Voted as one of the best films of all time, Cinema Paradiso (1988) is an aching coming-of-age movie written and directed by Giuseppe Tornatore, with a memorable film score by his long-time collaborator, Ennio Morricone.

Set in a small Sicilian town, the film centres on the friendship between a young boy (Salvatore) and an aging projectionist (Alfredo) who works at the titular movie theatre, who counsels the boy to leave the small town to pursue his own destiny wholeheartedly, never giving in nostalgia nor setbacks. Years later, a grown-up and successful Salvorate attends Alfredo’s funeral and the past flashes back as Salvatore watches a gift from Alfredo – reels that were once censored by the authorities and which Alfredo had pieced together to form a single unreduced film of aching erotic desire. The film then ends with an ending that is considered to be one of the greatest in cinema history, made more poignant by Morricone’s beautiful film score

Theme from Cinema Paradiso by Ennio Morricone