, at the PRIEST who waves his

hand.

PRIEST

OK, Alfredo, you can start!!

He sits down an by himself in the middle of the empty theatre.

Up in the booth, ALFREDO lights the arc lamp and sets the

projector going.

Down in the theatre, the light goes off and out of the lion's mouth

streams the glowing ray aimed al the screen. String music, sweet

and ominous, spreads through the theatre. On the screen appear

the credit titles of an American film of the 1940s. The PRIEST

screws up his face and holds the bell in his right hand resting on

the arm of his seat.

At the back of the theatre, behind the last row, a curtain moves,

opens a crack and SALVATORE'S gaunt little face appears. He

has managed to sneak in somehow and stands there without a

word, spellbound, watching the 'movie' on the glowing screen.

The credit titles have long come and gone. The story is at a

turning-point.

Up above, in the hole of the booth next to the lion,

ALFREDO watches the film, but his eyes keep looking down at the

PRIEST, who is now drumming the bell with his fingers. On the

screen, the male and female lead, two Hollywood stars, are in

close-up; the dialogue is passionate, romantic. SALVATORE,

carried away by those faces, by the way they talk, by the beauty

of the woman, slowly slips down the length of the curtain until he

is sitting on the floor, his eyes glued to the screen.

The love scene reaches a climax, the music crescendos, and the love-struck

couple finally fall into each other's arms and kiss. Instinctively, the PRIEST

raises the bell into the air, as in some age-old ceremony, and gives it a loud

ring...

Up in the booth ALFREDO hears the bell; it's the signal he's been

waiting for. He takes a slip of paper from a pad prepared for that

purpose and sticks it into the loops of the film containing that

specific scene as it winds on to the reel. The projection

continues...

...And also the kiss of the two actors. The PRIEST'S nervous look lingers on

those black-and-white lips meeting and now pulling apart for one last

declaration of love before separating. SALVATORE is wide-eyed, he's probably

never seen a man and woman kiss before, it's a vision that for him has all the

attraction of forbidden fruit, the horror of sin. The screen is now filled with

the figure of a woman getting undressed, showing for one instant the white,

voluptuous flesh of her broad, naked shoulders. SALVATORE stares in open-mouthed

wonder. The PRIEST, in a fury, grabs the bell and shakes it for all he is worth.

From the sound of the bell to another sound...

6  GIANCALDO. MAIN SQUARE. EXT. DAY

The tolling of the bell-tower rings out over the

square. It is noon. The vast square, pale and dusty, is alive with people. A

noisy line of men, women and cows waits in front of the fountain to get water.

Peddlers hawk their wares in mournful cries. People come and go in front of the

town hall. The working men's club is deserted. The entrance of the Cinema

Paradiso is shut. Hanging outside is the poster of the film that has just been

seen on screen. Up above, the windows of the projection booth are open. The hum

of the projector can be heard and the loud, lofty music typical of 'THE END'.

Then dead silence. The showing is over.

7. CINEMA PARADISO. PROJECTION BOOTH. INT. DAY

Despite the speed, numerous white streaks spin around on the reel,

created by the slips of paper ALFREDO has inserted into the loops. He

is rewinding the film by hand on the film-winder. When he's not

talking, ALFREDO usually sings to himself. SALVATORE stands beside

him, taking in everything he does with those quick, thieving eyes of his

ALFREDO

(Harshly, shouting)

You must not come here! How many

times do I have to tell you?

(And he slows down the

reels with his hand. The

slips of paper

are about to arrive.

Here's the first.)

If the film catches fire, runt that

you are, you'd go up in a

burst of flame...whoosh! And turn

into a piece of...

SALVATORE

(Overlapping him)

...and turn into a piece of

charcoal!!

He's used to his terrorisms, pays no more attention. Not even his

grim look scares him. Anyway, ALFREDO catches the joke, starts to give him a

slap, but instead reaches over and picks up a pair of scissors.

ALFREDO

(Angrily)

Christ, that's a sassy little tongue

you've got! Watch out, or someday

I'll snip it off.

And he snips a piece of film, pastes the ends together and goes on turning the

handle. SALVATORE picks up the strip of film and gives it a closer look. He sees

a series of frames all alike with a man kissing a woman.

SALVATORE

Can I have it?

ALFREDO snatches it out of his hand, furiously, at the end of his string. He

shouts.

ALFREDO

No!!! Are you deaf or something? I've

got to put this back in when we wind

up the film again! You're a real pain

in the neck!

SALVATORE reaches into a basket full of strips of film. He takes out a handful:

all kisses that have been cut.

SALVATORE

Then why didn't you put these back

when you wound up the films again?

ALFREDO is caught out. He stops the film where another slip of paper is stuck

in and cuts the scene:

ALFREDO

'Cause sometimes you can't find the

right place any more and so...well,

actually...they stay here.

(Finding an excuse)

Besides, there are more kisses than

you can count.

SALVATORE

(Excited)

So I can have these?

(ALFREDO explodes, flies

off the handle. He grabs

SALVATORE by the shoulders

and shakes him.)

ALFREDO

Look, Toto! Before I kick your ass

all the way to China and back, let's

make a deal. These strips here are

yours, I give them to you. However!

One  you're not to stick your nose in

here any more. Two  I'll keep them

for you, because you can't take them

home for God forbid and save our

souls, if they catch fire, all hell

will break loose! OK? Oh!!! And now

scram!

He takes him and turns him towards the stairs. For him the matter is closed. He

returns to the film-winder. SALVATORE sneaks back and while ALFREDO's attention

is elsewhere, snatches up a handful of movie frames scattered on the counter,

stuffs them into his pocket and...

SALVATORE

What sort of deal is this? The strips

are mine! So why can't I come see

them?

And he stares at ALFREDO with a sly, saucy look. ALFREDO clutches his hand,

darts forth like an arrow and is about to give him a kick in the ass. He

shrieks:

ALFREDO

Get out!! And don't show your face

here again!

And before the kick reaches its destination, SALVATORE has already dashed off

down the spiral staircase.

8  GIANCALDO. SALVATORE'S HOUSE. INT. EVENING

That was not the first theft of film strips. SALVATORE's hand reaches

into a flowery metal box jammed full of pieces of film. He takes out a

few frames and holds them up against the kerosene lamp. Gazes at the

figures that remind him of the films seen at Cinema Paradiso, and in a

whisper mangles fragments of dialogue, the shooting of guns, the

musical climaxes...

SALVATORE

Bang! Bang! Bang! Shoot first, think

later! This is no job for weaklings!

Treacherous dog!

The house has no lights, is gloomy and cold. SALVATORE's

mother, MARIA, is leaning on the table in front of him. She is

young, around thirty, and her pretty face is haggard, marred by

all the sacrifices. She is sewing some clothes, is a seamstress. LIA,

his four-year-old sister, is sleeping on a cot in one corner. The

kerosene lamp projects the trembling shadow of the film strips on

the wall, figures of prairies, gunslingers, thugs. SALVATORE's

voice changes, turns even tougher.

SALVATORE

Hey there, you lousy bastard, take

your hands off that gold, You black-

hearted pig, stay away from me, or

I'll smash your face in!

'Ntantatah!!!...

(In the heap of movie

frames there are also

several photographs.

SALVATORE picks them up.

Family keepsakes. A man in

an army uniform. Then the

same man with a girl

beside him whose smiling

face can be recognized as

MARIA. SALVATORE takes a

closer look at the man's

face, then whispers to his

mother:)

Ma, if the war's over, how come

Daddy's never come back?

MARIA looks up at him with a sweet smile.

MARIA

He'll be back, he'll be back...

You'll see. One of these

days...

But there is not much conviction written on her face. She looks

back down at her sewing. SALVATORE goes on looking at the

photos.

SALVATORE

I don't remember him any more—Ma,

where's Russia?

MARIA

It takes years to get there. And

years to come back...Now go to bed,

Toto, it's late.

SALVATORE puts the photos back into the box and tucks the box

under LIA's cot near the charcoal burner.

9  GRADE SCHOOL. COURTYARD. EXT. DAY

A noisy crowd of little children in black smocks, white collars and blue

bows moves about the large courtyard where there are two tall palm

trees. The boys head for one door, the girls towards the opposite one.

The Janitors line them up two by two, ready to enter. Here and there,

parents and relatives accompany the younger ones. Beneath one of the

palms, SALVATORE pulls off the altar-boy tunic, stuffs it into the

khaki-colored cardboard schoolbag, takes out the smock and puts it

on, as one of his schoolmates passes by. It is MASINO, and he's crying

desperately because he doesn't want to go to school. His FATHER drags

him along, yelling:

MASINO'S FATHER

You can fool your mother but not me!

Get yourself a damn diploma and

become a policeman. You good-for-

nothing!

MASINO

I don't want to go to school'

(The sound of the bell.

The black lines move up

the steps towards the

school.)

1O  FOURTH GRADE. INT. DAY

SALVATORE is sitting at the front-row desk next to PEPPINO,

a little freckle-faced boy. His attention, like that of the whole class, is

concentrated on what is taking place at the blackboard. The TEACHER is standing

there, watching a plump little boy, shy and not quite all there, do a two-figure

multiplication  it is NICOLA SCORSONE, known as 'COLA'. He is red in the face,

has one purple ear and one white one. He stares in terror at that '255 x 15'

written on the blackboard. The TEACHER yells, waving a birch rod in her hand.

TEACHER

Well then?! Five times five

equals...?

COLA stops to think a moment, then...

COLA

Thirty!

The TEACHER grabs him by the purple ear and bashes his head against the numbers

on the blackboard. A large thud echoes through the room, followed by a roar of

laughter. The TEACHER slams her rod on the desk.

TEACHER

Silence!!

(Then to COLA)

The five times table. Dunce! One

times five, five!!

(The class repeats with

the TEACHER, in a sing-

song chorus:)

TEACHER and CLASS

Two times five, ten! Three times

five, fifteen! Four times five,

twenty!

(With a wave of the rod,

the TEACHER silences the

class, and finishes the

sing-song with the fateful

question.)

TEACHER

Five times five?

COLA

(Timidly)

Forty...?

Another blow of the head on the blackboard. Hubbub.

Slapping of the rod on the desk. SALVATORE secretly shows

COLA the picture of a Christmas tree on one page of the book,

and mouths the word 'twenty-five'. COLA smiles, he has finally

caught on.

TEACHER

I'm asking you for the last time,

blockhead! Five times five equals...?

(COLA turns to her with

smiling eyes and answers

blissfully:)

COLA

Christmas!!

SALVATORE clutches his head in anger, watches the TEACHER

flogging COLA on the back with the rod. COLA screams at every

blow, and at every blow the laughter in the class grows louder.

SALVATORE stares at the rod moving up and down rhythmically. But he is not

thinking of the pain his schoolmate is feeling, but is drawn, rather, by that

strange regular beat, finds it similar to another regular beat, that of...

11  CINEMA PARADISO. BALCONY AND MAIN FLOOR. INT. DAY

...the rolling pin ALFREDO uses to flatten out a reel of film that has just

been unloaded. SALVATORE carefully watches ALFREDO 5 every move. He is not in

the projection booth, but up in the balcony, standing on top of the last row of

seats. He peers through the hole next to the lion's head. His bright little eyes

fix in his mind the things ALFREDO does, as he loads the film into the

projector, shuts the fireproof housings, turns on the amplifier, checks the

carbons in the arc lamp, then lowers his head to have a look into the theatre

and finds himself face to face with SALVATORE.

ALFREDO

(Sternly)

What are you doing here?

SALVATORE

I bought a ticket. I've come to see

the film.

(Meanwhile the USHER comes

up behind him and grabs

him by the collar, and he

almost jumps out of his

skin. ALFREDO laughs.)

USHER

(Yelling)

Go sit downstairs! You good-for-

nothing sponger! !

(To the audience)

Worse than rabbits they are!

SALVATORE has run downstairs. The main floor is more

crowded than the balcony, like every Sunday, and there is a greatdin. The BOY

selling ice-cream, soda pop and candy shouts and

runs around like a chicken with its head off. Now the lights dim,

the hubbub dies down and the performance starts. Before the film

there is a preview for Stagecoach. The screen fills with images ofJohn Wayne,

the pursuit of the stagecoach by hostile Indians

etc...

SALVATORE is sitting in the front rows, right under the screen,

next to BOCCIA, COLA, MASINO, PEPPINO and OTHER KIDS, all with their noses in

the air. BOCCIA, the biggest show off of the group, is smoking a cigarette. An

OLD MAN appears through the entrance curtain, takes a couple of steps and

shouts:)

FIRST OLD MAN

Hello, everybody!

AUDIENCE

(At once)

Ssssssh!!! Ssssssh! Silence!

FIRST OLD MAN

Can't I say hello?

USHER

It's a double-feature today.

FIRST OLD MAN

I couldn't care less. I come here to

sleep.

All at once, a chorus of shouts and whistles fills the theatre. Up

on the screen, a globe of the world appears, spinning among the

stars, the logo announcing the newsreel.

AUDIENCE

(Hooting and whistling)

For Christ's sake! Cut it,

Alfredoooo!

The CHILDREN in the front rows also yell, but SALVATORE goes

on being alert. He turns and looks up at the holes of the projection

booth, as if it were an impregnable fortress. He watches the crazy

dancing of light in the glowing stream that opens towards him in a

cone. And besides, that lion's head, mysterious, almost gruesome,

emphasizes the enigmatic secret of the movies. In his dreamy eyes,

that lifeless lion seems to wake up with a ferocious roar.

SALVATORE has a frightened look...Another lion roaring. But up on the screen.

The MGM lion. The throng of children imitate the famous growl all together,

shaking their heads in unison.

CHILDREN

Grrrr! Grrrrr!

The film starts: it is Visconti's La terra trema. SALVATORE is in bliss. His

wide eyes looking up at the magic square of light. The title music. Another OLD

MAN enters at the back of the theatre, but before sitting down, says hello in a

loud voice.

SECOND OLD MAN

Greetings to one and all!

AUDIENCE

SSSSSH' Drop dead! Silence! Hey,

kids, we're here to see the film!

Now there is an important sequence. The audience is silent. Concentrated on the

screen. BOCCIA passes the lighted cigarette to SALVATORE. He takes a puff and

hands it on to the others without ever taking his eyes off the screen. The

beautiful star of the film appears on screen. A different kind of attention

takes hold of the excited audience. SALVATORE and the others stare at her with

open mouths...She leans towards the leading man, a languid expression, their

profiles touch. But all at once, just at the best part, there is a sudden jolt.

The kiss isn't seen.

AUDIENCE

(Disappointed)

Ahhh! What a shame! I've been going

to the movies for twenty years and I

never saw a kiss!

SALVATORE is the only one to laugh to himself. He knows what has happened.

AUDIENCE

And when will we see one?

Up in the balcony, the audience is more sedate. The tickets cost more and the

people are richer, more refined. Among them, a MAN with a moustache, the look of

a public notary, is sitting right in front of the railing. Seriously, without

batting an eye, he spits down below with contempt. Right on the dot, a voice is

heard, followed by a chorus of protests.

VOICE and AUDIENCE

Bugger!!! Ssssh!!! Silence!!

12  SQUARE AND ENTRANCE OF CINEMA PARADISO. EXT. NIGHT

The bell-tower rings midnight. The square is nearly deserted. Except

for a landowner near the refreshment stand, with a moustache and a

hat, DON VINCENZO by name, who is picking out from a group of

labourers the men he'll be needing in the country at dawn. He chooses,

points his finger, calls...

People come out of the movie house after the last showing.

The USHER locks the front door as ALFREDO climbs down from the

projection booth. Among the crowd there is only one kid, SALVATORE.

Tired, half-asleep. He's seen all the showings. He starts to walk away

when he catches sight of his mother standing on the opposite corner,

wrapped in an old coat. She's waiting for him, in a temper.

SALVATORE drops his eyes to the ground, mortified. He knows what's

coming. He goes over to her timidly, uncertain, gives her a questioning

look.

MARIA

I've been looking for you all day.

Did you buy the milk?

SALVATORE

No...

MARIA

Then where's the money?

SALVATORE

Somebody stole it.

MARIA gives him a slap. SALVATORE holds back the sobs, but

his eyes brim with tears. ALFREDO and the USHER are nearby,

have heard everything.

MARIA

What'd you do with the money? Go to

the movies?

SALVATORE nods his head and the sobs increase. MARIA, in

despair, flies off the handle, slaps him again, but looks as if she

doesn't really want to, as if deep down she forgives her son's

escapade. ALFREDO catches on, speaks up on behalf of

SALVATORE.

ALFREDO

Signora Maria, don't do that. He's

just a kid.

(To SALVATORE)

And why are you telling fibs?

(To MARIA)

We let him in free. He must have lost

the money inside the movie

theatre...

(SALVATORE stares at him

in amazement, goes on

listening to him.)

How much did you have?

SALVATORE

Fifty lire...

(MARIA wipes away his tears.)

ALFREDO

(To the USHER)

What you find tonight on the floor

between the seats?

(The USHER reaches into-

his pockets, pulls out

some odds and ends.)

USHER

A comb, two heel-savers, a box of

tobacco...

(ALFREDO very skillfully

reaches out with fifty

lire he has taken

from his pocket. And like

a magician he draws the

money out of

the USHER'S hand.)

ALFREDO

...and fifty lire!

(To MARIA)

See?

(He hands over the money

under the USHER'S

astonished eyes.)

MARIA

Thanks, Uncle Alfredo. Thanks. Good-

night.

She walks away, dragging SALVATORE by the hand. ALFREDO

gives him a wink. SALVATORE smiles and winks back, but he's

not very good at it; he can't manage to shut only one eye.

Everybody leaves and the square empties, as the VILLAGE IDIOT

comes up to the group of labourers, beside DON VINCENZO,

motioning them all to get moving.

IDIOT

It's midnight. I've got to shut down

the square! Go away.

The square's mine! The square's

mine!!

13  CEMETERY ROAD AND VILLAGE ROAD. EXT. DAY

SALVATORE, dressed as an altar boy, walks alongside the PRIEST

who is wearing the ceremonial vestments. They are tired, have walked

a long way. Behind them a donkey pulls a wagon containing a little

white coffin and a bunch of flowers. Behind that a little procession  the

parents and relatives of the dead child. The road is very wide, covered

with white earth. The spring sun is dazzling. The funeral procession

kicks up a cloud of dust that makes everything blurred and hazy, like a

dream, rimmed around the horizon by the blue line of the sea. The

procession now turns into the large gate of the cemetery. ALFREDO,

working in the fields, takes his hat off and watches the coffin as it passes by.

Cut to:

The funeral is over. The PRIEST and SALVATORE are walking back

to the village. ALFREDO appears out of the countryside on e bicycle

with a hoe and other farm tools in the basket. He comes pedaling up

beside them.

ALFREDO

Good morning, father. It's hard on

the feet, huh?

PRIEST

(Breathless)

Yeah!...Getting there's downhill and

all the saints help you. But coming

back! The saints stand there watching

you, that's all! God's will be done.

SALVATORE is about to open his mouth, wants to say something

to ALFREDO, but he doesn't have time. ALFREDO pedals harder

and rides off.

SALVATORE is crestfallen. He looks et the PRIEST, then at the bicycle riding

away. His eyes light up  an idea! He suddenly yells:

SALVATORE

Ouch! Ouch! My foot! I can't walk!

He limps. Throws himself to the ground as if a snake had bitten him. The PRIEST

leans over in alarm. Up ahead in the distance, ALFREDO turns around to look.

Cut to:

There is a smile on SALVATORE'S face. He is riding on the crossbar of ALFREDO's

bicycle. On their way back lo the village.

SALVATORE

Alfredo, did you know my father?

ALFREDO

Of course I knew your father. He was

tall, thin, pleasant, and had a

moustache like mine. Always smiling.

He looked like Clark Gable.

There's something SALVATORE wants to talk about, but he doesn't know how to

start. He has a try with an innocent stratagem.

SALVATORE

Alfredo, now that I'm older, I'm not

saying I can start coming to the

projection booth, to the movie

house...But...maybe, why don't we

become friends?

ALFREDO knows exactly what the little rascal is up to, and answers in a

strange, theatrical tone, as if he were repeating something he knows by heart, a

remark taken from some old film.

ALFREDO

'I choose my friends for their

looks, and my enemies for their

brains...'

(Laughs)

You're too smart to be my friend.

Besides, as I always tell my kids, be

careful to pick the right friends!

SALVATORE

(Surprised)

But you don't have any kids!!!

ALFREDO

(Spluttering)

All right, all right! When I've got

kids that's what I'm telling them!

(The outlying houses of

Giancaldo finally heave

into sight.)

14  SALVATORE S HOUSE. EXT. DAY

LIA, SALVATORE'S kid sister, is crying outside the front door, terror

stricken. Her face is smeared with smoke and her little dress half

scorched and soaking wet. MARIA is distraught, damp with sweat, and

tries to console her, hugging her in her arms.

MARIA

Stop crying...The fire is out...I'm

here...That'll do, that'll do...

(ALFREDO and SALVATORE

come up behind them.

SALVATORE has barely leapt

off the bicycle when his

mother sails into him like

a fury, shrieking:)

Miserable boy! You're the ruin of me!

