The Ultimate Culmination

In the movie, Cinema Paradiso, the character of Alfredo becomes a surrogate father and mentor to a young boy, Toto. I posted about this movie on June 10, 2008, but I repeat myself for the year of Karma. The film takes place after WWI and Alfredo runs a film projector at a local theater. The movie follows their friendship, but emphasizes Alfredo's advice, "Go. Go. Leave" which Toto does. As a young man, he departs his home town and doesn't return until the death of his mentor.

Throughout childhood, however, Toto was obsessed with the cinema and he'd spy on Alfredo's work. To a young boy, movies were magic, but at the time, all the love scenes were cut out because they were considered raunchy and inappropriate. Toto wanted to know why the actors and actresses never kissed. It was because Alfredo cut out all the kissing scenes.

In the final scene of the movie, however, an aged and accomplished Toto returns to his film industry to view a gift Alfredo, blind, left for him at the funeral. It is the ultimate culmination of Karma and a story I think of often. What if you spent a lifetime collecting for another individual and only delivered the collection to them after your death? What if it was a collection of all the edited scenes taken from movies shown in your childhood? What kind of effect would that have? It's beautiful. But do note: (Tiana) the re-release of the editor's cut of this film is horrendous karma. Stick with the first version - it's a much better story.