Script To Screen: “Cinema Paradiso”

A wonderful scene from the 1988 movie Cinema Paradiso, screenplay by Giuseppe Tornatore and Vanna Paoli.

Plot summary: A filmmaker recalls his childhood, when he fell in love with the movies at his village’s theater and formed a deep friendship with the theater’s projectionist.

This scene: Salvatore, smitten by Elena, finds a unique opportunity to ‘confess’ his feelings to her.

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!

Here is the movie version of the scene:

Such a great scene for at least two reasons:

• The cross cuts between Alfredo and the Priest, and Salvatore and Elena.
• The very conceit of Salvatore sneaking into the confessional to convey his thoughts to Elena.

If you haven’t seen Cinema Paradiso, please put it on your to-screen list. It won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film in 1990… for good reason because it is a beautiful movie.

One of the single best things you can do to learn the craft of screenwriting is to read the script while watching the movie. After all a screenplay is a blueprint to make a movie and it’s that magic of what happens between printed page and final print that can inform how you approach writing scenes. That is the purpose of Script to Screen, a Go Into The Story series where we analyze a memorable movie scene and the script pages that inspired it.

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