Your sister would have been burnt

alive if I hadn't been there! And all

your fault!

SALVATORE darts off, chased by his mother, swift as a deer.

ALFREDO doesn't understand what has happened, leans over

LIA, who goes on bawling her eyes out, and sees on the ground, in

the middle of the water, a flowery box all charred and still

smoking, and all around scraps of film reduced to ashes and

several singed photographs, the photos of SALVATORE s father.

ALFREDO gets the message now, looks up at MARIA, who has

caught SALVATORE and is dragging him home, hitting and

slapping him all the way. SALVATORE covers his head with his

hands to stave off the blows. MARIA turns to ALFREDO, in a

stern, indignant voice.

MARIA

But aren't you ashamed of yourself,

Uncle Alfredo, playing with a little

boy at your age?!

ALFREDO

(Cowed)

But...what's it got to do with

me?...

MARIA

And who gave him all those films?

Promise you won't give him any more

of this trash! Don't let him set foot

any more in the movie house. The

boy's crazy! Crazy! All he talks

about is movies and Alfredo' Alfredo

and movies!!

ALFREDO is crestfallen, didn't think that SALVATORE'S craziness, his morbid

passion for movies, could go this far.

ALFREDO

I give you my word, Donna Maria.

(MARIA now turns one last

time to her son.)

MARIA

God's got to grant me one wish! Send

your father back home! And he'll see

you get what's coming to you!

(SALVATORE lowers his

hands, looks at her and

with the dreadful

sincerity of children:)

SALVATORE

Daddy's not coming back...He's dead.

(An icy flash runs through

MARIA'S eyes.)

MARIA

It's not true! No! It's not true!!!

I'll show you he's coming back!

And she beats him desperately, as if to enforce her stubborn hope, slap after

slap. This time ALFREDO doesn't step in, lets MARIA give vent

to her rage and fury, but SALVATORE'S cries make him feel guilty.

15:SQUARE AND PROJECTION BOOTH. EXT/INT. DAY

Another Sunday. A crowd of men has gathered in the square around the café where

there is a loudspeaker. They are listening to the running commentary of the

soccer games. They check their Sisal pools coupons. NICOLO CAROSIO'S VOICE

...We're at the seventh minute of the second half. Turin is leading one to

zero. The goal was scored by...(The scene is seen from above, by ALFREDO who

peers out of the window of the projection booth. CAROSIO'S voice drowns out the

soundtrack of the film being shown. ALFREDO is bored. He goes over to the

projector, looks through the hole...It's the last sequence of the film. The

music swells to a climax as 'THE END' appears on the screen. Swift as ever,

ALFREDO turns on the lights in the theatre' stops the projector. Looks back

through the hole, to see...)

16:CINEMA PARADISO. INT/EXT. DAY

...the house packed to the rafters. Voices and laughter of the children. Smoke,

ice-cream, soft drinks. The USHER has opened the emergency exits to let in air.

He fights off the gate-crashers who are trying to get in free. The sound of the

sports commentary fills the theatre. The village BLACKSMITH is sleeping in his

seat, his head thrown back and his mouth wide open. The KIDS blow up the empty

ice-cream sacks and pop them next to his ears. Bang! The BLACKSMITH wakes up

with a start, in a sea of laughter. He yells:

BLACKSMITH

Ah! I'll wring all your necks!! Or my

good name means nothing! !! Lousy

brats!

SALVATORE doesn't laugh. He is sad. He turns and looks up at the projection

booth. He sees ALFREDO through the lion's mouth. ALFREDO also catches sight of

him. SALVATORE gives him a timid wave of the hand, as if asking if he can come

up a moment. The look on ALFREDO'S face is unmistakable, irrevocable: N0!

SALVATORE'S not surprised; after what happened it won't be easy to win him over.

Yet there must be some way. But what is it? As usual, SALVATORE is smart as the

devil when he's out to get something. Through the emergency exit he sees a woman

pass by with a packet in her hand. It is ALFREDO's WIFE, and the packet is his

supper. SALVATORE leaps to his feet and runs out to her.

SALVATORE

Signora Anna!

17  CINEMA PARADISO. PROJECTION ROOM AND SQUARE. INT/EXT. DAY

ALFREDO starts up the projector. It's time for the documentaries and

cartoons. SALVATORE peers in from the top of the stairs. He's scared of

ALFREDO'S reaction, but pricks up his courage and shows him the

packet. ALFREDO sees him, is about to pounce on him...

SALVATORE

(On the defensive)

Your wife told me to bring you this.

His expression betrays the 'put on'. ALFREDO sighs, realizes it's another one of

his little games.

ALFREDO

(Sternly)

Give it to me!...

He takes the packet, unwraps it and lifts the lid, shuts it again and puts the

container inside the lamp of the projector to keep it warm. SALVATORE hasn't

missed a single gesture, but speaks with his eyes

to the poor.

SALVATORE

I told my mother you weren't the one

who gave me the films. That it

wasn't your fault. But I thought you

said the film could catch fire just

to scare me. Now that I know, I won't

steal any more from you. That's all I

wanted to say. I'm going.

(He turns to leave but

ALFREDO takes him by the

shoulder and stops

him.)

ALFREDO

Toto, come here.

All things considered, there is something in that little boy, maybe his

feverish passion, that strikes him. He'll talk to him seriously, without

resorting to terrorism, try to convince him. He lowers the volume of the

monitor, sits down on the stool. SALVATORE raises his eyes from the floor and

looks at him at last...

ALFREDO

Now listen to what I've got to say. I

took up this profession when I

was ten years old. In those days

there weren't these modern machines.

The films were silent. The projectors

were run by hand, like this, with a

crank. And you wound the crank all

day long. It was really rough going!

If you got tired and slowed down'

boom! Everything would go up in

flames!

SALVATORE

Then why don't you want to teach it

to me too? Now that there's no more

cranking, and it's easier?

ALFREDO

(Firmly)

Because I don't want to, Toto! This

is not a job for you. It's like being

a slave. You're always alone. You see

the same film over and over again,

because you have nothing else to do.

And you start talking to Greta Garbo

and Tyrone Power like a nut! You work

on holidays, on Christmas, on Easter.

Only on Good Friday are you free. But

if they hadn't put Jesus Christ on a

cross...You'd work Good Fridays too!

SALVATORE

Then why don't you change jobs?

(ALFREDO sighs, irritated.

He reaches out to turn the

knob of the carbon rods.

He gazes at SALVATORE as

if he were a grown-up,

somebody who's making

things hard for him.)

ALFREDO

Because I'm an idiot. How many other

guys in town know how to be a

projectionist? None! Only a jerk like

me could do it. Besides I wasn't

lucky. When I was a kid there was the

war! When I grew up, another war! Now

it's all different. Times have

changed. And you want to be a dope

like me? Huh? Answer me!

SALVATORE

No...

ALFREDO

Good for you, Toto. Good for you...

I'm only saying this for your own

good...

(He gets up and, speaking

all the while, goes into a

closet with a bucket

in it, the toilet of the

booth. He turns his back

and pees. )

Cooped up in here you die of heat in

the summer and of cold in the winter.

You breathe in smoke, gas fumes, and

earn practically nothing.

(SALVATORE listens to

him, but taking advantage

of the fact he can't be

seen, he turns the knob of

the carbon rods, just as

he had seen done a moment

before...)

SALVATORE

(In a loud voice)

But don't you like anything about

what you do?

(SALVATORE gazes at the

photos on the wall:

Keaton, Garbo, Snow

White. ALFREDO

smiles to himself. Sure,

there's something about

that damn job he likes:)

ALFREDO

With time...you get used to it.

Besides, when you hear from up here

that there's a full house and that

people are laughing, having fun...

Then you're happy too.

(ALFREDO is lost in

thought, doesn't notice

that the documentaries

and cartoons have

finished. The screen is

blank. And down in the

theatre laughter is not

heard but an uproar of

whistling and

swearing. SALVATORE'S eyes

sparkle, he seizes the

opportunity.

He turns on the lights and

stops the projector, just

as ALFREDO

would have done. At which

ALFREDO buttons up his

pants in a

hurry and rushes over

alarmed, but sees that

everything is in order.

SALVATORE looks at him all

smiles, as if he expected

a medal for

civil bravery. Instead,

ALFREDO reacts like a wild

animal.)

So I've been wasting my breath? You

pretend to agree with

me, but as soon as my back is turned,

you do what you want!

(He gives SALVATORE a kick

in the ass, shrieking:)

Get out of here! I don't want to lay

eyes on you again! This is

the last straw! Your mother's right,

you're crazy!!

(He pushes him towards the

stairs. SALVATORE suddenly

vanishes, scared out of

his wits. ALFREDO talks to

himself, in a

fury:)

But how'd he do it? The little

bastard! By watching, he's

learned! It's incredible!

(He peers out of the

window, yelling, as he

sees SALVATORE

running through the

square. )

I'm letting the box office know

you're not to set foot even into

the theatre! There are no more

tickets for you! And I'm also

talking to Father Adelfio! You won't

be an altar boy any more

either!!! You little runt!

(SALVATORE looks at him.

Hates him. Yells something

offensive:)

SALVATORE

Alfredo, go fuck yourself!!!

(But his words are drowned

out by the sudden shouting

of the people outside the

café.)

CROWD

Goal!! Holy Mother of God!!!

(A MAN in the crowd

crumples to the ground.

The others swarm around

him, alarmed. They hold up

his head. His face is

pale. They check the

coupon he is clutching in

his hand. A voice rises

like a siren from the

crowd.)

MAN

Ciccio Spaccafico's won the

Sisal!!!!!

(The yell can be heard...)

I8  CINEMA PARADISO. INT. DAY

...inside the movie house. The audience murmurs. Somebody opens

an emergency exit...

SPECTATOR'S VOICE

The Neapolitan's won the lottery!!!

Let's go see, kids!!! Northerners are

always lucky!

(The whole audience leaps

up and heads for the exit.

Pushing. Shouting.

Laughing and Joking. )

19  SQUARE AND VILLAGE. EXT. MORNING

Summer has come. The village has a different look. The peddlers sing their

monotonous refrains in the village streets. In one street, women are busy

canning tomatoes. In one corner of the square, the SHEARER has finished clipping

the donkey and is now shaving the hair of a row of bare-chested URCHINS with

nothing on but their underwear. Then another MAN disinfects them by spraying

them with the hand pumps used to spray trees in the country. The URCHINS

laugh. The BILL-POSTER is hanging up the posters of a new film, 'TODAY AT CINEMA

PARADISO .

20  GRADE SCHOOL DINING HALL. INT. MORNING

The fifth-grade exams. In the vast dining hall all the children are seated, one

for each desk, under the watchful eyes of the teachers. SALVATORE, BOCCIA,

PEPPINO, MASINO and COLA have taken places here and there, as nervous as

everybody else. The EXAMINING BOARD MEMBER is dictating the text of the

arithmetic problem.

EXAMINING BOARD MEMBER

A merchant owns two stores. In the

first he sells fruit and vegetables.

In the second he sells nails and

cement...

(The PRINCIPAL comes in,

interrupts the dictation.)

PRINCIPAL

Excuse me, professor. Here are the

men taking the exam for the

elementary school certificate.

(Turning to the door)

Come in, please...

(All the children turn to

look. A MAN around thirty

enters, ill at ease. The

children recognize him and

laugh mischievously. The

second is the BLACKSMITH,

the one who falls asleep

at the movies. The third

is a twenty-year-old-boy,

ANGELO. The fourth is

ALFREDO, embarrassed and

red in the face. SALVATORE

is speechless. Gives a

slightly ironic laugh.

There is a look of revenge

in his shrewd little

eyes.)

Cut to:

The assignment is now being carried out. There is dead silence in the

hall.

TEACHERS and the PRINCIPAL moue about, checking to be sure there are no notes

being handed around or other forms of 'collaboration'. The four outsiders are

having a hard time. It can be seen on their faces. ALFREDO is also in trouble,

doesn't know how to solve the problem, the calculations are too diff cult. He

looks at the desk next to him, where SALVATORE is sitting. SALVATORE is about to

look up at him, but ALFREDO immediately looks away, too proud to let himself be

seen.

The exchange of glances continues, grotesque, almost comical. SALVATORE

meanwhile writes down numbers and operations quite quickly. ALFREDO can't stand

it any longer, is nervous, beaded with sweat. He's sorry he ever showed up.

SALVATORE laughs up his sleeve, now he has the upper hand. ALFREDO tries

sneaking a look at his exercise book in order to copy something. But SALVATORE

turns his back, hiding it from sight. ALFREDO tries sneaking a look at somebody

else's exercise book, but the damn kid also covers it. It looks like a

conspiracy against him. ALFREDO has no way out. He has to accept the idea of

eating humble pie. He looks at SALVATORE, motions him with his eyes in a

conversation of glances. He asks for help, but SALVATORE stands firm,

implacable.

ALFREDO tries to put it into words in a low voice.

ALFREDO

YOU jerk. Tell me how to solve this

fucking problem!

TEACHER

Ssssh! Silence back there!!

ALFREDO insists with his eyes. SALVATORE makes him understand with gestures

that he could help him maybe, but...on one condition. He imitates the gesture

of winding the crank of the projector. ALFREDO gets the message. It's pure

blackmail. He rubs his hand over his sweating face, raises his eyes to the

ceiling as if he were swearing. Then he surrenders, accepts the condition.

SALVATORE is serious, does not flaunt his victory, but you can tell he is happy.

He takes out a sheet of paper he had already prepared, with the solution to the

problem, rolls it up into a tiny ball and as soon as the TEACHER passes by,

takes aim and flicks it to him. ALFREDO'S hand catches the precious and dearly

bought message in mid-air. Their quarrel is over.

2I  VARIOUS SETTINGS. INT. DAY/EVENING

A bright, lilting tune marks the rhythm of the quick, blurred images, as

in a dance, the images of ALFREDO teaching SALVATORE all the

secrets of the projectionist trade.

ALFREDO slips the reel on to the projector, unrolls the trailer and hands

it to SALVATORE. SALVATORE mounts the film on the sprockets.

Now SALVATORE sets the projector into motion, opens the shutter and

stands on tip-toe to see the screen from the hole...

A shot from In nome della legge. The main-floor audience applauds a

line spoken by Massimo Gironi. And from the balcony, the same little

MAN with the face of a public notary spits below.

MAIN FLOOR VOICE

Bastard!! Pencil-pusher!!

ALFREDO shows SALVATORE the running of the film. He points

to a place on the projector.

ALFREDO

Pay attention. This is where it can

easily catch fire. If it

happens, the first thing you've got

to do is break it off, here

and here, so the whole reel doesn't

go up in fames.

On the screen, a shot from Riso amaro. A kiss. Unrelenting, the PRIEST rings his

bell. SALVATORE licks the film on one side, then on the other. He laughs.

ALFREDO

You understand which side the

gelatin's on?

SALVATORE

It tastes wonderful!

A shot of Amedeo Nazzari in La figlia del capitano. A jump,

an out-of-rack frame. The audience whistles.

AUDIENCE

Fraaaame!! Wake up, Alfredo!

(SALVATORE tries to do a

hand-binding. ALFREDO

winds the film, hangs a

slip on a nail in the

wall.)

ALFREDO

These are the shipping invoices for

the film. They are always to be kept.

You see?

SALVATORE

OK, Alfredo.

Down on the main floor, a scene from Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.

Everyone screams and hides their faces when Hyde looks at the

camera.

AUDIENCE

Holy Mother! What a face! So ugly!

One young man, ANGELO, doesn't hide his face. He looks up at

a young woman, ROSA, in the balcony, who turns and smiles at

him.

ALFREDO gives SALVATORE a wooden stool. He's had it made especially for him, so

he can be high enough to reach the reels of the projector and the arc lamp.

SALVATORE climbs up on it. He laughs, all excited.

ALFREDO

Now you can run it by yourself.

SALVATORE gives another smile. He is posing in a photographer's studio . He is

all dressed up for first communion, holding a white lily. The flash goes off

like lightning during a storm. Now SALVATORE is posing next to his mother and

little sister. They smile without hugging. Another flash of light. Click!

22  FIFTH GRADE. INT. DAY

Another click. The transparency of Rita Hayworth in her black gown

from Gilda. MASINO is pasting it inside a minute pair of plastic field

glasses. Other pupils crowd around him in excitement.

MASINO

(In a whisper)

Christ, what a piece of ass!!!

But there is not a cheerful atmosphere in the class - on the

contrary, a strange silence. The pupils are all standing around the

teacher's desk, having received their end-of-the-year report cards.

PEPPINO, who shared SALVATORE s desk, is saying goodbye to

his schoolmates. BOCCIA, COLA, the others. They have serious,

sad expressions. He and SALVATORE kiss like grown-ups. The

TEACHER is standing among them. One of the schoolmates does

not respond lo PEPPINO's goodbye gesture. He takes a few steps

back, serious, scared, his eyes lowered.

TEACHER

Di Francesco, aren't you saying

goodbye to your schoolmate?

(DI FRANCESCO gives his

head a little shake. The

TEACHER leans over to

him.)

But why?

(DI FRANCESCO whispers,

almost into her ear.)

DI FRANCESCO

My father says he's a Communist...

23  SQUARE AND PROJECTION BOOTH, CINEMA PARADISO. EXT/INT. DAY

Another farewell scene in the square. PEPPINO to his grandparents. His father

and mother are also there, saying goodbye to the old folks. There are tears. The

cardboard suitcases tied with string are loaded on to the luggage rack of the

black car. The scene is watched by SALVATORE and ALFREDO, up in the window of

the projection booth. They look like old friends. On the sound monitor, the

strains of some American musical comedy tune.

SALVATORE

Will they really find work in

Germany?

ALFREDO

Who knows?...It's like an adventure.

(In a theatrical voice)

Hope springs eternal...

(PEPPINO from the distance

gives one last wave at the

window of the

projection booth.

SALVATORE waves back.)

SALVATORE

Peppinoooo! Come back sooon!!

(The black car drives off,

leaving a cloud of dust

that envelops the

suppressed sobs of the

grandparents standing

there waving

handkerchiefs. SALVATORE

watches the car drive off.

He mumbles:)

Good thing Germany's closer than

Russia.

ALFREDO rubs his hand through his hair.

24  CINEMA PARADISO. BALCONY AND BOOTH. INT. EVENING

The lion's head with the beam of light, seen from the balcony.

SALVATORE'S face appears in the hole beside it, as he peers down at the

images of the Settimana Incom newsreel.

The audience is distracted. The snoring of a man sleeping can be heard.

A pair of urchins pick up a cockroach with their hands, tip-toe down the

aisle. The sleeping man is the same old BLACKSMITH, with his head

thrown back. A little hand drops the cockroach into the gaping mouth.

The URCHINS take to their heels. The BLACKSMITH squirms, wake up

with a start. Spits, while everybody laughs. The newsreel is now about

missing soldiers in Russia.

COMMENTATOR

The Defense Minister has announced a

new listof names of Italian soldiers,

so far considered missing and now

confirmed as dead. Families concerned

will be notified directly by military

authorities.

SALVATORE pays careful attention, sees the black-and-white

shots of the last war. The Russian campaign. The troops in the

snow. Now in detail a heap of personal objects found on the

corpses. Documents, clothing, glasses, photographs. One quick

detail catches SALVATORE's eye  among those photographs, for one

instant he sees one he thinks he recognizes. He quickly sticks a slip of paper

into the take-up reel, as when marking the kisses to be cut.

25  PREFECTURE. CITY. INT. DAY

The hands of an OFFICIAL tear off several forms and give them to

MARIA who is sitting in front of the desk. She is dressed in black.

SALVATORE stands beside her, holding her hand. They have black

bands on their arms. An empty stare in their eyes.

MARIA is pale, a cold look in her sunken eyes. Her heart is bursting in

her breast. And a lump in her throat prevents her from speaking. She

looks at her husband's belongings, identifies them  a gold chain, an ID

card and the photograph, the one SALVATORE saw in the newsreel.

MARIA strokes it with her fingers. SALVATORE comes up and looks, as

the OFFICIAL concludes:

OFFICIAL

...Unfortunately we don't know what

war cemetery he's buried in...This

is the form for the pension. If you'd

like to sign it...

26  PREFECTURE AND CITY STREET. EXT. DAY

MARIA walks through the city. She holds SALVATORE by the hand. SALVATORE looks

up, trying to catch her eye. He sees her crying, in silence. The heartbroken

tears of someone who has lost the one last hope, but held back, so as not to be

seen by the child. SALVATORE presses close and puts his arm around her waist.

They turn the corner, and walk off in the noisy city, disfigured by the ruins of

war. A poster for Gone with the Wind catches SALVATORE's eye. He smiles.

27  CINEMA PARADISO. BOX OFFICE. PROJECTION BOOTH. SQUARE. INT/EXT. EVENING

Winter has returned. On the screen, a sequence from I pompieri di Viggiu. The

theatre is jam full. The sea of heads sways and shakes at the irresistible jokes

of Toto.

