For my considerable sins, I did not even know this film existed, even though Cinema Paridiso is my favourite World cinema film, and in my top five of all time.Catching it late on Film 4, I was especially interested and keen, as Radio Times' David Parkinson awarded a rare five stars and so was expecting a true gem to magically unfold before my receptive and captivated eyes.Firstly, it's no good folk saying not to compare it with Paradiso when so many scenes, specially near the start are of town market squares and night and shots of old films in cinemas with young boys being naughty - but instead of making me feel at home these seemed to me to be more of re-hashing than their obvious desire. Whilst Paradiso had a few main characters that we soon grew to love and cherish, Baaria unfolds so quickly and overwhelmingly, it's like a floodgate and as more than a few other reviewers have noted, makes the narrative difficult to follow.All those Euros thrown at it somehow do not enhance the character or soul of the film, the letterbox widescreen losing connectivity on TV and whilst it was undoubtedly very impressive in the cinema, I feel detached from both it and the characters - indeed, the story as a whole, in fact! So earnest is Tornatorre to make an epic, it remains that - and frankly, a bit of a lame beast, hopping rather clumsily from scene to scene. And, just as soon as someone says something profound, long before the subtitles have sunk in and related to the story as a whole, we are then whisked off to another, often un-associated scene.I'm not the only one to say that it'll take another, if not three views to follow the story, you feel that you should, somehow but whilst one is all too happy to do that when the film deserves such, my initial viewing does not tell me that that to be the case, which is a pity.True, the typically larger than life characters and robust humour is ever present but they do not seem to connect with anything that's memorable and so all this leads to are a lot of linked-up snippets of excitable Sicilian life that do not gel. Maybe the fault lies in the fact that I re-watched the original The Godfather the very day before and am comparing (in pace and character and narrative development, not the story) and frankly, the two are legions apart.So, believe me, I am really rather disappointed with Baaria. I will try again with it and hopefully it will appeal to me more.

Besides using the 'correct' light, the matching music , this movie is 'cooked' so well for me as for the feelings it connected me to....Being a Mediterranean myself , I identified 100% with the movie. For people like me who 'belongs to a community' and grow a part of it, it means a lot 'to belong'... even if we continue life in a different continent than our original town our feeling of this 'belonging' to our origin makes us who we are...For me,the director created a masterpiece...Each piece in the movie is a scene, a piece of life 'lived'. Actually in a better wording one can say: 'a piece of life that is sucked emotionally and not to be forgotten ever'..The cinema entrance with the kid , for eg, is an experience each one of us lived and Tornatore gave it in a very simple basic natural short way:)) The running of two kids at the end of the movie, the imaginary run of the main actor after the train, all this running process which actually leads nowhere and takes a whole lifetime is summarized super well in the words of the old guy waiting for the cigarette pack: he says 'it took a lifetime ' whereas for the kid 'it was as short as the drying of the saliva on the pavement'...Life is short and long at the same time. Being a part of a society with a common past, with generations that knew each other and continue to do gives life a delicious essence, a sublime meaning, a unique color and makes the owner of that life smile and feel himself that he lived 'fully'. and in this environment, he feels a kid no matter how old he gets....it is a wonderful movie for my part of the continent...I experience,experienced what the movie gives, gave...it translated my society...

BAARIA is another masterwork form the consummate film artist Giuseppe Tornatore. Tornatore is so highly regarded in Italy and Sicily that famous actors fight for the opportunity to work in one of his luminous films, agreeing to take minute walk on roles just to be near the director: Monica Belluci, Ángela Molina, Beppe Fiorello, Raoul Bova etc. This film deserves close attention form the viewer - and in some ways it may be better to view the DVD's Interview with Giuseppe Tornatore BEFORE watching this film so that the writer/director's concept and technique is understood before the story unfolds.Baarìa is Sicilian slang for Bagheria where Tornatore was born and this is an autobiographic epic of three generations in the Sicilian village where he was born. It begins in the 1920's where Giuseppe "Peppino" Torrenuova lives with his brother Nino and his parents in a hovel. They are so poor that Peppino's father advises him to become a shepherd in order to help support the family. Peppino progresses to taking a cow around the town to fill the milk buckets of the townspeople, struggles through school, progresses to young adulthood when he falls in love with Mannina and going against Mannina's family's dream of having their daughter marry money, the two elope - in the home of Mannina! - and it is here that the characters become the adults who carry the film. Of note, Tornatore elected to cast the main characters with little known Sicilian actors: Peppino is Francesco Scianna and Mannina is Margareth Madè - both brilliant in their roles. From this point the time passes through historical references to Il Duce, the mafia, WW II and the coming of the Americans, but more important is Peppino's idealistic concept that his future lies in politics. He becomes a Communist, rises in the ranks, eventually even visiting Moscow to meet with Stalin, and returns to Baaria to help the people struggle for land reform and socialism, all the while he continues to have children with Mannina and follow his dreams of being a successful politician, a dream that is as fragile as it is unattainable.The film flashes back and forth in time and has no linear story line: Tornatore is more interested in taking snippets of his memories of his past life growing up in Baaria than he is in keeping the audience clear about the characters who flash in and out of the story. His use of children is magical - they seem more wise in their innocence that the adults. But take the movie for what it is - a mélange of remembered moments in the writer/director's life - and witness some of the most beautiful moments ever created for the screen, such as the eventual death of Peppino's father who passes his wisdom to his son, and Peppino's advice to this oldest son as the son takes the train to Rome: the son asks 'Why do people call us hotheaded?' to which Peppino answers 'Because we think we can embrace the Universe, but our arms are too short.' Peppino's wisdom he passes to his son is to follow his heart at all costs and there will he find satisfaction. This film is overflowing in such moments and watching it is like opening a treasure trunk full of dazzlingly memories. The musical score by the evergreen Ennio Morricone is absolutely one of his finest - a score the composer created in conjunction with Tornatore.There is a problem with the DVD that hopefully someone will solve: the English subtitles (the film is in Italian and Sicilian) are very difficult to read - so bleached out are they over backgrounds of bright Sicilian light. It is a post-production flaw that needs to be corrected for non Italian speaking audiences, but even with that minor problem, this is one of the most touching and tender and emotionally satisfying films this viewer has ever seen. 10 stars! Grady Harp

The film is clearly autobiographical about the movie director Guisseppe Tornatore and his Sicilian family life. It is a drama without in any way being really dramatic or spectacular. i call it a pretty film because there are lots of pretty scenes of Italy and of people moving about the scenes reflecting Sicilian life - but whats the story? I didn't really find one here in this movie, so nothing to grip me.I don't speak Italian and so I watched the movie on DVD with English subtitles which are translated well enough for me to understand. It is a shame it failed in nomination to the best foreign language for Oscar 2010 but there were strong candidates this year in this category.The beauty of this film is in the filming and in the colourful dialogues not so much in the story. An enjoyable movie and one which makes a pleasant change from all the American rubbish dished out from Hollywood. Nothing rubbish about this movie, it is a very fine film indeed.