My favorite moment in "Splendor" was a scene where Mastroianni's character, who owns the theater, occupies the same space as a commercial shown before the start of the main attraction which calls "La Dolce Vita" a classic. For those who have a good grasp of cinema, this moment should strike a cord, for that film was indeed a classic that also starred Mastroianni, 30 years earlier. This parody reminds us of the magic and beauty of film. It draws the line between fantasy and reality and shows that sometimes life imitates art as much as art imitates life. We went to the cinema when we were young and dreamed of standing in the shoes of characters that we loved and wanted to be. We dreamed of living their lives and experiencing the magic. But then we realized that the actors appeared in other films playing other characters - a reminder that films were not real,only dreams that were given sound and visual interpretation.
At 'The Splendor' those dreams never died. Before televisions and home video, "The Splendor" was an EVENT! It was packed in claustrophobic density to its full capacity from the ground to the balcony. It was such an outing that often disputes over seats quickly became fights. The locals who frequented lacked glamor, adventure, murder, romance, sex and laughter in their lives. Cinema provided it in one bundle. It was the ultimate escape and allowed them to see the world, meet beautiful women, go to war, solve crimes, make passionate love and roll on the floor laughing. There was no better place to pretend to be Clarke Gable as the projector bathed the wall with light and sound and boys seduced the local girls - quite often dreams did come true at "The Splendor". But nothing on the screen prepared them for the emergence of 'the lady in red'.
"Splendor" combines the stories of Jordan, Chantal and Luigi and how together they ran the most enviable show in town. Jordan (Marcello Mastroianni) traveled the Italian countryside with his father in his youth, bringing cinema to villagers' door steps during the time of Mussollini's dictatorship. The popularity of the portable cinema truck, projection on wheels, was fascinating. People dropped all they did, anxiously collected chairs and ran out with them to the court where a sheet of linen was mounted between two parallel poles. Although it was only possible to watch the moving pictures at night, with the powerful wind licking the cloth, the audience's attention was unbroken and they stared at the magic lighting the dark court with awe. Jordan helped his father turn the manual projector and felt like the great bringer of joy, feelings that were carried forward to his eventual ownership of "The Splendor" - the theater Jordan inherited from his father.
Chantal (Marina Vlady), beautiful, sexy, erotic Chantal. Jordan came upon her at a French cabaret where he was instantly smitten by her gorgeous French eyes and vibrant smile. Her unconventional attitude to her employer provided the most convenient opportunity for Jordan to make his move and it was love at first site. Chantal's dream like encounter and discovery of Jordan's local influence convinced her to stay and live the magic and romance of the cinema. Her presence at the theater tripled ticket sales. Men would come just to have a glance at her. She was the most beautiful blonde they ever saw in the flesh, comparable to Monroe, Hayworth and Lake. She gave their cinema inspired desires a physical realization. Her silky, tight and radiant red dress perfectly captured the outline of her divine bodily curves and men's imaginations ran wild. They waited for her to usher them to their seats and with every pendulum swing of her hips she drove them crazy. The most love-stricken and subsequently loyal customer Luigi (Massimo Troisi), never missed a session, even seeing the same film ten times. Fantasies of Chantel replayed in his mind like clockwork and thus he began to identify with the films that he initially ignored, as they shared his boundless search for romance. His identification and association with the cinema, parallel to Chantal's, gave him the desire to work there - as the projectionist.
Business was a success. They felt like the movie stars they were selling. Then one day, cinematic influence slowly but surely eroded and the inevitable introduction of cheaper alternatives meant the end of a golden era. Jordan's haunting memories of yesteryear, his family pride and tradition and fall from grace had a suffocating affect on him.
If you loved this movie as much as I then it is absolutely essential for you to watch "Cinema Paradiso" side by side with "Splendor". They were remarkably released the same year and share so many similarities in theme, narrative and love for cinema. They are both amongst the greatest films I've ever seen because they are infused with so much love, life, character and happiness - qualities rare in contemporary cinema.
"Splendor" is so respectful to its subject matter and classic Hollywood (when film was everything) that the final few minutes will have you cheering with a grand reference to one of the greatest films of all time. A truly wonderful film that portrays the evolution of the medium poignantly. A repetitious piano tune playing without pause throughout gives the feeling that cinema exists everywhere, outside the borders of the theater. It's simplicity is its genius, adding so much ambiance to the story. If the black and white cinematography confuses you, note: think of it as symbolizing the fusion of old (black and white) with the new (color) regardless of what time frame it is, because in my interpretation, Ettore Scola meant 'film' to be timeless!
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