Some people have climbed up on the window-sills. The aisles are crammed, an the

way down to the screen, where grown-ups and children sit on the floor, their

noses in the air. Some people munch crusts of bread they've brought along from

home. Almost everybody is smoking. A woman laughs, holding the baby she is

nursing. In one corner, at the end of one of the aisles jammed with people

standing, a girl laughs, but every now and then her expression reveals a look of

deep pleasure.

Her body moves slightly. Clinging to her from the rear is a man bathed in sweat.

They are making love standing there among the crowd, which notices nothing and

goes on laughing.

In the balcony ANGELO is holding hands with ROSA.

The curtain over the entrance is open. People are also standing there,

seeing what they can from the distance, even a corner of the screen

through the forest of heads. But the line continues on outside...All the

way to the entrance of the movie house, out in the square. There are

crowds of people, shivering from the cold, who protest, shove, risk

provoking incidents. The PRIEST, Father Adelfio, is exhausted, tries to

calm them down.

PRIEST

Don't shove! There's no room! For

heaven's sake! I can't

give another showing, it's late!

VOICES IN CROWD

Father Adelfio, we've been here for

an hour! There are people inside

who've seen it twice! ! ! Move on!!

Ouch!! My foot!!!

It has just stopped raining, the bell-tower rings eleven o'clock. On

the poster of the film a ' LAST DAY' sticker. The PRIEST, the

TICKET-SELLER, the USHER and TWO CARABINIERES push the crowd back, close the

front door. The protest grows louder. Fists pound the door.

CROWD

Open up!!! Father Adelfio!!

(The audience in the

theatre hears the uproar.

Reacts:)

AUDIENCE

Ssssh! Sssssh! Be quiet out there!!

What the hell!

(From the window of the

projection booth, ALFREDO

and SALVATORE look at the

crowd down below, yelling

and complaining. Some of

the people look up at

them. )

VOICES IN CROWD

Alfredooo! We want to get in!...

Tomorrow you're taking it off!

(ALFREDO spreads his arms

out as if to say there s

nothing he can do.)

SALVATORE

Why can't we show the same film

tomorrow?

ALFREDO

It's got to be sent to another town.

And if we don't the owner of that

movie house gets pissed off.

SALVATORE

Too bad!

The crowd sways nervously. The CARABINIERES give order.

CARABINIERES

(Exasperated)

Stop! Go home, all of you! Otherwise

somebody's going to end up in jail!'

That's enough!

ALFREDO

(Dramatically)

'Joe! A mob doesn't think, doesn't

know what it's doing...'

(SALVATORE gives him a

curious, inquisitive look.

ALFREDO smiles.)

Spencer Tracy said it in Fury.

(Mischievously)

What'd you say if we let these poor

devils see the film, Toto?

(SALVATORE stares at him

in amazement, all

excited.)

SALVATORE

Wonderful! But how can it be done?

ALFREDO turns away from the window. He gives a smirk, imitates the tough

American movie stars.

ALFREDO

You don't believe my words, but

you'll have to believe your own

eyes!...And now get your ass off

that damn stool, boy!

SALVATORE laughs, eagerly, as if he were about to see a whole new movie. He

climbs off the stool. Both of them move towards the projector...

28  PROJECTION BOOTH AND SQUARE. INT/EXT. EVENING

Trying not to put his hand in front of the lens, ALFREDO removes the

frame with the glass that protects the projection. He wheels it around

and motions SALVATORE to look...On the wall behind the projector:

the film picture appears gradually, reflected by the glass, moves as the

glass moves all the way over to the window looking out over the square.

There it disappears. SALVATORE can barely believe his eyes, as if it

were a piece of magic. He takes a quick look through the hole to see if

the film is still showing on the screen. It is.

ALFREDO

(Mysteriously)

Go to the window, boy, and have a

look...

SALVATORE goes over to the window. Looks out. The reflected

beam of light ends up on the white row of houses facing the

square. It's like another screen. Except the images are

backwards, like when you look in a mirror. And here and there

are the windows of the houses...For SALVATORE, it's a

wonderful spectacle, like a dream, ravishing.

SALVATORE

Alfredo, it's beautiful.

(A voice is heard in the

crowd of people jammed

around the entrance to the

movie house.)

VOICE IN CROWD

(Shouting)

Hey, look there!! The movie!!

(All heeds turn to look at

the house behind them.)

CROWD

Oh, praise the Lord!! It's true!

Look! The movie!! There's Toto!!

Hurry! Hurry!...THANKS, ALFRED0000!!

And everybody runs over to the other side of the square, in front

of the strange new screen. ALFREDO and SALVATORE watch with glittering eyes.

SALVATORE lays his hand on the shoulder of his great pal.

SALVATORE

Good for you, Alfredo!

A close-up of Toto projected on the houses, and one of the windows opens. A MAN

appears, in his pajamas. Dazzled by the light, he shades his eyes with his hand.

He sees all those people looking at him and laughing together.

CROWD

Shut the window!! Shut the window! Go

to bed!!

The MAN is dazed. Doesn't now what's going on. Looks around, and sees the

black-and-white figures of the film dancing around him. He pops back inside,

slams the window shut, almost cared.

VOICES IN CROWD

(To ALFREDO)

Sound!!! Sound!! Alfredooooo!!

ALFREDO

What do you say, should we make them

happy?

SALVATORE

(Smiling)

Sure, sure!

ALFREDO takes the loudspeaker of the monitor, rings it over to the window,

turns it around towards the square. He turns up he volume and the sound-track

fills the square. A chorus of approval.

CROWD

Aaaaaaaa! At last!

ALFREDO

(Looking at SALVATORE)

Do you want to go down there?

(SALVATORE gives a

contented nod.)

Go on.

SALVATORE runs on. ALFREDO looks wistfully towards the huge image in the

square. Down in the square SALVATORE heads for the crowd, his eyes trained on

the house-front screen. Behind him, the door of the movie house opens. The

PRIEST, Father Adelfio, sees the film being projected on the house front,

the people standing or sitting on the ground, laughing. His eyes nearly pop out

of his head. Then he motions over the TICKET-SELLER, whispers something into his

ear. The TICKET-SELLER strides over to the shivering spectators, pulls the pad

of tickets out of his pocket.

TICKET-SELLER

Ladies and gentlemen! You have to buy

tickets! Reduced rate!

An irresistible chorus of Bronx cheers washes over him. SALVATORE looks around,

highly amused.

CROWD

Fuck off!! The square belongs to

everybody!

(The VILLAGE IDIOT peers

Out Of the crowd, all

worked up.)

VILLAGE IDIOT

No!!! The square's mine!!! Come on,

kids, no joking around here!!!

Otherwise...

The crowd roars with laughter. SALVATORE laughs too, as if carried away by it

all. And over the general merriment looms the shadow of ALFREDO, standing in the

window of the projection booth. All at once, on the house-front screen, the

image of Toto slows down for an instant, a white blister appears and spreads

until it fills the whole screen. The crowd gives a start of bewilderment and

fear. SALVATORE jerks his head around to look at the booth.

29  PROJECTION BOOTH. INT. DAY

The film bursts violently into flame among the gears and sprockets of the

projector. ALFREDO is taken off-guard. He breaks the film running into the take-

up reel, but is unable to do it for the delivery reel. He grabs the film which

is catching fire and pulls it out quickly, tries to stop the flames from

reaching the reel in the f reproof housing. A desperate race against the speed

of the fire. The flames on the floor burn his legs. ALFREDO gives a jump, slows

down the movement of his hands for an instant and inevitably the flames run

ahead, reach the upper housing. It's like an explosion. The flames leap out,

striking him full in the face. ALFREDO doesn't have time to scream, struggles

desperately and falls to the floor. Meanwhile the flames envelop everything.

30  SQUARE.EXT.EVENING

The flash of the flames flares up in the windows of the projection booth.

SALVATORE is appalled, elbows his way through the moving

crowd. Inside the movie house the murmuring of the audience can be heard,

growing louder and louder. A scream...

3I:CINEMA PARADISO. INT. EVENING

A violent spurt of flames leaps out of the mouth of the plaster lion's head,

into the darkness broken by the screams of people rushing for the exits.

32  SQUARE AND CINEMA PARADISO ENTRANCE. EXT. EVENING

The crowd streaks out of the movie house, enveloped in a cloud of black smoke.

CROWD

Heeeelp! Run for your lives!!!

In the general panic, SALVATORE tries in vain to get inside, elbows his way

towards the street with the stairs leading to the projection booth. The audience

clashes against him, knocks him to the ground, almost trampling him underfoot.

He is suddenly seized by a superhuman force; gets up, claws his way desperately

ahead, with people falling on top of him and to the floor. He finally succeeds,

starts up the stairs...

33  CINEMA PARADISO. STAIRS AND PROJECTION BOOTH. INT. EVENING

The place is filled with smoke. The air is suffocating. SALVATORE streaks up the

stairs, gasping for breath. The projection booth is enveloped inflames.

ALFREDO's body on the floor, burning. SALVATORE moves quickly, throws a blanket

over his shoulders, drags him by the feet over to the stairs, as boxes and other

objects fall on him. Using the same blanket, he stamps out the flames that have

seared ALFREDO'S clothes. With the force of desperation, he drags him further

down the stairs which have been reached by the smoke but not by the flames.

ALFREDO doesn't move, his face is burnt. SALVATORE looks at him and only now is

panic-stricken, lets out a terrified shriek, like a wounded colt.

SALVATORE

Alfredo! Heeeelp! Help!!!

34  CINEMA PARADISO. INT. EVENING

The plaster lion looks like a dragon spitting fire and smoke. The statue of the

Virgin Mary is also in flames. And the movie screen.

35  SQUARE AND CINEMA PARADISO. EXT. EVENING

The fire has been put out. Nothing remains of the movie house but the skeleton.

Everything has gone up in smoke.

People stand around, dismayed. They gather around the PRIEST, who is at once

grieved and shocked, to express their solidarity and comfort.

VOICES

What a pity! Poor Alfredo! What a

terrible thing!! Cheer up, Father, is

there something we can do?'

VILLAGE IDIOT

(Laughing)

Burnt up...Burnt up.

PRIEST

What'll we do now! The town will have

to get along without movies! Who's

got the money to rebuild it?

CICCIO SPACCAFICO, the man who won the Sisal pools, comes up, dressed in style.

He looks up at the charred cinema. It looks like a battlefield after an enemy

attack. From the smoke and ashes to...

36  CINEMA PARADISO. EXT. EVENING

...The great lighted sign of the CINEMA PARADISO . The movie house has been

rebuilt. New facade. New billboards. There are people

moving about the entrance. It is the evening of the inauguration...

37  CINEMA PARADISO. INT. EVENING

The lobby is crowded with people, authorities, special guests. There is the

MAYOR, FATHER ADELFIO and the new owner, CICCIO SPACCAFICO, dressed to the

teeth. The MAYOR cuts the ribbon. Flashbulbs pop. Clapping.

GUESTS

Cheers' Congratulations, Don Ciccio!

The procession advances towards the stairs leading into the theatre. FATHER

ADELFIO, with a nostalgic sigh, blesses the lobby, then the corridor. Lastly,

the new auditorium, which resounds with toasts and cheers.

AUDIENCE

To the Cinema Paradiso!

The PRIEST sprinkles the new seats, the walls, the screen with holy water...

38  CINEMA PARADISO. PROJECTION BOOTH. INT. EVENING

Now FATHER ADELFIO is blessing the brand-new projection booth. He also blesses

the new projectionist: SALVATORE. He is very nervous, but serious, self-

possessed. His worried-looking mother is also there for the occasion. The PRIEST

turns to SPACCAFICO.

PRIEST

How'd you solve his being under age?

SPACCAFICO

I took out a license as

projectionist, thanks to friends down

at the guild offices. But I don't

know a thing about it. Officially, I

do the job...

(Smiling at Salvatore)

...but Toto earns the money.

PRIEST

Fine.

(To SALVATORE)

Always be careful, my boy. Don't ever

go to sleep. Be sure another accident

doesn't happen. Do everything poor

Alfredo taught you. And may God bless

you.

SALVATORE nods his head seriously, assuming a responsible expression. His

mother kisses the PRIEST's hand.

MARIA

Thanks, Father. Thanks.

SPACCAFICO

And now enough of this gloomy

atmosphere. Life goes on! I want to

see you happy and smiling!

39  CINEMA PARADISO. INT. EVENING

Laughter. The laughter of the large audience at the first showing of the

inauguration film. Among the spectators, SALVATORE'S mother, MARIA, and his kid

sister, El A. Up on the screen, a man and a woman kiss. The first time a kiss

has been seen at the Cinema Paradiso. The audience murmurs, surprised and

excited.

AUDIENCE

Ooooooh! They're kissing!! Look at

that!! Christ, that's news!!

An OLD LADY sitting next to the MAYOR, crosses herself, flabbergasted. CICCIO

SPACCAFICO chuckles. Rubs his hands: these are going to be golden times for him.

FATHER ADELFIO gets up and stalks out of the theatre, indignant; he'll

never set foot in the place again. The love theme gets louder and

louder...

40  PROJECTION BOOTH. INT. EVENING

The same music spreads through the booth from the monitor. SALVATORE is by

himself. He is watching the film through the hole but strangely enough, the

story doesn't absorb him. ALFREDO'S absence makes him nervous, he gazes at the

stool he used to sit on. Il has been repainted. A voice from the rear of the

cabin:

ANNA'S VOICE

Toto?...

SALVATORE turns and at the top of the stairs sees SIGNORA

ANNA and behind her, ALFREDO, her husband. He is wearing a

pair of dark glasses and walks with the kelp of a cane. He has

lost his sight, but not his spirit. He smiles:

ALFREDO

Any room for me in this Cinema

Paradiso?

(SALVATORE runs over and

embraces him.)

SALVATORE

Come in, Alfredo.

ANNA

(to SALVATORE)

Toto, will you bring him home when

you close down?

SALVATORE

Yes. Signora Anna.

(To ALFREDO)

I'm glad you came.

Cut to:

ALFREDO is now sitting there immobile. He listens to the soundtrack of the film.

SALVATORE studies the way he stares into empty space, and the idea of darkness

frightens him. There is something new in ALFREDO'S manner, as if having grazed

death and the loss of his sight had endowed him with a deeper knowledge of men

and life.

ALFREDO

How's school?

SALVATORE

OK. OK. But now that I've got a job,

I'11 probably stop going...

ALFREDO

Don't do that...Sooner or later

you'll be left empty-handed.

SALVATORE

Why? What do you mean?

ALFREDO

Toto, this isn't for you. For the

moment, the Cinema Paradiso needs

you, and you need the Cinema

Paradiso. But it won't last...Some

day you'll have other things

to do, more important things...

(He reaches out and

touches SALVATORE'S face

to 'feel' his expression.)

That's right, more important. I know

it. Now that I've lost my sight I see

more.

I see everything I didn't see

before...

(As ALFREDO moves his hand

from SALVATORE's face, we

see that he is now a young

man, and that ALFREDO is

older, grayer.)

And it's all thanks to you, who saved

my life. And I'll never forget it...

(SALVATORE doesn't

understand his strange

words. ALFREDO can 'feel'

he is troubled.)

And don't put on that look. I haven't

gone off my head yet. You want proof?

And he gives a joking smile. SALVATORE is curious, expects one of his fiendish

tricks.

SALVATORE

(Smiling)

Yes. I want proof.

ALFREDO

For example, at this moment the

film's out of focus. Go see.

SALVATORE stands up in disbelief. He looks through the hole, and indeed the film

is out of focus. He puts it back into focus, flabbergasted.

ALFREDO

(Smiling)

It's hard to explain, Toto...

41  CAFE IN THE SQUARE. INT/EXT. MORNING

As the BILL-POSTER attaches to the café door a poster of Catene - the

coming attraction at the Cinema Paradiso - CICCIO SPACCAFICO is

speaking on the phone in the phone booth. He is clearly peeved.

SPACCAFICO

Only two days? Are you joking?!...

What do I care if all the copies

are reserved?...Catene for only two

days in a place like this! Why,

people will eat me alive!...

(Standing beside him

listening is SALVATORE. He

is carrying school

books under his ann. In

the café, several curious

ONLOOKERS laugh as through

the café window they watch

some unemployed PEASANT

MEN dancing together at

the club. SPACCAFICO

listens nervously, then

shrieks as if he were

about to eat the phone.)

...I know, I know. But even if I

start showing at eight in the morning

it wouldn't be enough! This is a big

town now and you people at the

Titanus know it perfectly well! I'm

your sole agent and if I get pissed

off I'll write straight

to Lombardo, in Rome!! I'll give you

guys a good run-around!! If I get my

dander up, I can let fly, if my

name's Spaccafico!!

Cut to:

SPACCAFICO AND SALVATORE are now outside the café, head towards the square. In

front of the movie house, the CHARWOMAN is at work. SPACCAFICO is so nervous he

lights two cigarettes without noticing it. SALVATORE is turning something over

in his mind.

SALVATORE

Don Ciccio, I've got an idea...You

remember that old abandoned movie

house where they're supposed to build

those low-rent houses?

SPACCAFICO

So what's that got to do with it?

SALVATORE

The projector's all rusty, but I

could fix it in two or three days.

Give the place a good cleaning, put

in some seats and bring in a

projectionist and we'll show Catene

in two houses.

SPACCAFICO

(Shrieking)

What the fuck you talking about? You

getting into the act too, Toto?

Titanus has trouble giving me even

one copy and I have to say thanks! If

I ask for two, the least they'll do

is cut off my head and play ball with

it!

A shrewd look glitters in SALVATORE s eyes. He smiles.

SALVATORE

Who says we need two copies?

42  CINEMA PARADISO. INT. DAY

The house is jammed with people. Almost bursting at the seams. The last scenes

of Catene move across the screen. Tears stream down the faces of the men and

women. The children are unusually silent. Even the BLACKSMITH is awake, indeed

whispers ahead of time all the lines of Nazzari and Yvonne Sanson, knows them by

heart. Among the crowd in the balcony there is ALFREDO and his wife, the MAYOR,

DON VINCENZO the landowner, the schoolteachers. Now the music is loud, heart-

rending. 'THE END' appears on screen. The lights go on. And there is a great

din and uproar as one audience leaves and another arrives. The race for empty

seats. Quarrels. The CARABINIERES help the USHER maintain order and persuade the

people who want to see the film again to get up and leave.

USHER

(Exasperate])

That's enough now! You've seen it ten

times! I need the seats! I wish you'd

all get the galloping runs!

CARABINIERES

Easy! Easy! Through the emergency

exits, quick! Stop the jabbering!!

43  CINEMA PARADISO. PROJECTION BOOTH. INT.

The end of the film slips through the sprockets. SALVATORE switches off the

motor. He is particularly fast in taking the reel out of the housing. And even

faster in dropping it into the sack BOCCIA is holding open for him.

SALVATORE

Now get running and bring me the

first reel. Meanwhile I'll start

showing the news!

BOCCIA

OK, Toto!

44  VILLAGE STREETS AND COUNTRYSIDE. EXT. DAY

BOCCIA speeds like an arrow on his bicycle through the village streets. Tied to

the parcel-rack is the sack containing the second part of Catene. He now turns

off the main street and takes a short-cut down a country road. He pedals as fast

as he can. Until he disappears into the distance, beyond the trees.

45  ENTRANCE OLD ABANDONED MOVIE HOUSE. EXT. DAY

BOCCIA finally reaches the old movie house, which has been more or less spruced

up. Here too people are lined up in front of the posters of Catene. CICCIO

SPACCAFICO is waiting impatiently on an outside staircase. He too is holding a

sack, containing the first part of the film. The bicycle pulls up in front of

him. The sacks are exchanged.

SPACCAFICO

Quick! Give it to me! Here's the

first part. Get moving!

BOCCIA heads back to the Cinema Paradiso, to take the first part to SALVATORE.

SPACCAFICO dashes up the stairs, and hands the sack to a MAN standing in the

door, through which the bare projection booth can be seen, and the projector

which SALVATORE has put back into working order. SPACCAFICO yells in excitement.

SPACCAFICO

Here you are! Quick, quick!! People

are waiting!

46  OLD ABANDONED MOVIE HOUSE. INT. DAY

In fact, inside the old freezing cold movie house, the audience is grumbling.

Everyone is wrapped in overcoats and woollen scarves and are sitting on chairs

they've brought from home and wooden benches. The hum of the projector is heard

at last. The lights go down. The grumbling subsides. The words 'PART TWO' appear

on screen and then the images of the film.

47  VARIOUS COUNTRY ROADS AND VILLAGE STREETS. EXT. DAY/SUNDOWN

Meanwhile BOCCIA pedals his way swiftly through the countryside on his way to

the Cinema Paradiso...

FADE.

Now BOCCIA is on his way back to the old movie house. To carry out another

exchange of sacks containing the reels of film.

FADE.

Another race back to Cinema Paradiso. BOCCIA starts looking tired, his breath is

short. And daylight starts fading into the colours of sundown.

FADE.

The last fading light of sundown.-BOCCIA is pedalling once more back

to the old movie house. With the same sack tied to the parcel-rack. He

is exhausted. On his last legs. He slows down, then stops.

48  CINEMA PARADISO. INT. EVENING

The lights are still on. In the thick blanket of smoke, the crowd stirs

nervously. Shouting. Whistling.

