Common Sense Note
Parents need to know that Cinema Paradiso is a 1988 Italian coming-of-age movie in which a young Sicilian boy is taken under the wing of an odler man who teaches him about the love of movies and helps him find his purpose in life. It is a charming tale of friendship and the love of movies that's the perfect introduction to foreign films for teens, despite some iffy scenes--including a scene where young teens are obviously (if not explicitly shown) masturbating in a theater to a Brigid Bardot movie, and a man who spits on those below him while in the balcony of the theater eventually gets pelted in the face with feces. There is some mild profanity throughout, and two kids are shown smoking a cigarette. A man is shown catching on fire in a projection booth and is rescued by a young boy who drags him down the stairs of the burning building. There is also some bullying--early in the movie, a young boy is slapped in the head and hit with a ruler by a teacher when he doesn't know the answer to a multiplication problem, and later in the movie, a young man is punched in the face by a bully while trying to woo a beautiful woman.
Sexual
Content
Brief shots of exposed breasts in black and white movies. While nothing is explicitly shown, a group of young teens are obviously in the act of masturbation while in a theater watching a Brigid Bardot movie. A man grabs a woman's breasts and starts to moan and grind his body into hers.
Violence
Alfredo is severely burned in a fire. Fighting, hitting, violent scenes from movies. A boy in his late teens is punched in the face by a bully and is later revealed to have a black eye. A man who has routinely spat from his seat in the balcony in a theater is hit in the face with feces. An abusive teacher slaps a boy in the head and hits him with a ruler in front of a classroom of children who laugh at him because he doesn't know his multiplcation tables.
Language
Occasional profanity. "S--t." "A--hole." "Son of a b--ch." "Damn." "Ass." A young boy exclaims, "Up yours!"
Social
Behavior
This movie shows how the movies transcend cultures, unify a community, and bridge the gap between generations. The importance and benefits of a fatherless child being mentored into a job by someone older is also shown in this movie.
Consumerism
Not applicable
Drugs / Tobacco /
Alcohol
Cigarette smoking, including a scene in which two young children smoke. Wine drinking, some characters appear intoxicated.
