Cinema Paradiso

Last night we watched the recent recut Cinema Paradiso. The original theatrical release is one of my all-time favorite films, so I was particularly eager to see the added footage. Well, I can't say that it is an improvement. I guess if it is more material and not an improvement it must necessarily be a flaw. I guess. Since the DVD comes with both the original and the added footage versions, I will be going back to the original this week and comparing. Do any of y'all out there have any opinions on this? I need to see the original again before I really comment, but it just seemed unecessary, based on my memories of the film.

One thing that strikes me every time I have seen the film (and many other films as well) is how great an actor Noiret is. I was also struck, for the first time, that Morricone was not at his best in this film. The music just didn't have that great Morricone spark that a lot (but certainly not all) of his scores have. I guess I never noticed the music much before, but I paid attention to it last night.