AUDIENCE

Hey, when's it starting!! We've got

ploughing to do in the morning!!

Toto, get a move on!! Heeey!!

49  PROJECTION BOOTH. INT/EXT. EVENING

In the booth, the projector is turned off. SALVATORE looks nervously

out of the window...at the square. But not a sign of BOCCIA. A CARABINIERE

peers in through one of the holes.

CARABINIERE

What are we going to do, Toto? The

whole place here is up in arms.

They've been waiting more than a half

hour.

SALVATORE

What can I do?

50  OLD ABANDONED MOVIE HOUSE. INT. EVENING

Here too the audience is up in arms. They're waiting for Part Two tostart.

CICCIO SPACCAFICO tears his hair with rage.

SPACCAFICO

Where's the fucking bastard got to?

SPECTATOR

Let's get one thing straight, Don

Ciccio! I'm waiting ten minutes

more, and if you haven't started...

you're giving me my money back!!

AUDIENCE

(In chorus)

Well said! Well said! We want our

money back!!

SPACCAFICO

Easy! Easy! What about my showing you

the first part again? Huh?

People shout, whistle, give Bronx cheers.

AUDIENCE

No! First part, my foot! We want to

see how the story ends!!

Down in the front row, PASQUALE, the man who sells black market cigarettes,

stands up.

PASQUALE

I've seen the whole works! You want

me to tell you how it ends?

A shoe comes flying at him.

AUDIENCE

Nooo! No! Shut up, you jerk!!

5I  VILLAGE STREETS AND COUNTRY ROADS. EXT. EVENING

SALVATORE has got himself a bicycle and is going off to look for

BOCCIA. He pedals fast, turns into the country short cut. Looks

around  not a sign of Boccia. By now it is dark. He sees a MAN in the window of

a farmhouse, calls out to him.

SALVATORE

Boccia! Boccia!

SALVATORE rides on. Now he's in the open country. All of a sudden he seems to

hear something. He stops. Pricks up his ears. It's a sort of moan - he can't

figure out if it's an animal or a man. He turns on the flashlight he has brought

along. Takes a closer look around.

Catches sight of a bicycle wheel on the ground behind a bush. That's where the

moan is coming from! He creeps over in alarm. Next to the bicycle he now catches

sight of the sack with the film. And the moaning gets louder.

SALVATORE

(Alarmed)

Boccia, what's wrong?

(He runs over to help his

friend. Behind the bush he

discovers BOCCIA humped up

between the legs of

TERESA, a prostitute. He

moves with all the fury

of his young years.

SALVATORE has never seen

people making love before

and is speechless.)

Damn you, what are you doing?

BOCCIA

(Shouting)

Oh, Christ, it's so good!!!

(And he goes on ramming it

home.)

TERESA

Hey, cut it out! Go away. Shoo!

With a confused look on his face, SALVATORE picks up the sack and walks away,

looking over his shoulder at the couple who go on tossing around more and more

frantically.

BOCCIA lets out a shriek of pleasure that rings through the countryside, as

SALVATORE pedals off like a madman and disappears into the trees.

52  CINEMA PARADISO. INT. DAY/EVENING

Music and the naked body of Brigitte Bardot. A row of youngsters on the main

floor stare at the naked actress, all excited. A regular rhythmic tremor runs

through them, half-hidden by the back of the seats.

A scene from a horror film. The frightened faces of the audience. Off in one

corner, the door of the men's toilet opens and a MAN with a contented look comes

out, followed by TERESA, who motions another one to come in. In the projection

booth, SALVATORE is eating the meal his mother has brought him.

A gangster film. The tense faces of the audience. A gun battle. Rounds of

machine-gunfire in the night. The shots echo through the theatre. A LITTLE BOY

claps his hands over his ears. Alternating with the machine-gunfire on screen, a

real pistol shoots the back of one of the spectators, the landowner DON

VINCENZO, who slumps down in his seat without anybody noticing...The shooting

continues up on screen...

SALVATORE'S hand holds a lighted match under a piece of film, before the

horrified eyes of SPACCAFICO and the USHER, and the puzzled expression of

ALFREDO.

SALVATORE

What'd I tell you? It doesn't catch

fire!

ALFREDO

Progress! It always arrives too late!

A scene from Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. The only empty seat

in the theatre is the one where DON VINCENZO was killed. A flower

has been tied to it with string. All the other seats are taken.

Fade to:

ROSA and ANGELO are sitting next to each other. They are watching a

different film. But she has a baby in her arms  they have got married,

have set up a family.

In the balcony, the MAN with the face of a public notary spits down

below with a contented look. But this time the main floor takes its

revenge and a blob of shit hits him square in the face.

53  CINEMA PARADISO. INT. MORNING

In the morning the theatre is empty. All the doors are shut. Light filters in

through the open windows up above, illuminates the posters of coming attractions

and the yellowish screen. Off-screen, a woman's voice

and a boy's voice are heard.

TERESA'S VOICE

(Off-screen)

Come on...That's right...relax...

(Laughing)

...Don't be scared...

SALVATORE'S VOICE

(Off-screen)

Is it true that if I bleed I've got

to squeeze lemon juice on it?

TERESA'S VOICE  (Off-screen)

(A loud laugh)

Lemon juice?...That's a new one for

you! Who tells you this crap...Take

it easy...That's right...You see,

it's not painful, is it?

Slow pan along the walls of the theatre, the empty aisles,

discovers SALVATORE on the floor between the seats with

TERESA, the prostitute who has already been seen. SALVATORE is

making love for the first time in his life. He is awkward and

clumsy. There is an uncertain look in his eyes, his livid face is

dripping with sweat.

TERESA

...There you are! That's right,

that's right! Keep going...

(SALVATORE is quicker, has

learned the lesson. TERESA

goads him on.)

Ah!!! There, now you're a real man! A

man! ? A real calf!

(SALVATORE's panting

slackens into a deep sigh

of pleasure.)

54  VARIOUS SETTINGS. INT/EXT. DAY

The blade of a knife, clutched in a hardened hand. A blow. A cry of pain. A calf

falls like a dead weight to the ground...SALVATORE photographs the animal in

the throes of death with his 8mm movie camera. As well as the faces of the MEN

who now bleed and skin it quickly. In the vast slaughter-house, the voices of

the men and animals mingle together.

SALVATORE'S eye is quick to catch the most unexpected expressions of ordinary

people. His movie camera is always ready, like a hunter's rifle. Now he is

shooting...

A meeting in the square: the passionate reactions of the peasants listening to a

speaker who flails his arms around.

At school: the old SCHOOLMISTRESS sitting at her desk, sunk in God knows what

dreams, her eyes staring off into empty space, as a tear runs down her pale,

unhappy face, and the unknowing STUDENTS carry out their assignments.

At the railroad station: the nervous excitement of the people waiting on the

platforms. SALVATORE pans his camera on to TWO MEN fighting. But an arriving

train comes in between. Salvatore follows the train, pans along the cars. The

train stops.

-A door opens and the passengers climb out. Several TRADERS, a CARABINTERE, a

group of commuting STUDENTS, the TICKET-COLLECTOR, a distinguished looking

COUPLE and lastly, a GIRL who stops in the middle of the viewfinder. SALVATORE

is immediately attracted by her face. He goes on shooting without leaving it a

moment. He follows her through the lens. She is very beautiful, must be around

sixteen, a simple, sweet face, blue eyes. She is certainly the daughter of the

distinguished looking COUPLE who got off just before she did. The little family

moves off down the platform. Salvatore follows the girl's movements, as if

hypnotized. Now she passes by him, turns towards him for one moment, as if

trying to figure out where he is aiming that funny-looking gadget. SALVATORE

smiles at her, entranced.

55  HIGH SCHOOL. COURTYARD. ENTRANCE. EXT. MORNING

The JANITOR is ringing the bell. In the courtyard, on the other side of

the gate, the STUDENTS prepare to enter. SALVATORE is with a group

of schoolmates, including BOCCIA. And they all stare, wide-eyed, at

the GIRL from the station. She has her books under her arm and is

walking by herself.

SALVATORE

You know that one there?

BOCCIA

She's new. Not bad though. Nice-

looking.

(SALVATORE has the look of

somebody seeking for an

idea, some way of picking

up a conversation with

her.)

SECOND STUDENT

Her father s the new bank director.

Loaded, luxury and easy living!

FIRST STUDENT

People who jerk off with a shirt so

they won't get their hands dirty.

(Laughs.)

All at once, BOCCIA and SALVATORE notice that the GIRL drops

her lunch without noticing as she is about to enter the school. They

fly off, swift as arrows. It's a chance not to be missed. BOCCIA is

the quicker, is already in the lead. SALVATORE gives an angry

gesture. A flash come into his eyes, the same flash he had as a little

boy when he finds the right way to hit home. He picks up his step,

trips BOCCIA and brings him to the ground. He pounces on him

and lets go with his fist. He starts running again. Picks the

bundle off the ground. Catches up with the GIRL from the

station, nervous and inexperienced, but polite.

SALVATORE

Look, you dropped this.

And he hands her her lunch with a smile. She recognizes him.

ELENA

Oh, thanks. I hadn't noticed...

She takes the bundle as SALVATORE touches her hand delicately.

SALVATORE

My name's Salvatore...And yours?

ELENA

(Smiling)

Elena. My name's Elena.

SALVATORE is very flustered. He feels as if all his blood were

throbbing in his head. He tries to say something else, but the words

catch in his throat.

SALVATORE

I...I...The other time at the

station.

BOCCIA suddenly grabs him by the collar and yanks him away. ELENA is frightened,

puts her hand over her eyes so as not to see.

56:CINEMA PARADISO.PROJECTION BOOTH.INT.AFTERNOON

SALVATORE has a black eye, swollen shut. He is setting up a little 8mm projector

on a stool. ALFREDO is sitting in one corner. He has come to keep him company.

He listens to the sound-track of the movie being shown.

ALFREDO

Chaplin's Modern Times! Right, Toto?

SALVATORE

That's right, Modern Times.

ALFREDO

I've shown it so many times I know it

by heart. The first time I showed

it, in 1940, was the Sunday my first

wife died. They kept it hidden from

me all day so they wouldn't have to

close down the movie house. I only

found out that night, after the last

show. Those are things you never

forget...

(Changing his tone.)

So, Toto, how are these home movies

going?

(SALVATORE has switched on

the little projector and a

square of light appears on

the wall beside ALFREDO,

with the scenes shot in

town.)

SALVATORE

Yes.

(The shots of the

slaughter-house have

appeared.)

ALFREDO

(Whispering)

What is it, what is it? What's the

picture?

SALVATORE

It's people in the slaughter-house

killing a calf. There's blood all

over the floor, like a lake. And

through this lake another calf passes

by on its way to die.

ALFREDO is concentrated, as if SALVATORE'S description transmitted the

real image to him, the colours, the forms. The railway station has appeared on

the wall, and the sequence of ELENA. SALVATORE does not move, does not say a

word, as he gazes at those blue eyes looking into the camera. ALFREDO senses

something funny in the boy's s11ence.

ALFREDO

Now what can you see?

SALVATORE

Nothing, there's nothing. It's all

out of focus.

ALFREDO

(Smiling)

Is there a woman?...Tell me the

truth...

(SALVATORE is shamed,

uncertain, doesn't know

whet to say. A tender look

filters through ALFREDO's

dark glasses. He has

obviously caught on and

whispers:)

There is a woman.

SALVATORE is forced to admit it, with a sigh.

SALVATORE

Yes, it's a girl I saw at the

station.

ALFREDO

What's she like? What's she like?...

And as other shots of ELENA appear on the screen, SALVATORE describes her. As

only somebody in love could.

SALVATORE

She's nice. My age...Slender, with

long hair, brunette. She had big blue

eyes, a simple expression and a

little beauty mark on her lip, but

really tiny. You can only see it

close-up. And when she smiles...She

makes you feel...

He stops. Only now does he realize that he has let himself be carried away by

passion, by the desire to talk about her. ALFREDO smiles, spellbound...

ALFREDO

Eh! Love...what a mystery!

(SALVATORE turns off the

projector and heaves a

deep sigh, almost of

liberation. ALFREDO'S

sympathy does him a lot of

good. It's nice to be

understood. He moves over

closer to him. ALFREDO

runs his hand through his

hair, whispers:)

I understand you, Toto...The ones

with blue eyes are the

most beautiful. Whatever you do, you

can't make friends with

them.

(SALVATORE is comforted by

the way he talks. He

didn't think it

was possible to put into

words the things he has

felt since meeting

ELENA. He nods his head.

ALFREDO sighs.)

Eh, there's nothing to be done about

it! The heavier a man is,

the deeper his footprints. And if

he's in love, he suffers,

because he knows he's up a one-way

street. Because love is a

meaningless thing when a man gets it

into his head to do what

he wants...

(SALVATORE is touched by

his sensitivity, by his

intense, passionate, sweet

way of speaking.)

SALVATORE

What you say is wonderful! But sad...

ALFREDO

(Smiling)

They're not my words. John Wayne said

it in Shepherd of the Hills.

SALVATORE suddenly changes expression, as if discovering he was being made fun

of.

SALVATORE

Stinking two-timer!!

(And they burst out

laughing.)

57:CINEMAPARADISOANDVARIOUSSTREETS.EXT.DAY

A grey, windy day. It is opening-time and the shutters of the movie

house are being rolled up. SALVATORE is about to enter through the

small door of the spiral staircase, when in the distance he catches sight

of...

ELENA crossing a street with her books under her arm. She is alone.

SALVATORE doesn't stop to think twice, dashes off, runs through streets

full of dust, another square, turns the corner, but has lost sight of her.

He looks around in all directions  there she is! He starts running again.

And finally catches up with her, all out of breath, practically

speechless with emotion.

SALVATORE

Hi, Elena!

ELENA

Hi. Why are you running?

SALVATORE

No particular reason...

(He is entranced by her

eyes. He wants to tell her

all sorts of

things, say all the words

he has memorized a

thousand times. But

now he can't get them out.

His knees tremble. He does

his best to

overcome his confusion,

but all that comes out

is:)

Nice day, huh?

(A gust of wind envelops

them in a cloud of dust

and a clap of

thunder rends the air.

ELENA laughs, amused by

the blunder.)

ELENA

Yes, nice day.

(SALVATORE laughs too. He

gazes at her long hair

tossed by the wind. She

turns to leave.)

...I've got to go now. Bye-bye.

SALVATORE

Bye-bye, Elena.

(ELENA walks away. And

SALVATORE also turns to

leave. Only now is he

seized by disappointment,

regret at not having made

the best of the

opportunity. He talks to

himself.)

...What an idiot! What an idiot!

'Nice day'! Christ!!

58:SALVATORE'S BEDROOM.INT.DAY

SALVATORE projects images of ELENA on his wall. He lies across his bed gazing at

her image.

SALVATORE

You probably don't believe me, but

I'm going to become the leading man

in your life. Sure, I don't look like

Marlon Brando, but look at me, really

look at me. Am I really so ugly? So

should I try once more? Maybe It'll

succeed. What do you

say?

ELENA seems to be saying, Yes. As SALVATORE kisses ELENA, her image disappears.

He is left with his face against the wall in the white light from the

projector.

59:PHONEB00TH AND ELENA'S HOUSE.INT.DAY

SALVATORE is in a phone booth. The telephone will certainly help him feel less

nervous.

SALVATORE

Hello, can I speak to Elena, please?

WOMANS VOICE

Yes.

(SALVATORE recognizes

ELENA's voice, changes his

tone, turns sweeter, more

personal.)

SALVATORE

Is that you, Elena?

WOMAN'S VOICE

Yes...

SALVATORE

Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't recognize

your voice. This is Salvatore,

remember?

WOMAN'SVOICE

Yes...

SALVATORE finally speaks, says everything all in one breath, without stopping,

without hesitating, in order to leave no room for shyness.

SALVATORE

Listen, I know that every time we see

each other I make a fool of myself,

but I'm not like that, I swear. It's

just that when I see you, I feel shy,

the right words don't come to me, I

don't have the courage to say that

all I do is think about you...

(He has finally got it

out. He's dripping with

sweat, but happy at having

succeeded. He continues.)

That's right, Elena, you're the last

thing I think of when I go to sleep

and the first when I wake up in the

morning. And at night I always dream

of you. I know, it's not good on the

phone. But please, don't get me

wrong. Because I love you very

much...

WOMAN'SVOICE

(Interrupting him)

If you don't stop phoning her, I'm

calling the police!

SALVATORE

(Stunned)

But excuse me, who's speaking?

At ELENA'S house, a WOMAN who is visibly in a state is speaking on the phone.

ELENA'S MOTHER

I'm Elena's mother, you filthy pig!

SALVATORE feels like dropping through the floor, tries to get a word in to

explain, to apologize, but the flood of insults overwhelms him.

SALVATORE

I'm sorry, Signora, maybe there's a

misunderstanding...I...

WOMAN'S VOICE

And don't call my daughter any more.

Never!

SALVATORE has no choice but to hang up, disappointed, defeated. He's so mad he

starts slapping himself.

60:ALFREDO'S HOUSE.EXT.AFTERNOON

Good Friday. ALFREDO comes out of his house, leaning on

SALVATORE's shoulder. They go off down the street, towards the

church. SALVATORE has finished recounting his misadventure.

ALFREDO

I told you, the blue-eyed ones are

the most difficult.

SALVATORE

But why? There must be some way to

make her understand!

ALFREDO

Don't think about it, Toto. Don't

even try. With feelings, there's

nothing to understand.

SALVATORE gives an angry gesture. This time ALFREDO'S words do not quiet his

frenzy, don't help him. He moves away from him a few steps.

ALFREDO stands there motionless in the middle of the road.

SALVATORE

Stop it! I've had enough of your

sermons! You act as if you created

the world!

(A bicycle streaks by

ALFREDO, who gives a

startled jump, as if it

were about to

run into him. He raises

his voice, panic-

stricken.)

ALFREDO

Heeey! Totooooo! Don't get pissed off

with me now! Come here! I don't

know where the fuck I have to go.

(A MAN on a bicycle almost

collides with ALFREDO.

SALVATORE fumes, goes over

to him listlessly. ALFREDO

puts his hand back on his

shoulder and they start

walking again. ALFREDO has

calmed down, but his voice

is determined.)

And the next time be careful how you

talk. Not to take credit away

from the Lord, but if I had created

the world, in all modesty, certain

things would have come out better.

But unfortunately such was not the

case.

SALVATORE

(Laughing)

You see, it s like I say. You always

have an answer for everything.

ALFREDO

I want to make you happy, Toto! I'm

going to tell you a story.

(And he squeezes

SALVATORE'S shoulder. It's

the signal for taking a

rest. They sit in a

doorway. ALFREDO starts

telling his story, and his

way of speaking is

hypnotic, magical. With

those eyes lost in empty

space, it's as if his

thoughts and his words

came in from some other

dimension, mysterious,

hidden...)

Once upon a time a king gave a feast

and there were all the most beautiful

princesses of the realm. Basta, one

of the guards, saw the king's

daughter: she was the loveliest of

all! And he immediately fell in love

with her. But what could a poor

soldier do compared with a king's

daughter?!...One day he managed

to meet her and told her he couldn't

live without her. The princess was so

struck by the depth of his feeling

that she said to the soldier  'If you

will wait a hundred days and a

hundred nights beneath my balcony,

then in the end I'll be yours.'

Christ, the soldier ran off there and

waited! One day, two days,

ten, twenty...Every night she looked

out of her window, but he never

budged. Come rain, wind, snow, never

budged! The birds shat on him and the

bees ate him alive! After ninety

nights he was gaunt and pale and

tears streamed from his eyes but he

couldn't hold them back. He didn't

even have the strength to sleep any

more. The princess kept watch...And

on the ninety-ninth night, the

soldier got up, picked up his chair

and left!

SALVATORE

No! You mean right at the end?

(SALVATORE is amazed,

dumbfounded; that ending

has made a deep

impression. They

start walking again.)

ALFREDO

That's right, Toto, right at the end?

And don't ask me what it means. If

you figure it out, let me know...

SALVATORE

I'll be damned'

6I:CHURCH.INT.EVENING

Before the high altar, the Virgin Mary in tears clutches three spikes inher

hand. And beside her is another statue  Christ descended from the

cross. MEN and WOMEN stand in line to kiss Christ's wounds. Many people are

sitting between the pews. SALVATORE helps ALFREDO take a seat, and at that

moment catches sight at the far end of ELENA on her way to the confessional.

She kneels down on one side, just as FATHER ADELFIO comes out of the middle

booth and goes to the altar to say something to the sacristan. SALVATORE'S eyes

light up. He has had a brainstorm.

He leans over and whispers something into ALFREDO's ear. ALFREDO nods his head.

SALVATORE is so happy that he gives him a pat on the cheek, like a caress. Then

he hurries over to the PRIEST. Says something in a low voice, gesticulates with

some agitation, points to the pew where ALFREDO is sitting. The PRIEST tries to

say he can't now, but SALVATORE insists, and wins. The PRIEST goes over to

ALFREDO, leans over.

PRIEST

What is it, Alfredo? Right now, of

all times!

