Cinema Paradiso (1988)

We only live once. Do you want love or career? Most of us would definitely choose both. However, this is a forced-choice question for some people at times. Cinema Paradiso (1988) is an Italian film that tells a story about a successful film director (Salvatore/ Toto), who never really finds true love throughout the many decades of his life since the separation from his first love.

"When I call you, a different woman always answers. But I never hear love in their voices. I would have liked to have seen you settled, loving someone." These sentences from Salvatore's mother reveal that he has not found true love for 30 years since his separation from Elena, his first love. He is so in love with Elena that he never really ventures into an authentic relationship with others. Instead, he has lived the 30 years of his life like what Alfredo said:

"I don't want to hear you talk anymore. I want to hear others talking about you. Don't come back. Don't think about us. Don't look back. Don't write. Don't give in to nostalgia. Forget us all. If you do and you come back, don't come see me. I won't let you in my house... Whatever you end up doing, love it. The way you loved the projection booth when you were a little squirt." 

He directs all his love, energy and passion into his career and ignores his need for relationship. He does not visit his mother, family and friends in Sicily for 30 years even though Rome is only an hour distance by plane from Sicily. Perhaps, he is so afraid to know the possibility that Elena has forgotten him and has already had a family on her own if he goes back to Sicily, like his interpretation on the story of the soldier who has waited 99 days for a princess: "In one more night, the princess would have been his. But she also could not possibly have kept her promise. And it would have been terrible. He would have died. This way, however, at least for 99 days, he was living under the illusion that she was there, waiting for him." Salvatore has opted for avoidance and displacement to reduce the feeling of discomfort. He avoids the possible dissonant information that Elena might have forgotten him by displacing all his energy into his career and not going back to Sicily.

In another light, his passion towards filming is developed since he was young in Sicily. Cinema is one of the very few sources of entertainment in Sicily. Even the priest, who should place God before other things mourns that "what do we do now? We have no more entertainment" when the cinema is burnt down. Community of Sicily "lives" in the cinema, sharing many emotions and experiences together. They cheer and cry together, as well as celebrate one's fortune in the cinema. Some of them even find their true love, breast feed baby or even sleep in the cinema. The cinema can be described as the place that people satisfy their needs for fun and entertainment, liken to the concept of id.

On the other hand, the church in the community is similar to the concept of superego. The censorship of the movies by the priest is like the superego trying to control the id in reaching a balance. When the movies are no longer censored, the id has overpowered the superego. Virgin Mary statue in the previous cinema is replaced by prostitute. People have sex and children masturbate in the cinema. The power of cinema is seen from this slight change in the movie censorship as it has made vast changes on the dynamics of the community of Sicily.

Salvatore shares the same communal experiences with the citizens of Sicily. He develops his interest in movies and filming through his great exposure to cinema when he was young. As he grows older, he finds his first love. However, Salvatore directs and fixates his passion and energy in his work when his first love takes an abrupt end. Only at the end of the movie, Salvatore is reminded of his longing for true love. And there comes "Fine" on the screen in the last scene, which signifies the beginning of another movie chapter in Salvatore's life, perhaps, his journey in searching for a true love and appreciating relationships. 

Life is Beautiful (1997)

"This is a simple story... but not an easy one to tell."

Life is Beautiful (1997) portrays the Holocaust in a comedy-like way. It is a story told by a son, Joshua about the amazing experience his father, Guido Orefice gave him during the Holocaust.

Guido and Joshua are both caught and sent to the concentration camp. Joshua's mother, although is not a Jew, volunteers to enter the concentration camp. To protect Joshua from the trauma he might have experienced in the camp, Guido makes up a story that they are in a game to win a real tank. Besides, he supports his wife, Dora emotionally by announcing that Joshua was safe from the mass murder in gas chamber. In addition, he sings their old time song to her. 

Guido's lies and his attempts to comfort his wife give a strong emotional supports for both Joshua and Dora. As Viktor Frankl suggests, he has given meaning to their sufferings. Joshua sees the captivity, deprivation of food as well as other sufferings and fears as the barriers to overcome in winning a real tank. To win the game gives meaning to Joshua's suffering. At the same time, Dora is given emotional supports from her husband, which gives her meaning and hope for her suffering. Similar to Viktor Frankl's desire to see his wife, giving meaning and supporting his wife as well as the hope to survive together with family from the concentration camp have given meaning to Guido's own suffering. These meanings they found serve as the meaning-making coping, which has helped them to deal with adversity.

"The one thing you can’t take away from me is the way I choose to respond to what you do to me. The last of one’s freedoms is to choose one’s attitude in any given circumstance." ~ Viktor Frankl

Although Nazi army has deprived Guido and family from the physical freedom they should have, they still have their freedom to choose their attitude towards the concentration camp. Guido, with his humorous and optimistic personality, has chosen to help Joshua face the suffering as a challenging yet rewarding game. His emotion-coping focused way to deal with adversity has provided the resilience for his family and himself to cope with the stress.

In another light, one component of prejudice in this movie has struck me. Guido is hoping to receive help from Doctor Lessing to escape from the concentration camp. He feels hopeful when the doctor asks to meet him up for an important matter. However, it turns out that the important matter is a riddle that the doctor is having troubles solving. How ironic it is! For the Jews like Guido, it is a matter of life and death. On the other hand, the naive Germans do not see it as a problem. In fact, a riddle is way more important than a life. The same concepts of just-world phenomenon and the inability to empathize are seen in the capitol citizens in The Hunger Games (2012) as well. For the capitol citizens, the annual Hunger Games is as if an entertainment show and a matter of winning or losing in a game. They are unable to see the larger picture of government's oppression against the districts. Ethnocentrism is so strong in the higher class citizens in these two movies that people are not aware or even ignorance of the preciosity of lives. When people start to see things from only one perspective, they begin to fall into the trap of conformity and eventually a pawn in the prejudicial game.

 "A glass half empty is a glass half full", we have the freedom to lead a meaningful life and live life to its fullest even when we are having difficult times. It all depends on the perspective we take. Life is beautiful, even in times of adversity.