Cinema Paradiso Page #10

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!!

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