ALFREDO

(In a grave voice)

Father Adelfio, I have a very serious

doubt that is torturing my soul. And

you've got to help me, because I've

lost all peace of mind...

SALVATORE watches from a distance. He sees the PRIEST put on an alarmed

expression and then sit down beside ALFREDO. Everything's ready. He creeps over

to the confessional. ELENA is there, kneeling down waiting for the PRIEST to

arrive. In an instant, without anyone noticing, SALVATORE pops inside the

confessional. He shuts the little door below and draws the purple curtain. On

the other side of grille, only a few inches away, those eyes that keep him awake

all night.

ELENA

Father, I have sinned...

SALVATORE

(In a low voice)

We'll talk about that later.

ELENA

(Surprised)

But...who...

SALVATORE

(Interrupting her)

Sssssh, Be quiet, pretend

everything's normal. I'm Salvatore.

ELENA'S eyes pop in amazement.

ELENA

What are you doing here?

Meanwhile ALFREDO and the PRIEST continue their unusual and animated discussion.

The PRIEST is appalled, crosses himself.

PRIEST

But Alfredo, what you're saying is

horrifying!

ALFREDO

I know. But take the-miracle of the

loaves and fishes, for example! I

think about it a lot...How is it

possible for...

In the confessional, the whispered conversation between SALVATORE and ELENA

continues.

ELENA

(Annoyed)

There was a terrible rumpus at home.

My mother told my father. And how

could you have mistaken my voice?!

SALVATORE is mortified, on tenterhooks, keeps an eye on ALFREDO and the PRIEST

through a crack in the curtain.

SALVATORE

Forgive me, Elena. It was stupid of

me. But I had to talk to you.

She looks up at him and her eyes are even more beautiful in the candlelight.

This time SALVATORE finds the courage to speak to her calmly, with

determination. That grille probably helps him, allows him to see without being

seen.

SALVATORE

You're so beautiful, Elena...That's

what I wanted to tell you. When I

meet you, I can't put two words

together because...you give me the

shivers. I don't know what you do in

these situations, what you're

supposed to say. It's the first time.

But I think I'm in love with you.

ELENA gazes through the grille at the two shining specks of his eyes. She is

bewildered by that flood of passion. At that moment, an OLD WOMAN kneels down on

the other side of the confessional and her face appears behind the grille.

OLD WOMAN

Father, I have sinned...

(SALVATORE turns lo her,

instinctively.)

SALVATORE

I absolve you in the name of the

Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost.

Go in peace, my daughter.

(And he slams the panel

shut in her face. ELENA is

barely able to control her

laughter.)

When you laugh, you're even more

beautiful.

She pulls herself together again and puts on a serious, but tender look.

ELENA

Salvatore, it's awfully sweet of you.

And even though I don't know you, I

like you. But...I'm not in love with

you.

For SALVATORE, it's as if a knife had plunged straight into his heart. He sits

there gazing into her eyes, at the beauty mark on her lip, without moving. Then

through the crack sees ALFREDO and the PRIEST conversing nervously, God knows

what they're saying. And he turns back to her.

SALVATORE

I don't care. I'll wait.

ELENA

For what?

SALVATORE

For you to fall in love with me too.

Listen carefully. Every night, when I

get off work, I'll come and wait

beneath your window. Every night.

When you change your mind, open your

window. That's all. I'll

understand...

He smiles at her. She is upset by those exaggerated words, but also intrigued.

The PRIEST has meanwhile solved the problem that ALFREDO has made up as an

excuse.

PRIEST

(Exhausted)

You understand now? You see it

clearly?

ALFREDO

(Hypocritically)

Oh yes, father. Now everything's

clear.

PRIEST

And the next time don't go around

saying such heresy. You survived the

fire at the movie house. But no one

can save you from the fire of Hell!

62:SQUARE AND ELENA'S HOUSE. EXT. NIGHT

Sweet poignant music accompanies SALVATORE's long waits beneath the window of

ELENA'S room... A warm early summer night. The last spectators wander off into

the streets. The VILLAGE IDIOT makes his rounds of the square.

SALVATORE is beneath her window. He waits. The shutters are open,

but not the windows with the curtains. ELENA peers at him through a

dark crack...

Fade to:

A rainy night. SALVATORE is back there again. Determined,

headstrong. A dog keeps him company, taking shelter under an

overhanging roof. The window is shut...

Fade to:

SALVATORE'S hand adds another check to an endless row of checks on

the calendar. A check a day...

Fade to:

Another night. Wind. The window is still shut. SALVATORE's eyes are

the eyes of a lovesick man prepared to face the hardest battles, just to

win, just to conquer his loved one. She peeks at him through the crack,

but he can't see her...

Fade to:

The paces of the calendar are covered with checks. Several months

have gone by. SALVATORE adds a check on the last page, on 30 December. Tomorrow

night will be...New Year's Eve. The streets are empty. Loud merry voices can be

heard coming from the houses. Old discarded objects hail down from balconies.

Firecrackers explode here and there. SALVATORE is there in the same old place,

as usual. The shutters are open, but not the windows, and all is darkness

inside. SALVATORE is wrapped in a large overcoat and stamps his feet to keep

warm...

63:SALVATORES HOUSE. GIANCALDO. INT. NIGHT

Toasts are being prepared in SALVATORE's house. MARIA is there

with her daughter, LIA, then ALFREDO with his wife, ANNA.

SALVATORE is the only one missing for the "family" to be complete.

The bottle of spumante and the Christmas cake are ready. The radio is

on with the New Year's Eve programme.

MARIA

(Nervously)

But why hasn't Toto shown up? The

movie house is closed at this hour!

ALFREDO has a know-all look. He tries to put her mind at rest.

ALFREDO

He had to do something for me...

Over the radio, music and merrymaking

64:ELENA'S HOUSE.EXT.NIGHT

More sounds of merrymaking, coming from ELENA's house. SALVATORE listens to it,

sees the shadows of her parents and relatives, maybe even hers, ready to

celebrate, welcome in the New Year. But further on, that window remains dark and

shut. SALVATORE gazes at it again.

There is a new look in his eyes, like a gleam of hope. Maybe it's the

specialness of that night, maybe it's the fire crackers, the festive atmosphere,

but something tells him that's going to be the right night. The night when

she'll open her window. In fact, a light suddenly goes on in the room.

SALVATORE'S eyes sparkle, have already taken on the hue of victory.

The window is pulled open, and his heart starts pounding like a drum. The music

reaches its climax. Two hands come out. SALVATORE shuts his eyes for a moment,

to hold back the flood of feeling. He opens them again and sees......The hands

reach out and take hold of the shutters and pull them shut. The light goes out.

It is midnight. An echoing voice does the countdown.

RADIO VOICE

Six, five, four, three, two, one,

zero! Happy New Year! Happy New Year!

And a roar of voices, shouts, explosions, fills the air. SALVATORE has remained

standing there immobile, speechless. Disappointed. Defeated.

65  SALVATORE S HOUSE. GIANCALDO. INT. NIGHT

At his house, glasses are about to be raised. There is a strange, tense

merriment. MARIA is unable to conceal her concern, her presentiment. She glances

at the door, hoping to see SALVATORE appear.

ALFREDO

(To Maria)

There's nothing to worry about. He's

probably with his friends.

(To all)

Let's toast!

EVERYBODY

(Toasting)

Here's to you! Here's to you! Happy

New Year!

MARIA

For Toto too, here's to you!! Happy

New Year! !

Everybody echoes MARIA'S toast...

66  ELENA S HOUSE. EXT. NIGHT

But SALVATORE is not happy in these first few minutes of the New Year. He feels

hurt, humiliated, rejected. He walks off amidst the old discarded objects flying

down from the terraces. That was his last night. He's not showing up beneath

that balcony any more.

67  CINEMA PARADISO. PROJECTION BOOTH. INT. AFTERNOON

Outside there is a violent thunderstorm. The pounding of the rain and the

rumbling of the thunder drown out the sound-track of the film being shown. Two

buckets are on the floor to catch the water dripping through the roof. SALVATORE

is alone. For the first time he feels he hates the profession he's got into. He

is tearing up the calendar where he checked off the nights he spent waiting for

ELENA. He tears it into a thousand pieces, as if trying to wipe out the traces

of his grief. He is so absorbed in his thoughts that he doesn't notice that

someone has appeared at the top of the stairs and quietly entered the room. And

now stands there watching him in silence. The thunder is deafening. That someone

is ELENA. She comes up behind him, realizes he is thinking

about her. Whispers.

ELENA

Salvatore...

Loud passionate music is heard on the monitor. SALVATORE turns and sees her as

if in a dream. It is a sudden blow to the heart. The look on her face is

wonderfully sweet, the look of somebody who knows she is madly loved and

who now realizes at last that she is in love too. For SALVATORE it is an

overwhelming, almost unbearable moment...A long passionate embrace that is

never-ending. They are happy, cling to each other never to leave each other

again.

They spin around, end up against the wall where strips of film are hanging, the

first-part endings and the trailers. Another intense look, their eyes

locked...And it is their first kiss. A kiss at first timid, hesitant, almost

clumsy, and then becomes resolute, poignant. Amidst the film strips dangling

around and touching their young faces. Meanwhile the film has finished, the

projector turns uselessly...Down below the screen is blank, the audience

whistles...But SALVATORE hears nothing, neither the whistles nor the useless

whirring of the reels in the projector. All he hears is her breathing, an he

feels is the warmth of her

skin.

68  VARIOUS SETTINGS. INT/EXT. DAY

The happiest, most vivid moments SALVATORE and ELENA spend

together:

A country outing. They eat a lavish salad using the flat branches of the

prickly pear for plates.

A chase through an endless field of wheat.

In the projection booth. A cake with seventeen lighted candles.

SALVATORE and ELENA blow them out together. And then a kiss.

69  ROAD AT THE EDGE OF TOWN.EXT. DAY

SALVATORE is driving an old beaten-up Balilla he bought from a

car-wrecker. ELENA sits beside him, having the time of her life. They

roar with laughter. The car jolts, moves by fits and starts, jarred by the

holes in the road, and besides SALVATORE is not such a hot driver. She

fondles him.

ELENA

(Ironically)

You have a great future as a driver.

If they don't arrest you first!!

SALVATORE

That's nothing to do with it, it's

the car that's still being run in...

He has barely finished the last sentence when the car gives a

sudden violent shudder. A sharp report. A cloud of white smoke issues from the

motor. And the Balilla stops dead in its tracks. ELENA and SALVATORE cannot

smother their wild laughter. They embrace.

ELENA

SO now how do we get home?

Cut to:

The two of them are standing beside the empty road, looking bored, as they have

already been waiting a long time for someone to go by, a car, a wagon. When all

at once a car comes around the bend, heading for town. SALVATORE and ELENA flag

it down.

The DRIVER slows down. The back door opens, a MAN gets out. An alarmed and

startled look comes over ELENA's face  that man is her FATHER. She sees him

stride over in a rage.

He has almost reached SALVATORE, who tries lo be polite, to make the best of the

situation.

SALVATORE

Hello, Dr Mendola...Hem...

ELENA buries her face in her hands, so as not to see...

70  CINEMA PARADISO. INT. EVENING

SALVATORE has a bruise on his cheek and two Band-aids on his face.

He got himself a good thrashing, and then some. The house is jammed,

as on the great occasions. Curiosity is written all over the faces of the

audience. But what they're seeing is not a film, but an instalment of

Double or Nothing. SALVATORE is standing by a teleprojector which

has been set up in the central aisle of the balcony. It is a machine that

makes it possible to project television show on the screen. ALFREDO is

sitting beside him.

ALFREDO

(In a low voice)

Toto, are you pulling my leg or

something? How is it possible to see

this television without film?

SALVATORE

Just so, Alfredo. There isn't any.

And if you buy a television set, you

can watch it at home, without any

fuss...

ALFREDO

(Sceptically)

Could be...But I don't like this

business. It smells fishy to me.

ELENA is sitting in one corner of the balcony with her parents. Sitting beside

her FATHER is the owner of the movie house, SPACCAFICO, who thanks him.

SPACCAFICO

(In a low voice)

You see what a bright idea, Dr

Mendola? But without the bank loan

how could I have bought the machine?

If we don't get organized around

here, in this day and age, we'll meet

the same end as the Punch and Judy

shows!

ELENA is not very interested in the TV show. She sneaks a look at SALVATORE.

From the looks on their faces, it is clear that things are not going very well.

He gives her a nod, as if to say he wants to speak to her and that she should

figure out some way! ELENA leans over to her MOTHER, whispers something into her

ear.

7I  CINEMA PARADISO. TOILET. INT. EVENING

ELENA's MOTHER stands waiting in front of the women's toilet,

gazing at Mike Bongiorno emceeing the TV show in the distance.

Inside the toilet, ELENA is standing on the toilet seat whispering to

SALVATORE, who is standing on the 20ilet seat of the men's toilet.

Their eyes are barely able to peek over the flush tank which they have

uncovered. ELENA is worried.

SALVATORE

Could it be your father doesn't like

the work I do...That my family's too

poor...Is that it?

She gives a nod of the head, but only faintly, so as no2 to wound his

vulnerability. SALVATORE sighs.

ELENA'S MOTHER

(Off-screen)

Elena!

ELENA

All right! !

(To Salvatore, in a

whisper)

For the moment it's impossible to see

each other...As soon as school is

out, we're going to go stay with

friends in Tuscany. We'll be there

all summer...Maybe if you came up,

we could meet in secret...

SALVATORE

(Crestfallen)

But we're opening the outdoor movie

theatre this summer. What will I do

all this time without seeing you?!

ELENA

I'll write to you every day. Don't

worry. I love you. The summer'll be

over and I'll be back...

They reach out to kiss each other. Who knows when they'll be able to see each

other again?

ELENA'S MOTHER

(Off-screen)

Elena!

ELENA climbs down, pulls the chain and walks off, leaving SALVATORE standing

there on the toilet seat.

Summer has come. A bevy of barefoot children chase after the carts carrying the

carters' families to the beach to go swimming. SALVATORE, helped by the USHER,

has finished loading the disassembled projector on to a wagon in order to carry

it to the outdoor movie house. The USHER has hung a sign on the Cinema Paradiso

to the effect that 'Showings to continue at the Imperia Arena', and now climbs

into the wagon.

The horse moves off slowly and the monotonous clatter of its hoofs reminds

SALVATORE that the summer is going to be long this year, longer than ever. And

he leans on the projector that totters and lurches from the jolting of the

wheels. A cart carrying a cheerful and noisy family pulls up alongside the

wagon. There are the MEN from the slaughter-house. They recognize SALVATORE.

SLAUGHTER-HOUSE MAN

Well, look who's here!! Cecil B. De

Mille! Hey, Toto!! When are you

coming to shoot another film?!?

And they laugh, with their gaping toothless mouths. SALVATORE doesn't feel like

joking, not even like answering. He looks away, so as not to see their leers. He

wants to be by himself.

73  BEACH AND IMPERIA ARENA. EXT. DAY

The beach is almost deserted, dotted here and there with groups of bathers. The

carts and horses are scattered in the sand, near the Imperia Arena, where some

WORKMEN are putting on the finishing touches for the new opening. The wagon

arrives and SALVATORE and the USHER unload the projector.

74  BEACH. IMPERIA ARENA. PROJECTION BOOTH. EXT.EVENING

A sultry evening. The jacklights of the octopus fishers twinkle on the

dark horizon. The sound-track of a comic film reverberates over the sea,

the laughter of the audience mingles with the sound of the shallow waves

breaking on the rocks. A group of LITTLE BOYS in a boat pulls away

from shore. They join some more boats standing still in the water, all of

them crammed with LITTLE BOYS all looking in the same direction...

towards the screen of the open-air movie at the water's edge. There is a

funny scene.

LITTLE BOYS

All seats are sold out! Free entrance

and payment on the way out!! Sssssh!!

And they guffaw noisily. Their laughter is echoed by more

laughter, in the distance...

...the laughter of the Arena audience, scattered among the

metal chairs. By dint of laughing, the people in one of the rows

of chairs tip over backwards. Screams, laughs, whistles.

The projection booth has a door at the back with stairs leading

down to the rocks. SALVATORE is sitting on the ground, bare

chested, tired and sticky with sweat. He is reading a letter from

ELENA. He is so engrossed the words can almost be read on his

face.

ELENA'S VOICE

(Off-screen)

Salvatore, my darling, here the days

never end. I find your name

everywhere if I read a book, do a

crossword puzzle, thumb through a

newspaper...You're always before my

eyes. Today I've got some rather bad

news. At the end of October we're

moving to the city where I'll attend

the University. It'll be hard to see

each other every day. But don't

worry, whenever I can get away I'll

always come running to you, to the

Cinema Paradiso.

On the Arena screen, with its potted plants and palm trees, a

very funny scene is being shown. The audience again bursts into

wild laughter. And the audience of LITTLE BOYS in the boats also laugh. One

of them, laughing himself to tears, loses his balance and falls

into the water. The others howl with laughter. A voice rises up

out of the carousel of boats.

URCHIN

Fuck me! I've caught an octopus! An

oooooctopus!

FADE

75  VARIOUS SETTINGS. INT/EXT. DAY

The August sun is blazing hot. People are forced to stay inside when the sirocco

blows. The streets are empty. And there is a strange silence. Nothing can be

heard except far in the distance, from somewhere in the country, the love song

of some carter...SALVATORE hears it too, stretched out on the floor of his

room, his eyes fixed on the ceiling where flies buzz around nervously. The

MAILMAN comes down the street on his bicycle, rides up to SALVATORE and hands

him a letter...Sitting in the shade of a white wall, SALVATORE reads the

letter. Next to him, the dog that kept him company at night, beneath ELENA's

window. He gazes up at him as if looking for news of her.

76:ARENA IMPERIA. PROJECTION BOOTH. EXT/INT.EVENING

The Arena is crowded with sun-burnt faces. On screen, scenes from

Ulysses. On a shelf in the projection booth, there is an enormous pack of

letters. SALVATORE is worn out. The waiting has destroyed him. He looks

like a madman. As he winds up one of the parts of the film, he repeats

her name obsessively, under his breath.

SALVATORE

Elena...Elena...Elena...

Now he is sitting outside on the back steps, a few yards from the

sea. There is a breeze this evening, the waves are rather high and

the boats of 'gate-crashers' can be seen out in the water, rolling

fitfully but not dangerously. SALVATORE stretches out, gazes up

at the inky sky and talks to himself, just like a madman,

whispering...

SALVATORE

When will this shitty summer be over?

(Half shutting his eyes)

In a film it'd already be finished...

(Smiling)

...Fade-out and cut to a nice

thunderstorm!!! Huh? that'd be

perfect!

A clap of thunder explodes in the air. Loud, rumbling. SALVATORE'S eyes pop

open. The Arena audience looks up in alarm at the sky...The 'gate-crashers' in

the boats also look up and see a streak of lightning ushering in another clap of

thunder. One of those storms is building up that ruins late summer

nights. SALVATORE gives a contented smile as the cloudburst pours down

violently, suddenly... The Arena audience scatters with a howl and scurries

over to the overhanging roofs of the projection booth, to take shelter and to go

on watching the film despite the rain...

The LITTLE BOYS in the boats quickly pull tarpaulins over their

heads...But SALVATORE does not get up. He lets the rain fall on him,

goes on laughing, incredulous and stunned as if a real miracle had

taken place. And as he shuts his eyes and lifts his head up, to

catch more rain on his face, and gives himself up to that marvellous feeling of

joy, a mouth comes to rest passionately on his lips it is ELENA. SALVATORE opens

his eyes in utter amazement, it seems like a vision, another hallucination

created by the rain...Instead no, it is really her!

SALVATORE

Elena!...But when...

ELENA

I got back today. You can't imagine

the excuses I had to make up to be

here...

SALVATORE's lips interrupt her. It is an intense, a stupendous kiss. They've

probably never been so happy as they are at that moment. They cling to each

other as the rain goes on streaming over their bodies, mingling her hair with

his, binding them ever closer.

77  CINEMA PARADISO. ENTRANCE. EXT. DAY

Autumn has arrived. In the streets, the PEASANTS prepare the barrels

for preserving the grape must. ALFREDO is sitting in front of the Cinema

Paradiso with SPACCAFICO and the USHER. It is a quiet moment, they chat, while

the humming of the projector and the sound track of the film can be heard

through the window of the booth. The MAILMAN stops and hands SPACCAFICO a folded

sheet of paper.

MAILMAN

Don Ciccio, this is for Toto. Give it

him...

(And he pedals off on his

bicycle.)

ALFREDO

What is it?

SPACCAFICO unfolds it, reads it, claps his hands on his head, in alarm.

SPACCAFICO

Holy blood of Judas! Now what am I

going to do??!

78  UNIVERSITY. EXT. DAY

ELENA is waiting near the University. She paces nervously back and

forth. Glances at her watch. He's late. She looks around in all

directions and sees him at last. He comes running up to her. They

embrace...

ELENA

So what'd they say?

SALVATORE

The army says that, as a war orphan,

I don't have to serve in the

military, but nothing can be done.

It's a bureaucratic error. I have to

leave. Day after tomorrow morning.

