Steadfast Catholics cross themselves when entering sacred ground. Young Toto in Cinema Paradiso (Nuovo cinema Paradiso) does this as he enters the projection booth—cinema geeks understand this gesture completely! Anyone who excitedly waited for Saturday matinees to begin will smile as young Salvatore (a.k.a. Toto) sneaks behind the curtain to watch the priest censor the kissing scenes, and at his cunning ploys to reach the projection booth. Snoozing through Mass, Toto doesn't make an ideal altar boy, but his passionate love for cinema enables the eight-year old to serve tirelessly as a projectionist before eventually growing up to become a major "big shot" film director.

Framed with a series of flashbacks traced back to a small Sicilian village, the story covers Salvatore's life with three actors: Young Salvatore (Salvatore Cascio), adolescent Salvatore (Marco Leonardi, who also stars as Pedro in Like Water, Like Chocolate), and adult Salvatore (Jacques Perrin, an experienced French actor, who recently produced Himalaya). Early scenes involving the young boy and his mentor endear director Giuseppe Tornatore's film to cinema aficionados, who recall similar feelings when they fell in love with movies. These scenes between young Toto and Alfredo (Philippe Noiret) form the central core of the film and provide the heart that causes tears to well up in cinema lovers.

Currently re-released with fifty-one additional minutes is Tornatore's "director's cut," primarily adding background and closure on the adult Elena (Brigitte Fossey), who is the unrequited love interest of adolescent Salvatore. Anyone who loves the original film must get to the nearest arthouse screening the new version; nothing can be better than seeing an "old" love on the big screen again.

However, once again "more" doesn't translate into "better." The new scenes slow the pace a great deal, and diffuse the focus of the film away from its heart by making the mystery of what happened to Elena far more important than is warranted and causing some doubts about Alfredo's motives. Although I was mesmerized with the new footage, first time viewers would be better served by watching the more tightly constructed original version. It would have been better to release the Director's Cut on a special DVD edition for cinema geeks to examine on their own. Sequences depicting Salvatore's loss of virginity and providing more backstory on Elena are interesting for curiosity's sake, but artistically the film works better when edited to come in under two hours.

The most memorable scenes occur with the developing relationship between young Toto and Alfredo, who fills the father void in the boy's life. Alfredo recognizes much of himself in his young protege, as far as a deep love for cinema is concerned. Alfredo has lived practically his whole life in the projection booth of the Cinema Paradiso, where the walls are covered with film invoices and posters of Casablanca and other classic films. Although married, Alfredo lives mostly with his projectors and films, inadvertently memorizing movie dialogue so that he's more comfortable talking with the likes of Clark Gable and Gary Cooper than with flesh and blood humans. At first, Alfredo rejects the wily boy's ploys to join him in the projection booth, but eventually he succumbs—a lunch delivery and some help passing an elementary school examination prove irresistible.

His initial gruffness is explained with scenes that demonstrate that he truly cares about Toto, recognizing that the boy truly loves the cinema as he does—but also recognizing that the boy is extremely gifted and should do something more with his life than run a movie projector. Inevitably, they are drawn together and form a lasting bond, solidified when the boy saves his mentor's life. The love Alfredo has for Toto is pure, profound, and unselfish as he charges the adolescent Salvatore to leave the village forever, do something great with his life, and find a passion as great as his boyhood love for the projection booth.

It is to the old Cinema Paradiso that the two are always drawn. The movie theater represents Life itself. Regular patrons play out all of life's stages within the theater's confines—from the young couple first meeting in the darkened movie house, bringing their newborn, to the row of adolescents jerking off to cinematic views of a female derriere, to the elderly man who keels over from a heart attack. Fellini-esque community characters provide comic relief—the village idiot who insists the square belongs to him (at least after midnight), the movie fan who always falls asleep with his mouth wide open (leaving plenty of room for sophomoric pranks), and the cynic in the balcony who habitually spits on the people below.

Philippe Noiret plays well off the younger actors portraying Salvatore, lending an underplayed sentiment to the film. His love of cinema shines through his eyes as he incorporates movie quotes into his conversation, and especially during a crucial scene where he shows young Toto the magic of movies by moving the projector to show the film in the square. He comes across as a genuine human being, and the film alternates between poignant scenes and humorous ones, as the mentor shares his experiences and fascinating stories with his wide-eyed apprentice.

Film aficionados cannot help but love Cinema Paradiso, whether the original version or new Director's Cut. How can anyone view that incredible montage of screen kisses (edited out and joined together from Alfredo's years of censoring these passionate scenes for proper Catholic consumption) without having the same kind of tears well up that the adult Salvatore does? Manipulative perhaps, and nostalgic, but that's no problem with Tornatore's well-crafted tribute to the power of the cinema and a special friendship. The 4.5 star rating represents an average between the two available versions—4 stars for the Director's Cut only because it veers from its emotional center, and 5 stars for the original version that remains on course with better pacing. Of course, both versions are still required for all cinema geeks and others who desire closure on Elena. Most arthouse lovers are certain to rate this as one of the most memorable films they've seen; it's easy to see ourselves in young Toto and recall what it is about film that we love so much.