They're sending me to Rome. But

they'll discharge me ten days later.

Let's go...

He takes her hand, turns to go to a café. ELENA holds back. She has caught sight

of her FATHER's car approaching. ELENA turns to look and in a faint voice

reveals the reason for her nervousness.

ELENA

No, Salvatore. You'd better go. It's

my father.

SALVATORE

Good, this way we can finally talk.

I'll convince him this time.

ELENA

He won't be convinced, Salvatore. He

has other plans for me.

SALVATORE

Who?

ELENA

The son of one of his colleagues.

Don't act that way. We'll talk about

it later. Wait for me Thursday at the

Cinema Paradiso. I'll be coming with

the five o'clock bus.

SALVATORE looks with longing as ELENA drives away with her father.

ELENA gives him a meaningful look through the window. SALVATORE returns the

look, but stands there motionless, with a grim expression, like someone who

knows how to take the treacherous blows of life. The car drives off and with it

ELENA. Their eyes hang on the same thread. The thread of hope and now of fear.

79  CINEMA PARADISO. ENTRANCE. EXT. MORNING

The poster of Il Grido hangs on the billboard outside the theatre.

SPACCAFICO replaces 'THURSDAY' with a 'TODAY' sticker. The

CHARWOMAN is washing the floor of the lobby. SPACCAFICO shouts

up to SALVATORE, who is in the projectionist's booth. SPACCAFICIO

says that tomorrow he'll be leaving and today is his last day on the job,

and he's sorry.

SPACCAFICO

Toto, this is no film for the common

herd. One day'll be more than

enough...So tonight, please set up

tomorrow's film, so the projectionist

who is coming will find it ready.

SALVATORE

OK...

SPACCAFICO understands SALVATORE's sadness.

SPACCAFICO

Cheer up, Toto. I'll be here waiting

for you. No one's taking your job

away from you. Don't worry!

80  SQUARE AND PROJECTION BOOTH, CINEMA PARADISO. EXT/INT. DAY

The bus has pulled into the square but among the people getting out

there is no sign of ELENA. SALVATORE stands nervously up in the window of the

projection booth, glances at his watch. It's already five-thirty and she hasn't

come. He checks the projector. The first part has just begun and the reel is

full of film.

The first part is now about to finish, the reel is almost empty, and ELENA still

isn't there. SALVATORE is extremely nervous, worried, mortified by his meeting

with her FATHER.

He sees ELENA's face pulling away in the car. Thinks back over her

terrible confession. He paces back and forth, as if he were in a prison cell,

thinking up solutions...The stair light finally goes on; there she is SALVATORE

dashes over and down the stairs to meet her. He comes down the final turn of the

spiral staircase and finds himself face to face with ALFREDO, who is slowly

making his way up with the help of his cane. SALVATORE freezes to the spot.

ALFREDO senses his disappointment.

ALFREDO

You weren't expecting me?

SALVATORE

(Nervously)

No, Alfredo, I was coming to help

you...

ALFREDO

(Smiling)

You were expecting her? Huh?

(SALVATORE doesn't answer.

He's too worried, too

upset. ALFREDO climbs

another step, whispering.)

...It's a nasty business waiting by

yourself. In company it's better.

No?...Then I'll leave.

As usual ALFREDO'S sweetness comforts SALVATORE, indeed suddenly gives him a

bold idea, one that quiets his nervousness. He puts a hand on ALFREDO'S

shoulder.

SALVATORE

Alfredo, I need your help!

8I  ROAD TO THE CITY. EXT. AFTERNOON

The Balilla speeds as fast as it can down the road to the city, where ELENA s

family has gone to live. SALVATORE drives along in a state of agitation. The

idea of having to leave without seeing ELENA is his obsession. An obsession he

refuses to accept...

82 CINEMA PARADISO.PROJECTION BOOTH.INT.AFTERNOON

The second part has begun, the reel is full. For the first time in many

years, ALFREDO is alone in the booth, sitting in front of the projector,

and he feels helpless. Not only because he's blind, but also because

there is nothing he can do for SALVATORE. A strange agitation comes over him, as

if he were experiencing the same anxiety troubling his 'Toto' at that moment.

Meanwhile, the film roll on and with it, time, minutes...

83  CITY.EXT.AFTERNOON

SALVATORE has already reached the city. He slows down at the bus

terminus. Looks at the people waiting, but she is not there...

He asks several girls in front of the University. But they haven't seen

her...

He phones from a phone booth. But nobody answers. His self-control

is about to give way to desperation...

84  CINEMA PARADISO.PROJECTION BOOTH.INT.AFTERNOON

On the reel there is less film. Like an hourglass with the sand trickling

through...

85:ELENAS HOUSE IN THE CITY.EXT/INT.AFTERNOON

SALVATORE comes streaking up in front of her house. He screeches to a stop,

dashes out like greased lightning. His nerves are tense, a slight tremor runs

through his whole body. He rings the bell, but nobody answers. A MAN who lives

in the building opens the front door and comes out.

SALVATORE seizes the chance and climbs up to the third floor. He pounds on the

door furiously, almost cracking his knuckles. But all to no avail; there is

nobody at home. He shrieks, panic stricken.

SALVATORE

Open up! Open up! Elenaaa!

And in fact, there is somebody inside: ELENA's MOTHER. She sits there immobile,

without a word.

The pounding on the door reverberates in the room, but she does not budge,

determined to ignore that desperate message.

86:CINEMA PARADISO.PROJECTION BOOTH.INT.AFTERNOON

The reel spins faster. The film is almost ended. By now there is very

little time...

87  ROAD TO THE VILLAGE. EXT. SUNDOWN

And SALVATORE is on his way home, defeated. Be drives as fast as he can. Be is

in a terrible state, can't figure out what's happened. Can't explain it. And

that's what hurts.

88  CINEMA PARADISO. PROJECTION BOOTH. INT. SUNDOWN

The words 'THE END' appear on the screen...and the film runs out, leaving the

projector turning uselessly. ALFREDO is alarmed. He can hear that the film is

finished, but doesn't know where to begin. He gropes around. He's scared. Like a

little boy calls his mother when he's lost in a crowd, so old ALFREDO calls

SALVATORE.

ALFREDO

TotooooO! TotooooO!

The few people down in the audience start whistling and complaining about the

film they haven't understood.

SPECTATORS

Lights! Christ, what a piece of

crap!! We want OUT money back!!!

Heeeeey!! Bandits!!

Others are shouting that they like the film.

89  CINEMA PARADISO. ENTRANCE. EXT. SUNDOWN

The Balilla screeches to a stop in front of the theatre. SALVATORE darts out and

runs to the stairs...

90  CINEMA PARADISO. PROJECTION BOOTH. INT. SUNDOWN

SALVATORE turns the lights on in the theatre and turns off the projector, trying

to calm down ALFREDO, who has got to his feet, frightened.

ALFREDO

But where'd you go, Toto?!!

SALVATORE

I'm here! Take it easy! Take it easy!

(And he folds him into his

arms, like calming down a

little boy who has had a

nightmare. Be whispers,

still out of breath:)

Sit down, sit down...

(ALFREDO quiets down as

SALVATORE lowers him into

a chair, and asks him the

only question upon which

his last hope depends.)

Did she come?

ALFREDO

No, nobody came.

(And he embraces him,

almost as if to comfort

him in his great

disappointment.)

For SALVATORE it's really the end: she's not coming. Tomorrow he'll be leaving

without having seen her again.

SALVATORE'S hands remove the photographs of Amedeo Nazzari and of ELENA from the

wall, slip them into one of his pockets.

Now the hands open the metal containers of tomorrow's film, take .

out the reels to set them up, pick up the receipt - his last before leaving -

and with the same mechanical gesture, hang it on a nail, as usual.

91  ROME. VARIOUS SETTINGS, MILITARY LIFE. EXT/ INT. DAY/NIGHT

A wild frenetic sequence, set to the pace of military life...SALVATORE, in

uniform with close-cropped hair, answers his superior, shouts:

SALVATORE

Radio Operator Di Vita Salvatore!

Third Battalion, Ninth Company,

sir!!!

Target practice. SALVATORE fires all the shots in the cartridge, one after the

other...

A SECOND LIEUTENANT barks out a march rhythm in the blazing sun.

SECOND LIEUTENANT

One, two, one, two!! Attention! Left

march!

SALVATORE sneaks out of line, goes over and slips a letter into

the mailbox and hurries back to his place.

On one of the public phones in a square of Rome, SALVATORE is phoning ELENA.

Nobody answers. He slams down the receiver, as the line of SOLDIERS waits its

turn...

Night-time. A large plastic bag full of water. A thud. SALVATORE wakes up with a

start in a lake of ice water. He lets out a terrified shriek as the others

laugh, protected by the dark.

SALVATORE

Aaaaaaah! Heeeeeelp!!

In the large dormitory, the SERGEANT is handing out the mail. He

throws a pile of letters on SALVATORE'S bunk. They are his letters to ELENA,

stamped 'ADDRESS UNKNOWN'.

Mess duty. SALVATORE is washing Up, in a sea of water and grease.

He rimes a pan full of tomato sauce with a tap hose. A spurt of red water

splatters him in the face.

A training run. Another letter which SALVATORE drops into the mailbox...

A cold, rainy night. SALVATORE stands stiff as a poker in front of the

Ammunition depot. It is his first guard duty. Soaked to the skin, gazing wide-

eyed into empty space.

COLONEL'S office.

SALVATORE

(Aggressively)

Colonel, I was supposed to spend ten

days here and it's been about a year,

and I haven't ever gone borne. I'd

like a furlough, at least!

SALVATORE is in the guardhouse. A cold, dark, filthy cell. His nerves start to

give way. He bows his head in despair.

Hospital. SALVATORE is exhausted, run-down. The night-stand is jammed with

medicines. He lies in bed without moving, staring off into empty space, and

repeats obsessively in a low voice, as if talking to himself.

SALVATORE

Elena...Elena...Elena...

(He has touched the

extreme of suffering, a

young man who has

been denied love and

affection, his rights,

freedom. A NURSE comes

up.)

NURSE

Di Vita Salvatore, get ready, your

discharge has come through.

SALVATORE registers this information with his eyes and nods absently.

92  GIANCALDO. SQUARE AND STREETS. EXT. DAY

The bus disappears around the corner leaving SALVATORE standing there alone. It

is a blazing hot day. The sirocco wind blows the yellow dust in all directions.

The square is empty, the billboard in front of the closed movie house announces

a Western. SALVATORE puts his suitcase on the ground, looks around. Everything

exactly the same, immobile. Only one new feature  in the cafe there's a jukebox

playing 'Estate' sung by Milva.

SALVATORE turns towards the Cinema Paradiso. The projectionist is at the

window of the booth, smoking a cigarette. Who knows who he is, where he came

from. A hot flurry of dust. SALVATORE turns and sees a dog leaping around kim,

wagging its tail. It's the dog that kept him company during his nights beneath

the window. SALVATORE gives a start of joy, drops his suitcase and leans over to

stroke him. Then he hugs him, as if he were an old friend.

93  ALFREDO'S HOUSE. INT. AFTERNOON

SALVATORE goes to see ALFREDO. He is still in bed, has just woken up. He is glad

to hear his 'Toto'. He feels his forehead, his eyes and cheeks, as if to 'see'

him.

ALFREDO

You 're thinner...You can tell

you've not been treated well.

(As usual, you can't hide

anything from ALFREDO.

SALVATORE senses something

different in him that he

can't figure out, like

same wild restlessness

within).

SALVATORE

They tell me you never go out, never

talk to anybody. Why?

ALFREDO

Toto, sooner or later there comes a

time when talking or keeping quiet is

the same thing. So it's better to

shut up.

(Changing his lone)

It's hot in here. Toto, take me to

the beach.

94  BEACH AND WATERFRONT. EXT. AFTERNOON

The sea is ruffled and the air is less sultry, easier to breathe.

SALVATORE and ALFREDO walk slowly along the waterfront. ALFREDO totters

slightly, holds on to SALVATORE, who is telling him something very funny.

SALVATORE

At the Christmas party the lieutenant

pinches a girl's ass. The girl turns

around: it's the daughter of the

commanding officer. The lieutenant is

scared to death and says: 'Miss, if

your heart is as hard as what I have

just touched, I'm done for!

And they roar with laughter. They look like two old school buddies telling each

other dirty jokes. They stop beside a low wall. ALFREDO knows that those laughs

are simply a way of uselessly dancing around the countless things that are

troubling SALVATORE. And he breaks the ice, while SALVATORE is still

laughing.

ALFREDO

(Seriously)

Did you ever see her again?

(SALVATORE'S laughter dies

away, taken off-guard as

he is. Then he lights a

cigarette.)

SALVATORE

No. And nobody knows where she is.

ALFREDO

It was probably meant to be like

this. Each of us has a star to

follow. So now what are you thinking

of doing?

It's a terrible question, and SALVATORE has no answer to it. In fact, would

rather not even talk about it. He changes his tone, as if he hadn't heard it,

laughs, trying again to ding to the funny jokes he heard during military

service.

SALVATORE

Listen to this one...The commander

says to the sergeant: 'You

remember that windmill that used to

be there?' 'Yes, sir, I remember the

mill's gone but the wind's still

there!'

(And he bursts into

nervous laughter. But this

time ALFREDO remains cold,

unmoved, does not laugh

with him. SALVATORE

gradually falls silent. He

doesn't know what to say.

For the first time in his

life, he doesn't know what

goal to aim for, doesn't

know what to do. The cloud

of smoke wreaths his

nervous face, now he seems

to relax, whispers:)

You remember the story of the soldier

and the princess?

(ALFREDO nods his head.)

SALVATORE

Now I understand why the soldier went

away just before the end. That's

right, just one more night and the

princess would have been his. But

she, also, could not have kept her

promise. And...that would have been

terrible, he would have died from it.

So instead, for ninety-nine nights at

least he had lived with the illusion

that she was there waiting for him...

(This time SALVATORE is

the one to explain

something to ALFREDO. And

ALFREDO realizes how

bitter his story is and,

above all, that the boy

standing there is no

longer a boy...)

ALFREDO

Do like the soldier, Toto! Go away!

This land is cursed.

(They are now leaning

against a boat on the

beach. ALFREDO goes on

whispering his words.)

When you're here every day you feel

like you're at the center

of the universe, it seems like

nothing ever changes. Then you go

away, one year, two...And when you

come back, everything's different.

The thread has broken. You don't

find those you were looking for, your

things no longer exist. Isn't that

the case?...You've got to go away a

long time, for many, many years,

before coming back and finding your

people again, the land where

you were born...But not now, it's

impossible. Now you're blinder than I

am.

(Intense words, straight

from the heart, and

SALVATORE is spellbound.

He whispers with a smile:)

SALVATORE

Who said that? Gary Cooper, James

Stewart, Henry Fonda? Huh?

(ALFREDO also gives a

gentle smile)

ALFREDO

No, Toto, nobody said it. I say it!

Life's not like you saw it in the

movies. Life...is harder.

(He lays his hand on

SALVATORE'S shoulder,

gives it a hard squeeze.)

Get out! Go back to Rome. You 're

young, the world is yours! And I'm

old...I don't want to hear you talk

any more, I want to hear talk about

you.

SALVATORE gives a shudder that runs through his very soul. The setting sun lies

colorless on the horizon.

95  VARIOUS SETTINGS. EXT/INT. NIGHT

Night. The square is empty. SALVATORE is sitting on the church steps.

His head in his hands. He has to make a decision leave or stay. And why?...

'What decision will he make?' is the question that keeps ALFREDO awake, in his

hot dark bedroom...

MARIA, his mother, also can't get to sleep. She knows, senses, that her son is

on the verge of an important turning-point. But what will he decide? What will

happen?...

Also LIA, his sister, feels a strange, heavy tension in the air. And

doesn't sleep. She's probably wondering where SALVATORE is at that

hour...

He's sitting on the ground. But even if he were to go to bed he wouldn't

sleep. He rubs his face with his hand. The church bell chimes four a.m...

ALMOST THIRTY YEARS LATER, another distant bell is chiming four a.m. And

SALVATORE is once again wide awake. He is thinking, with his hand on his face,

just like then. And the same decision to make: what to do? Stretched out beside

a sleeping WOMAN, he goes on staring at the window. Outside, the storm has

passed. The long memory has almost faded, only the sound of a train surfaces in

his mind...

96  GIANCALDO RAILWAY STATION. EXT. DAY

It's the train that THIRTY YEARS EARLIER had pulled into the station

of his home town before leaving for Rome. SALVATORE hugs his

MOTHER and SISTER. The moment has come to say goodbye to

ALFREDO. The old man is deeply moved. A heart-rending trembling

comes into his husky voice.

ALFREDO

Don't come back any more, don't think

about us, don't turn round, don't

write, don't give in to nostalgia.

Forget us all. If you can't hear it

and come back, don't come looking for

me, I won't let you into the house,

you understand?

They clasp each other tightly, as if they knew they wouldn't be meeting

again...

SALVATORE

Thanks for all you've done for me.

ALFREDO

Whatever you do, love it like you

loved that projection booth of the

Paradiso when you were little...

(The train moves now.

Hands wave in the air,

drawing further and

further away. The PRIEST

has arrived at the last

moment and waves goodbye

from the distance.)

PRIEST

(Shouting)

Goodbye, TotooooooO!!! I got here too

late. What a shame!

The figure of ALFREDO and the others can no longer be distinguished. Only a

distant blur at the end of the track.

97  PUNTA RAISI AIRPORT. EXT. DAY

THIRTY YEARS LATER, a plane flies over Sicily. It lands on the

runway char seems to emerge from the sea and flatten out towards the slopes of

the dark mountains. Salvatore's face appears among the clouds reflected in one

of the plane windows. He has the tense look of the man who suddenly comes home

after the adventure of life has carried him afar, wandering the world, where he

has forgotten everything. From the plane window to another window...

98  SUPERHIGHWAY. INT/EXT. DAY

...the window of the taxi-cab driving SALVATORE to his home town. The scenery

moving by on either side of the road summons up sweet memories. A lot of things

have changed, but the colors are still the same. The yellow running through the

entire landscape is unmistakable. And all those black birds perched in a row on

the guard-rail are crows.

The cab now approaches the outskirts of Giancaldo. But if the sign,

hadn't been there with the name on it, it could be an entirely different

place...

99  SALVATORE'S MOTHER'S HOUSE. EXT/INT. DAY

The house where SALVATORE'S MOTHER lives is also new, nearer the

sea.

The old lady is sitting alone in an armchair in the parlor, knitting a white

sweater. Her hands move very swiftly, almost mechanically.

The hands of a woman who is waiting. The front doorbell rings twice. MARIA stops

short. That is what she has been waiting for. She mumbles in excitement.

MARIA

It's Toto...I knew it...

And she scrambles to her feet, dropping her knitting in the chair, one needle

dangling over the edge. She hurries off, forgetting that she still has the ball

of white yarn in her apron pocket. And the yarn runs off the needles and the

knitting comes undone quickly as she moves about the house, goes down the stairs

to the front door.

There the yam stops and MARIA' s excited voice is heard.

MARIA 'S VOICE

(Off-screen)

Toto!...

SALVATORE'S VOICE (Off-screen)

How are you, Mamma?...

The camera now moves, discovering them through the parlor window, hugging each

other outside the front door. Under the curious eyes of an old bored dog.

100  SALVATORE'S MOTHER'S HOUSE. INT. DAY

MARIA is no longer wearing an apron. Mother and son are sitting side

by side at the kitchen table...

MARIA

Lia'll be so glad to see you, you'll

see. And you won't recognize the

kids any more, they're grown up by

now.

SALVATORE

(Smiling)

They're always writing to me saying

they want to come to Rome!

SALVATORE looks around; It's a place he's never seen before, and yet it's

his mother's house.)

MARIA

See how pretty the house is? We did

everything over.

(Smiling)

If it hadn't been for you!

(Getting up)

Come, I have a surprise....

(She takes him by the hand

and leads him out to the

hallway. SALVATORE looks

at her and feels a pang.

She seems smaller, age

withers the body, she is

slightly stooped, her hair

is gathered into a knot at

the back other head.)

You must be tired. If you want to

rest, there's time before the

funeral.

SALVATORE

(Interrupting her)

No, Mamma, it only takes an hour by

air, you know.

MARIA

(Smiling, ironically)

You shouldn't tell me that now. After

all these years!

(SALVATORE gets the

message, feels guilty.

Thinking about it, it

seems incredible that he

has never come before.

MARIA opens a door, steps

aside to let her son in,

whispers:)

I put all your things in here. Go in,

go in...

SALVATORE lakes a few steps, is flabbergasted at the sight of his old room

perfectly reconstructed and preserved. It looks like a museum, the museum of the

past. Despite the bed, the clothes in the cupboard, the books on the shelves, it

is perfectly clear that no one has ever lived in it and never will live in it.

MARIA senses his perturbation, remains standing in the doorway as if to leave

him alone...SALVATORE goes over to the bed, looks around  the old 8mm movie

camera, the projector, his documentaries, the bicycle hanging on the wall, the

photographs of his favorite movie stars. But what mostly catches his eye is a

tiny framed photograph: SALVATORE as a little boy and ALFREDO, standing smiling

in front of the Cinema Paradiso. Strange, at that time ALFREDO was younger than

he is now! It's as if he were standing there before him one last time. That

impressive figure, his good-natured bur firm look, touches his heart. From

ALFREDO'S smiling face to...

101  GIANCALDO. MAIN STREET AND SQUARE. EXT. DAY

...the coffin where his old blind friend rests for ever. The funeral

procession winds its way down the main street. At the intersections, ,

cars stop to let the black hearse pass by. People cross themselves. The old men

remove their hats. Store shutters are lowered. Then, when the procession has

passed by, the cars start up again, the old men put their hats back on, the

shutters are pulled up.

SALVATORE is in the front row with his MOTHER, next to ALFREDO'S WIDOW.

SIGNORA ANNA says in a whisper, her eyes fixed on the coffin.

ANNA

He would have been happy you came,

Toto. He always talked about you.

Always! Right to the end! He was

terribly fond of you...

(Tears come to her, she is

unable to say any more.

SALVATORE gives her a hug,

deeply touched by her

words.)

He left two things for you. Come see

me before you leave.

SALVATORE nods his head. He gazes intensely at the coffin covered with flowers

and is grieved as if he were ashamed never to have come to see the man who had

been like a father to him. But why had he forgotten him? Up in front, leading

the procession, he sees a young PRIEST with an altar boy beside him, and these

figures are also like chisels scraping the rust off his soul and bringing old

feelings to light again.

The procession reaches the square. The dark column stands etched in the dazzling

early-afternoon light. SIGNORA ANNA motions the driver and the procession comes

to a halt. It is ALFREDO'S last farewell to the place where he had spent the

best years of his life  the Cinema Paradiso. Everyone turns to look and

SALVATORE also turns, taken by surprise...It has fallen to pieces: doors and

windows boarded shut, crumbling walls, a piece of the sign dangling down, weeds

and mildew in the cracks and on the roof. The square has changed completely, is

unrecognizable. Buildings, stores, sign boards and lines of cars creeping at a

snail's pace in a deafening chorus of honking horns. And the central square has

turned motorcycles. SALVATORE turns slowly to look behind him, towards the small

crowd, and is entranced by the unexpected sight of faces that he recognizes at

once, despite the many years that have gone by:  the MAN AT THE BOX OFFICE, the

USHER who also served as bill-poster, the CHARWOMAN, the CARABINIERE SERGEANT,

and further on behind ROSA and ANGELO, the lovebirds who had met in the movie

house and then got married. They all have white hair. And they too have

recognized him, give little hello nods and gestures. Another face

he seems to recognize: why sure, it's SPACCAFICO, the owner. How old he's

become! He also looks up and his eyes meet SALVATORE'S. A hello nod.

SALVATORE makes his way over to him through the crowd. They shake hands

heartily, without a word, both touched. The procession starts up again.

SALVATORE

(Under his breath)

How long's it been shut?

SPACCAFICO

Six years ago this May. No one came

any more. You "know better than me,

Mr. Di Vita, the crisis, television,

videos. By now the movie business is

only a dream. The city's bought it

now to make a new parking lot. Next

Saturday they're

tearing it down...A pity!...

SALVATORE is disconcerted, irritated by that 'Mr. Di Vita'. Besides, finding

out that the movie house is to be torn down depresses him, after all, it's a

piece of his life...And all those curious faces staring at him.

SALVATORE

But why do you call me 'Mr. Di Vita'?

It didn't used to be that way...

SPACCAFICO

Well, it's hard to call an important

person by his first name. But if it

really matters to you, I'11 call

you...

(Smiling)

Toto!...

SALVATORE smiles at that. Meanwhile, the procession has reached the church.

SALVATORE excuses himself and goes over to the hearse. Old SPACCAFICO watches

him go, then says, almost to himself)

SPACCAFICO

Bless you, Toto.

The coffin is unloaded. SALVATORE has asked to be one of the

bearers into the church. As he moves off slowly with that weight

on his shoulder, somebody catches his eye on the other side of the sidewalk. An

old woman, sixty or seventy years old, with a plastic bag in her hand. She

crosses herself quickly. SALVATORE recognizes her  she was the one he made love

with for the first time. TERESA, the prostitute. The coffin is carried into the

church, followed by the little procession.

102  SALVATORE' S MOTHER'S HOUSE. EXT/INT. EVENING

The little house is sunk in the darkness of evening and the ground floor

windows are lit up. The rustling of the sea can be heard. The family is having

supper. The table is set with the finest silver and the company china has been

brought out. LIA is also there with her husband, ALFIO, and their two children.

FILIPPO, fifteen, and SARA, thirteen. The television is on, but the sound has

been turned practically all the way down. SALVATORE'S presence arouses a special

excitement. The children look at their uncle with a certain awe, after all they

don't really know him.

SARA

(Playfully)

Uncle, the next time Granny comes to

Rome, I want to come along too. I

want to see what you do when you

work...

SALVATORE

(Smiling)

Fine. But I warn you, there isn't

much to see. I sell much more smoke

than fire...

The CHILDREN laugh. At the sight of them, LIA, ALFIO and MARIA also smile.

ALFIO

(To SALVATORE)

Watch out, don't get too familiar

with those two

(indicating the children)

they're worse than cannibals. They'll

take advantage.

Everybody laughs again. Even MARIA laughs a lot. SALVATORE looks at her; he had

never seen her laugh like that, amused, at peace.

FILIPPO

You leaving tomorrow, Uncle?

SALVATORE doesn't know what to say. He feels drunk. It has been a day of violent

upheavals, a series of almost overwhelming emotions and now he knows nothing  on

the one hand, he' d like to stay, let himself drift on the sweet tide of family

life, be completely carried off by the rolling waves of his own past: on the

other, he wishes he had never come. He forces himself to smile again.

SALVATORE

I don't know, Filippo. I don't

know...

They go on eating, but SALVATORE isn't very hungry. Re peers at LIA eating out

of the comer of his eye, feels deeply bound to her  she has a few white hairs

and light wrinkles line her face.

Then he looks at her husband, ALFIO, he's going bald but he tries to hide it by

combing over the little hair left. Who knows what their marriage is like, he

wonders. He looks back at LIA, and it's as if she sensed it, she looks up,

guesses the nature of his thoughts, imagines what he is trying to figure out, a

blush colors her cheeks and she smiles. SALVATORE returns a conniving smile.

The ringing of a phone. SARA starts to get up to go and answer it, hut MARIA

stops her with a glance of the eye.

MARIA

(To SALVATORE)

It must be for you...They've been

calling all afternoon. They wanted to

know if you're leaving this evening

or tomorrow...

Everyone turns to SALVATORE with questioning looks, making him feel even more

restless and undecided. The phone goes on ringing.

103  CINEMA PARADISO. EXT. DAY .

The TRAFFIC cops are trying to break the front door down with their

shoulders. Once, twice, and at last, the door flies open with a screech,

kicking up a cloud of dust. SALVATORE enters by himself...

104  CINEMA PARADISO. PROJECTION BOOTH. INT. DAY

SALVATORE'S silhouette stands out against the light in the open door. S lowly he

makes his way into the empty theatre. A thick layer of dust lends everything a

gray, rarefied look. The light streaming in from the windows up above teems with

strange mates of dust, like a haze.

Cobwebs hang like long veils from the ceiling. SALVATORE walks down the middle

aisle. The rows of seats are unhinged, what was once the wooden veneer has

warped from the dampness. He looks around as if he Were thumbing through the

album of his memories.

The screen dangles from its frame. The emergency exits are boarded

and nailed shut. Observing the emptiness of the theatre, SALVATORE

has the feeling he can hear the howling, the whistling and voices of the .

audience, as he remembers it. But only for one brief moment, then the silence

returns. A mouse creeps along one wall, stops near a pile of dust. SALVATORE is

attracted by that little gray mass. He goes over as the mouse scampers off,

takes a closer look and recognizes the shape of half a lion's head covered with

dust. He moves it with his foot, then looks up at the projection booth,

repeating the same gesture of bygone years. But the lion's head is no longer

there, only the outline of it on the wall, and cobwebs have covered the hales of

the booth, those little square openings that had caused him such long suffering

as a little boy...SALVATORE now climbs up the spiral staircase. Each step kicks

up a little cloud of dust.

The little booth, yellow with fumes, appears before him again. Now it

looks like some big, empty cave. The projector is no longer there, nor

the equipment. Who knows where they junked them?! The only thing left is a clump

of film strips still attached to the wall: trailers, Part One

endings, etc...There he had kissed ELENA for the first time, and

strips of film like those had grazed their faces. Now they are caught up

in the coils of cobwebs. And where the film-winder once stood, the

nails remain with thousands of yellowing receipts. Of all the films

shown at the Cinema Paradiso Palace. And three more boxfuls of

them are on the floor.

And the windows overlooking the square are bolted shut and the glass

broken. SALVATORE peers out of one of the cracks in the window and

sees the village...which is now a city. A different world he no longer

knows.

105  CAFÉ IN SQUARE. INT/EXT. DAY

The cafe in the square has been completely renovated. The CASHIER and BARMEN

have young, unfamiliar faces. SALVATORE holds out the receipt with a tip.

SALVATORE

A double whisky, please.

Several BOYS are sitting at the comer tables, talking about girls. Others stand

playing 'war games', shake around to the obsessive strains of same electronic

tune.

A man comes up to SALVATORE and asks for his autograph. Then SALVATORE turns to

the plate-glass window overlooking the main street, where the workers' club once

was. And like a flash, a shudder freezes him to the spot.... Two steps away

from

him, through the glass, a stunning vision, which casts him beyond time, chills

his blood: there before him is ELENA! But she is still young, young as she was

then! Sweet, luminous, alluring, exactly the way he saw her the first time at

the station.

She is waiting to go across the street with a bunch of books under her

arm...Have the passing years had no effect on her? Or is she an hallucination?

No! It's a dream! Or is he dead too, like ALFREDO? SALVATORE doesn't know how to

explain it. And he is suddenly seized by a feeling of panic. His glass drops to

the floor...As the GIRL walks off...

106  GIANCALDO. STREET. EXT. DAY

At the age of fifty-five, SALVATORE feels no scruples about wandering

the streets of his home town, spying from a distance on an eighteen- year-old

girl. There's nothing he can do about it. He stares at her with the amazement of

someone who discovers that miracles exist. Now he is nearer to her. How lovely

she is! It's her, no doubt about it! Exactly the same. Except she has a

different hair-do and is wearing different clothes:  ELENA didn't wear slacks.

The GIRL goes up to a parked motorcycle. She removes the padlock and fastens her

books to the rack. SALVATORE is standing there a few steps away, and without

stopping to think, moves a little closer, discreetly, politely.

SALVATORE

Excuse me, Miss...

(She turns to look at him,

indifferent, but friendly.

He looks at her wonderful

blue eyes.)

I'm so sorry, I thought you were

someone else.

GIRL

(Shrugging)

Well.

She has already started the motor of her bike. A flip of the accelerator and

off she goes, her hair flying in the wind.

SALVATORE follows her with his eyes until she disappears around the corner.

107  SALVATORE'S MOTHER'S HOUSE. INT. AFTERNOON

The old shots of ELENA getting off the train and walking away, casting a curious

look at the camera...SALVATORE is watching her again, projected on the white

wall of his room. He also watches the other shots of those happy long-gone days

the picnic,. she at the beach, smiling, joyful...And again SALVATORE doesn't

understand, or doesn't want to understand. But these scenes could have been shot

yesterday, so identical to ELENA is the girl he saw on the street...And the

wound which he thought had healed years ago, starts bleeding again.

The lingering note of suffering for a romance that had ended without his ever

knowing why, and the endless explanations that had been sifted through by his

young mind, start slipping through his soul again, like those shots

slipping again through an old 8mm projector.

Through the crack of the door, MARIA sees those images on the wall, SALVATORE

rocking his head back and forth slowly, like he used to do as a boy when he

cried. She somehow feels his grief, his bitterness, lowers her eyes and walks

away without a word, as the little shiny rectangle on the wall remains blank,

empty...And SALVATORE sits there gazing at it, as if he saw other scenes which

his camera never set down on film, only his memory.

108  HIGH SCHOOL. STREETS AND LITTLE SQUARE. EXT. DAY

The HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS are coming out after school. Happy young faces. That

GIRL 's motorcycle can be seen in a rear-view mirror. SALVATORE is at the wheel

of the car ALFIO has lent him. He has obviously followed that motorcycle before.

He waits with an eagerness he thought he had long lost, a determination to

understand, to get to the bottom of the matter, which frightens him and at the

same time overwhelms him hopelessly.

And here she comes. She unlocks the padlock and prepares to speed off. SALVATORE

starts the motor and follows her a short distance away. The GIRL heads for the

new residential district on the outskirts.

109  SALVATORE'S MOTHER'S HOUSE. INT. DAY

MARIA is setting the table. LIA and her family are eating at her

house today. SALVATORE is sitting again, with a lighted cigarette,

gazing through the window at the shrubs tossing in the wind and the

rolling sea. The air whistling through the cracks of the windows lends a

heaviness to the silence, like the troubled look on his face. MARIA glances at

him.

MARIA

What are you thinking, Toto?

SALVATORE looks at the old woman's lovely face, a faint smile. on his lips.

There was always something like an unspoken rule between them, the rule of

silence, of unconfessed complicity. And now he feels that rule has to be broken.

He speaks quietly, as if to curb the tumult of his feelings of guilt.

SALVATORE

I was thinking...that we've never

talked, Mamma...When I was little I

saw you as if you were already old.

That's probably true with all kids...

Who knows?

(She nods, then sits down

before him. He strokes her

old, skinny, heavily

veined hands...)

But only now do I realize you were

young, you were beautiful, had a

whole life before you. But how...

(Sighing)

...how could you have lived alone

all that time, with no one to look

after you? You could have

remarried...Why not? At the time I

probably wouldn't have understood,

but I would have later...

MARIA doesn't answer, but she is not troubled. An inner peace lends her a sweet,

quiet expression. Then she too agrees to break the rule of silence.

MARIA

I never had anybody. If that's what

you think...I didn't want anybody. I

always remained faithful. First to

your father, then to you, to Lia.

(With a shrug)

That's the way I'm made, there's

nothing I can do about it.

(Smiling)

And you're like me, you're too honest

and too attached to the things you

love...But I don't know if that's a

good thing. Faithfulness is a bad

business. If you're faithful, you're

always alone!

(SALVATORE is immersed in

the profound truth of

those words. And he says

nothing. The silence is

broken by the ringing of

the phone. A menacing

sound, which SALVATORE

cannot bear. He knows they

are calling him from Rome,

gives a nervous gesture,

stands up and pulls out

the plug. The silence

returns, the whistling of

the wind. MARIA lowers her

eyes.)

It's my fault! It would have been

better if I hadn't called you...

SALVATORE sits down again, leaning closer to her. He stubs out his cigarette in

the already overflowing ashtray.

SALVATORE

(Whispering)

No...It's nothing to do with you.

It's just that I was scared of coming

back. Now, after all these years, I

thought I was strong, that I had

forgotten lots of things. Instead, I

find it's quite the opposite, as if I

had never left. And yet, I look at

Lia and feel as if I didn't know her,

and you, Mamma...I abandoned you,

ran away like a thief, thought only

of myself, and never gave you

an explanation...

MARIA

(Interrupting him)

And I never asked for one! You have

nothing to explain. I always thought

that what you did was right, and that

was that. With no beating around the

bush...

(Smiling, playing it down)

Only one thing made me suffer:

bolting the door shut before going to

bed at night...

SALVATORE

You never used to do that!

She smiles like a little girl who is about to confess the fibs she has told.

MARIA

No, no...When you used to work at

the movies, I could never get to

sleep at night until you came home.

Then when you arrived, I pretended to

be asleep, but I heard all your

movements. Then when you fell asleep,

I'd get up and bolt the door. Then,

when you left, every time I did it, I

felt as if I had left somebody

outside the door, far away....

(SALVATORE listens to his

MOTHER'S words, surprised

and entranced by the

poetry of her way of

speaking...)

But you were right to leave. You

succeeded in doing what you wanted to

do...

(Sighing)

When I call you, a different, woman

always answers. I pretend I know them

so they won't have to go through the

embarrassment of introducing

themselves.

(Smiling)

I'm sure they take me for a crazy old

woman. But so far I've never heard

one voice that really loves you...I

would have known. And yet, I'd like

to see you...settled down...fall in

love...

(Gazing into his eyes)

But your life's there. Here there are

nothing but ghosts, Toto! Let it go.

She has said this with a subtle allusiveness in her voice. And SALVATORE

realizes she has always known everything. But he doesn't' answer her.

They look at each other a Long time without speaking. Their rule of conniving

silence has come back into play, as before, forever. It is her expression that

tells him to leave, to take the plane and fly away...

110  SMALL SQUARE AND HOUSE. INT/EXT. EVENING

But SALVATORE has not taken his MOTHER'S advice. Re has not left. Something

holds him there still, leads him to go on looking.

The GIRL'S motorcycle is parked in the courtyard beyond the gate of a small

house. He is studying it from inside the car parked in a corner of the small

square, near a café. Re has been there some while, but is not nervous, waits

there with determination...

Several windows in the house are lit, but no one can be seen through

the curtains. Nothing but shadows pass by every now and then. Now the light in

one of the windows goes out, and the light on the stair goes on. The front door

opens and the GIRL comes out with a tall, sturdy- looking, elegantly dressed

GENTLEMAN around fifty.

They converse bur are too far away for their voices to be heard. SALVATORE

watches them come out the gate and climb into a car. They look like father and

daughter. The car now drives off and passes right by him. A gleam of light,

the reflection from the headlights, falls on the GENTLEMAN'S face. He recognizes

him at once, from the birthmark on his temple...

SALVATORE

(To himself)

Boccia!

His eyes flash, he's afraid he's understood. And now the craze to get to the

bottom of it all gnaws away at him. There is no turning back.

111 CAFÉ. AND SMALL SQUARE. INT/EXT. EVENING

SALVATORE'S hands rifle through a phone directory. He is in the cafe, on the

other side of the glass door leading to the little square. His finger

runs down the column of names...

SALVATORE

(Mumbling)

His last name was Lo Meo, Vincenzo.

He has already put the token into the slot and dials the number, looking at the

two lit upstairs windows of that house, where the mystery of his life may be

hiding. SALVATORE hears the first ring, his heart in his throat...A shadow

appears in one of the windows. And a voice answers.

VOICE ON TELEPHONE

Hello?

(It's a woman's voice.

SALVATORE shuts his eyes,

is about to speak, but the

lump in his throat

silences him...)

VOICE ON TELEPHONE

Hello? Hello?

He still hesitates, can' t get a word out, as if he had lost his voice or

didn't know what to say. He hangs up. The shadow at the window also hangs up,

then disappears...

SALVATORE is at a loss, sits down at one of the rabies near the

phone in the almost empty cafe. At the far end, a group of five people watching

television.

BARMAN

You want something?

And he turns back to the television. SALVATORE lights a cigarette. He is

uncertain. Once again he has to lake an important decision  redial the number

and seek a face behind that shadow? Or forget the whole thing, the GIRL, BOCCIA,

the shadow, and go away? Yes, best go away. He gets up and leaves. He can be

seen through the window turning the comer. A pack of cigarettes and a lighter

lie on the table, he has forgotten them. And the lighted cigarette bums down in

the ashtray. A few moments have gone by. Footsteps, and a hand picks up the

lighter and the cigarettes. It is SALVATORE who now, on a sudden urge, slips

another token into the slot. The shadow reappears at the window. The same voice

as before.

VOICE ON TELEPHONE

Hello, who's speaking?

SALVATORE answers at last, keeping his eyes shut, whispering:

SALVATORE

I'd like to speak to Signora Elena...

VOICE ON TELEPHONE

Speaking. Who is it, please?

SALVATORE feels a terrible pang, continues:

SALVATORE

Salvatore.

Silence, charged with tension. Then the voice continues weakly, as if puzzled.

VOICE ON TELEPHONE

Salvatore...who?

He runs his hand over his forehead, his eyes, as if to soothe the turmoil he

feels inside.

SALVATORE

Di Vita. Salvatore Di Vita. Do you

remember?

(Another pause chilly,

heavy. SALVATORE opens his

eyes, looks at the window.

Her shadow is motionless,

as if cut out of

cardboard.)

Elena, I'm here, in the bar, across

the street from your house.

The shadow moves slowly, a hand pulls aside the curtain. It's a moment of heart-

rending emotion...She appears. And they see each other from a distance, after

thirty years, each of them with a phone receiver to their ear. But she is

somewhat in the dark, against the light, it's impossible to make out her

features. Her voice gives a sudden start, instantly controlled.

VOICE ON TELEPHONE

Certainly, I remember...

SALVATORE'S eyes glisten, try to pierce the distance and the darkness to get a

better look, but in vain.

SALVATORE

Elena. I'd like to see you...Let's

meet.

ELENA lets the curtain drop and goes back to being a shadow. She whispers the

words.

VOICE ON TELEPHONE

It's been so long. Why should we

meet? What good would it do?

SALVATORE

Please, don't say no.. .

But her voice is firm, unshakeable, even if quivering with emotion.

VOICE ON TELEPHONE

I'm old, Salvatore. And you too. It's

best not to meet. Goodbye.

The shadow hangs up, disappears. The light goes off.

112  DIFFERENT SETTINGS. INT/EXT. EVENING

The wind is stronger now, the streets and the square are empty. SALVATORE

is at the wheel of the car, driving aimlessly around the town. He has

rediscovered the woman who conditioned his whole life and they hadn't had the

courage to meet. An obsessive musical heat, fraught with rage, pours out of the

car radio.

113  SALVATORE'S MOTHER'S HOUSE. INT. EVENING

A phone ringing drowns out the sound of the television and the wind

whistling outside. In the half-darkened room, MARIA picks up the receiver...

MARIA

Hello?

No one answers, but she can sense the presence of someone who now hangs up.

MARIA is alarmed. Who could it be at this hour? And where is Toto?

114  SEAFRONT AND PIER. EXT/INT. CAR. EVENING

SALVATORE stands motionless on the pier, facing the storm-tossed sea. He feels

relieved by the roar of the waves that dispels his bitter thoughts, blurs them,

but does not wipe out the look of suffering in his eyes. A flashing light seems

to approach behind his back. SALVATORE turns and is blinded by the headlights of

a car parked at the beginning of the pier. The splattering waves lend the scene

a hazy cast and diffuse the glare of the flashing headlights. Now the lights

move towards him. And SALVATORE also lakes a few timid steps forward...

They are close. The car has almost stopped. But it is impossible to make out the

person at the wheel who now reaches over to open the other door. A voice can be

barely heard over the raging sea. It is ELENA's voice.

ELENA

Salvatore!

SALVATORE approaches, accepting the invitation, enters the car and shuts the

door. The headlights go off and the car remains there suspended between the open

sea and the harbor with its rocking boats. Inside the car, not a word. Two dark

figures gaze at each other, unintelligible, as if the night were trying to

further delay that meeting. The glowing reflection of a wave higher than the

others now lights up their faces. ELENA was right, they are no longer the faces

of teenagers, but of people on in years who study each other, searching for a

truth. The howling of the wind and the crashing of the waves are louder, but

ELENA and SALVATORE /rear nothing, sit glued to their seats, fixed in the

endless gaze that envelops them. He is the first to break the silence in a faint

voice.

SALVATORE

How'd you know I'd be here?

ELENA  I don't know how many years have gone by, but some things about you I do

remember. There weren't many, places you could have gone. I looked around...

SALVATORE turns on the light of the rear-view mirror. Finally

they can see better. They look at each other a little ill at ease,

making the inevitable comparisons with the memory of their young faces.

SALVATORE carefully observes her graying hair, her blue eyes lined

with wrinkles, the somewhat faded beauty mark on her lip.

SALVATORE

You're still beautiful...

ELENA

Don't be silly...I'm old.

(She looks down troubled

by the way he has of

gazing into her eyes,

speaks almost mumbling her

words.)

Don't look at me like that, please.

(And she switches off the

light. But this time it is

less dark, things can be

seen.)

Why'd you come back?

SALVATORE

Alfredo died. Do you remember him?

ELENA

Of course I remember him. I'm sorry.

You were terribly fond of him.

A moment of silence. It's hard to find something to say.

SALVATORE

I saw your daughter. She's beautiful!

Who knows how many Salvatores

must be running after her...

ELENA

(Smiling)

One or two. Bur there're not all that

many Salvatores.

(SALVATORE also smiles,

but a puzzled smile as if

what she has said had

thrown him off-guard.)

I've got a son, too...he's older.

And you, do you have children?

SALVATORE

No. And I'm not married.

(ELENA sits there in

silence. A veil of sadness

clouds her eyes.

SALVATORE'S

too...)

Are you happy?

ELENA

All things considered, yes. Even if

it wasn't what I dreamt of then...

Again SALVATORE is thrown off-guard, as if the round key of

his enquiry had met with only square locks. She continues.

ELENA

My husband...you know him.

SALVATORE

Sure, sure! Boccia...

(With a bitter smile)

What's he do?

ELENA

Politics. He's the district

representative. We met at the

University in Pisa.

Then instinctively, in a shy voice, SALVATORE asks the question

that he probably wouldn't have asked a moment later.

SALVATORE

And...how come you never married

that guy from Tuscany?

The white foam of the waves splashes up over the wall of the pier, dashing

against the car windows. The shadow of the trickling water is superimposed on

the agony of their faces. ELENA hides her embarrassment beneath a faint but

haughty smile.

ELENA

I didn't want to...I had to fight

tooth and nail. But in the end I

won...

(SALVATORE is unable to

smile. It's as if the void

were growing and swelling

within. Thunder and

lightning shatter the

roaring of the wind and

sea, hut it does not rain.

Now her smile Jades away.)

At that time...I was waiting for

you...

There is no resentment in her words. She has said them fondly. With the serenity

of someone who has suffered greatly and then found a strong convincing way of

suffering no more. For SALVATORE, it's as if one of those thunderbolts had

pierced his heart. He leans over, gazing into her shining eyes.

SALVATORE

But I've never forgotten you, Elena!

ELENA

(Whispering)

Nor have I. Even though you

disappeared...

(SALVATORE is staggered,

feels as if he were

plunging into the void.

What she has said strikes

him as grotesque. ELENA

strokes his hair, as if to

restrain his sinking

heart, gives a sweet

smile.)

But what's the point of talking about

it? We risk being pathetic and

ridiculous.

(And she tries to change

the subject.)

You still live in Rome?

But SALVATORE ignores the question. He doesn't want to change the subject.

He feels that everything is crumbling inside him, the alibis and excuses he had

had to give himself in order to accept the end of their romance. And instead,

now the tables seem to have completely turned. Without realizing, he shouts

desperately, staring wildly at her and shaking her by the

shoulders.

SALVATORE

What do you mean, you were waiting

for me?! What are you saying?

(He controls himself at

once, continues, breathing

heavily.)

The last time we saw each other, we

made a date to meet at the Cinema

Paradiso. You remember? And you

didn't come, you disappeared without

leaving a trace, nothing! I'll tell

you how many years have gone by: more

than thirty!!!

Quiet rears stream down Elena's face, glisten with the reflections of the

lightning and the waves.

ELENA

I kept that date.

(SALVATORE laughs at the

absurdity of it. A

nervous, heartbroken

laugh, which slowly melts

away as she goes on to

say:)

But I was late...

(Tears continue to stream

out of her blue eyes, but

she tells her story in a

calm voice.)

I had a fight with my family. I tried

to convince them again that they

couldn't separate us. But it was

futile. They had decided to leave

Sicily once and for all. Which is

what we did. I didn't know what to do

any more, what to say. And I said

yes, I'd do whatever they wanted. In

return, my father promised to let me

see you one last time, to say

goodbye. But I hoped that by seeing

each other we could take advantage of

it and make a decision...I thought

we would run away together.

(She holds back her sobs.

Dries her tears with the

back of her hand, and

continues:)

My father drove me to the movie

theatre. But you weren't in the

projection booth. Only Alfredo...

Her voice continues over the scene of same thirty years before...

115  CINEMA PARADISO. PROJECTION BOOTH. INT. AFTERNOON Flashback.

ELENA'S VOICE

(Off-screen)

And I didn't have time to wait for

you to comeback...

From the bottom of the spiral staircase, ELENA'S FATHER is waiting nervously,

yells up at the projection booth.

ELENA' S FATHER

Elena! Hurry up!!

YOUNG ELENA

All right, Daddy!...

In the projection booth, ALFREDO is sitting on a stool, near the

projector. Seen from the rear, the YOUNG ELENA is leaning over

beside him, she is excited, her eyes are red and swollen with tears.

ELENA'S VOICE

(Off-screen)

So I told Alfredo how things stood

and fiat I was leaving the same

evening, and I asked him to tell you

everything. He was very kind, he

listened carefully, then...

ALFREDO answers YOUNG ELENA, stroking her hair.

ALFREDO

Easy, easy.

(Sighing)

Listen carefully to what I have to

say. If you want me to tell Toto what

you've told me, I will. But if you

want my advice, forget it. It's

better for both of you if you don't

see each other...

(YOUNG ELENA gives a start

of resentment, listens

with surprise.)

Dear girl, fire always turns into

ashes! Even the deepest love ends

sooner or later. And after that other

loves appear, lots of them. Toto, he

can't understand fiat now. If I tell

him he won't believe it, he' d be

capable of killing me...But you can

understand, you've got to

understand...Do it for him!

116  WATERFRONT. INT. CAR. EVENING

SALVATORE sits there without moving, pale as a sheet, looks as if he had

grown even older. As if the whole world has fallen in on him. For ELENA, it was

a painful but liberating story. She dries her last tears.

ELENA

It's the first time I've had to

chance to tell the story. I never

mentioned it to anybody.

SALVATORE

(In a daze)

Alfredo, damn him! He cast his spell

on you too!

ELENA

I told him I'd take his advice. But

before I went away I left you that

note...

(SALVATORE gives her a

quick look, a questioning

look. He listens.)

I was on my way down the stairs...

(Her voice continues, laid

over the...)

117  CINEMA PARADISO. PROJECTION BOOTH. INT. AFTERNOON Flashback

ELENA has already said goodbye to ALFREDO, is on her way down the stairs, but

stops short.

ELENA' S VOICE

(Off-screen)

I thought Alfredo couldn't see me. So

I snuck back up...

(She tip-toes back without

making any noise. Goes

over to the film-winder.

Takes out a pen, looks for

a scrap of paper, but

doesn't see any. Her eyes

fall on the film receipts

hanging on the nail. She

tears off the top one,

turns it over and

scribbles a message on the

back.)

I wrote you where you could find me,

and that I'd wait for you.

She hangs the scrap of paper back on the nail, well in sight. She creeps out,

glancing at ALFREDO, who hasn't noticed a thing.

118  WATERFRONT. EXT/INT. CAR. EVENING

ELENA finishes telling her story. She heaves a Jeep sigh.

ELENA

But you disappeared all the same.

There is a haunted look in SALVATORE's eyes, he is searching his memory for

something he can't find, then suddenly sees, as if in a dream...his hand thirty

years before going through the routine gesture of hanging a receipt on the nail,

over the others, mechanically, without even looking...and he shuts his eyes as

if fearing the truth. Her last words have wounded him. He shakes his head, then

in a faint voice:

SALVATORE

Oh, how I looked for you, Elena!

You'll never know. I wrote,

telephoned, nothing. Nobody ever

answered. But I dreamt of you for

years! That's why I went away...and

never came back here.

(And his anguish breaks

free, dissolving into

quiet, almost childish

tears. ELENA is startled

by his reaction. She

caresses him,

passionately. They embrace

and remain like that, she

with her face buried in

his shoulder, he leaning

on hers with his tear-

filled eyes.)

Even as the years passed, in all the

women I met, I was only looking for

you. I had success it's true, but

there was always something missing...

(She is deeply moved, goes

on caressing him gently

until he calms down. The

car windows are steamed

up. The sea, the harbor,

the waves have

disappeared. Nothing

remains but the sound of

the storm. SALVATORE takes

her face between his

hands. They gaze at each

other, their faces

practically touching. He

murmurs:)

I'd never have imagined that all this

had to end because of the man who was

like a father to me. A crazy lunatic!

(She gives a faint smile.)

ELENA

He wasn't crazy. In the beginning I

was upset. I think I really hated

him. But then, with time, I

understood what he said...and your

silence too.

SALVATORE whispers one last dreadful revelation. And it's as if he had got a

terrible weight off his chest.

SALVATORE

But I never saw that note!

(He squints, as if to

stress the absurdity of

the idea.)

I must have covered it with my hand,

without realizing it, that's the only

explanation...

(But strangely enough,

ELENA is not surprised.)

ELENA

What difference does it make to find

an explanation? That's the way it

went. But Alfredo didn't betray you,

he was the only one who really

understood you. Salvatore, if you had

chosen to be with me, you'd have

never made your films. And that would

have been a pity! Because they're

wonderful, I've seen them all.

(Her eyes glitter with

joy, then she smiles,

almost ironically.)

But you shouldn't have gone and

changed your name. You should have

kept your own.

Tears stream down Salvatore's cheeks. He gives her a look of longing, of

desire.

ELENA embraces him. They kiss with heartrending tenderness, with the same

passion of their first kiss amidst the strips of film brushing their faces, so

many years ago. And they make love, clasped in the cramped quarters of the car,

like two teenagers. Passionate kisses, embraces, deep sighs. Their hair

damp with sweat, their hands clasping, their fingers interweaving. Then the

frenzy subsides into a deep, tumultuous pleasure, of immense loving and immense

grief...As outside the wind and the waves go on rating around that car which

seems suspended in empty space.)

119  ALFREDO'S WIDOW'S HOUSE. INT. DAY

SIGNORA ANNA'S hands place an old wooden stool and a rusty round

metal can on the table.

ANNA

These are the things he left to

you...

SALVATORE is sitting by the table. He has finished the cup of coffee SIGNORA

ANNA has prepared for him. He picks up the stool, recognizes it at once: it's

the one ALFREDO had made for him as a little boy so he could climb up and put

the reels on the projector.

ANNA

When they showed your films on

television, he was happy. He'd plop

himself down there and all his

ailments were forgotten. He knew all

the words by heart, every one, and

I'd describe what was going on. And

when the papers talked about

you, I had to read them two or three

times...

SALVATORE examines the can, wonders what it can be. He opens it: inside is a

reel of film, wrapped in a plastic bag, well preserved. Those objects bring a

pang to his heart, and the things that ANNA said, but he feels disappointed, as

if he expected to find something else.

SALVATORE

Did he ever think of meeting me?

ANNA

No, never! One time your mother said

that if he wanted, you'd have surely

come. He got furious and said  'No,

Toto mustn't come back to Giancaldo,

never!!' He didn't say it to be mean.

He was a decent man. Who knows what

he could have been thinking? Towards

the end he'd say such strange things.

And a moment before he shut his eyes,

he told your mother not to let you

know.

120  CINEMA PARADISO. PROJECTION BOOTH. INT. DAY

A cloud of yellowed scraps of paper flutters into the air and as it falls slowly

to the ground another handful is flung up. SALVATORE is in the projection booth,

looking through the countless yellowed receipts, stuffed away in boxes. He looks

at them one by one, then throws them into the air. A desperate search, almost a

defiance of the passing of time. He continues with greater determination, flings

piles of receipts into the air, glances at a few dates, a film title, tries to

discover the oldest dates at the bottom. He moves swiftly, his hands plunge in,

then fling up a nimbus of paper and dust. But to no avail...He stops, short of

breath. His eyes go over to the nails in the wall, where other stacks of

receipts are hanging. He gets up and goes to look at them, thumbs " it through

them hastily, in anger...

He yanks off two or three packs, which come off, nail and all. Only then does he

notice that at the bottom of those blocks of yellowed paper, there are same more

sheets, much older, almost brown. His eyes concentrate on the mildewed scraps of

paper. He leans over, picks themup and goes through them one by one, delicately,

because they crumble in his fingers...And then all of a sudden, some film

titles

he recognizes from that time. He goes on thumbing through them, and all at once

an astonished look appears on his face  in his hands is a receipt that has been

turned over. It's the one! The message scribbled on it can still be seen. He

reads it.

SALVATORE'S VOICE

(Off-screen)

Salvatore, forgive me. I'll explain

later what happened. Not finding you

here was terrible. Unfortunately,

this evening, my mother and I are

leaving for Tuscany. We're moving

there. But you' re the only one I

love, I'll never be with anybody

else, I promise. Here's the address

of a girlfriend of mine where you

can write to me. Don't abandon me.

Love and kisses, Elena.

He clasps the scrap of paper, and his brimming eyes darken with regret.

121  CAFÉ~ IN SQUARE AND ELENA'S HOUSE. INT/EXT. DAY

ELENA stands near the window overlooking the little square, listening on the

phone to SALVATORE'S voice. She can see him through the transparent curtain

speaking on the phone down below in the café.

ELENA

When are you leaving?

SALVATORE opens his eyes, tosses away his cigarette.

SALVATORE

This afternoon. Elena, in the future

maybe we could...

ELENA interrupts him, speaks softly, tenderly.

ELENA

No, Salvatore...there is no future.

There's only the past. Even meeting

last night was nothing but a dream, a

beautiful dream.

(Smiling)

We never did it when we were kids,

remember?

(Down in the cafe,

SALVATORE nods his head

slowly, desperately.)

Now that it's happened, I don't think

there could have been a better

ending.

(It's farewell. SALVATORE

glances one last time at

that window.)

SALVATORE

I'll never agree with you. Never,

Elena.

122  CINEMA PARADISO. EXT. DAY

The square, unusually empty. There is no one, and no cars and motorcycles are

parked in the middle. The stores are shut. And there is an unreal silence. The

houses on the two streets on either side of the theatre are covered by enormous

pieces of gray canvas.

Only now does the camera discover in the distance, a crowd of curious onlookers

waiting in front of the movie house, kept at a safe distance by firemen and

policemen. Old SPACCAFICO is in the crowd. SALVATORE is also there. Be gazes at

the front of the old movie theatre...

123  CINEMA PARADISO. INT. DAY

The inside of the theatre, completely empty...All of a sudden, a blinding flash

and...

124  SQUARE AND CINEMA PARADISO. EXT. DAY

...a deafening roar rends the air, accompanied by a surge of amazement in the

crowd. And the Cinema Paradiso suddenly collapses, folds inward and disappears

for ever in a gigantic cloud of white smoke that rises into the air, carried by

the wind towards the crowd...

125  ELENA' S HOUSE. INT. DAY

The echo of the explosion is also heard in ELENA'S house. She is alone.

And the bang distresses her, as if something had burst inside her. From her face

to...

126  SQUARE AND CINEMA PARADISO. EXT. DAY

SALVATORE's face, stiff, unmoving, his eyes fixed on those falling ruins, on

that season of his life turning into smoke and dust. Enveloped in the white

cloud, SPACCAFICO stands crying in silence.

Mice dart out of the ruins in terror, scamper nervously into the square. A group

of youngsters scream, amused and excited. Among them, ELENA'S DAUGHTER,

smiling... SALVATORE sees her joking with friends and pointing to some boys

chasing the mice across the square, hooting and laughing. As a white-haired OLD

TRAMP, filthy and covered in rags, makes his way through the crowd. There is an

empty look in his eyes and he repeats obsessively in a low voice:

VILLAGE IDIOT

The square's mine, the square's mine,

the square's mine...

SALVATORE recognizes him, it's the VILLAGE IDIOT, the one who used to close down

the square at night. Be watches him walk off, raving, with nobody even noticing.

The crowd now moves over to the huge empty space where the movie house once

stood. The murmuring voices are drowned out by the deafening roar of an

airplane. From the ruins of the Cinema Paradiso, fade to...

127  ROME. STUDIO VIEWING-ROOM. INT. DAY

...SALVATORE'S hands giving a STUDIO PROJECTIONIST the rusty metal can left him

by ALFREDO.

SALVATORE

Please check the splices. As soon as

you're ready you can start.

PROJECTIONIST

OK. Congratulations on your film.

It's terrific.

SALVATORE

Thanks.

A COLLEAGUE of SALVATORE comes up behind him.

SALVATORE

Well?

COLLEAGUE

The distributor is opening up the

film earlier. The press conference is

in the afternoon. The actors will

also be there, the producer, just

about everyone.

An ASSISTANT comes up to them.

ASSISTANT

The official notification of the

award just came out, but we've

already received a mountain of

telegrams. Aren't you happy?

SALVATORE

It's all right. We'll talk about it

later.

SALVATORE walks off towards the viewing theatre.

SALVATORE is by himself in the small viewing theatre. Now the lights go down.

The beam of light shines out of the little square hole of the projection booth

and the screen lights up. A number trailer goes by and then SALVATORE sees the

first shots.

A start of intense amazement and joy suddenly runs through him, astounds him,

delights him. It's the best piece of film he has ever seen...

It consists of all the kisses ALFREDO cut out of the films and kept for him,

when he was a little boy. They have been spliced together, one , after the

other, at random, same of them even upside down. And yet it looks like a first-

rate editing job.

In rapid sequence the passionate kisses between actors and actresses, names

famous and names unknown in the history of movies. Greta Garbo, Gary Cooper,

Alida Valii, Rudolph Valentino, Ingrid Bergman, Clark Gable, Anna Magnani,

Humphrey Bogart, Marlene Dietrich, Amedeo Nazzari, Luisa Ferida, Vittorio De

Sica, Rita Hayworth, Tyrone Power, Doris Durante, Massimo Gironi, Marta Abba,

Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, Assia Noris...

A whole movie season summed up in a few fragments, a few seconds. A bizarre,

poignant, melancholy parade.

SALVATORE is overwhelmed, moved to tears. It is the most profound act of love he

has ever seen. He laughs as tears shine in his eyes. Up on the screen, another

kiss, the last kiss marking the happy ending of a film. And the age-old words

appear 'THE END'.