The love theme the son wrote
Cinema Paradiso (1988) · Ennio Morricone and Andrea Morricone
Cinema Paradiso is the story of Salvatore, a boy from a Sicilian village who falls in love with cinema thanks to Alfredo, the projectionist. It was Giuseppe Tornatore's first film with Ennio Morricone, the start of a partnership that lasted for years. And it was a family affair: Morricone wrote the music with his son Andrea.
The score revolves around a few themes that keep returning with small variations. The cinema theme opens and closes the soundtrack and comes back for both visits to the picture house, as if the Paradiso itself had its own tune.
The love theme, the most famous of all, is by Andrea Morricone. It is tied to the final scene of the kisses the priest had ordered cut and that Alfredo kept for Salvatore, one of the best-remembered endings in film. "Maturità", for the teenage Salvatore, moves in the same orbit.
The score won the David di Donatello for best music in 1989 and the BAFTA in 1991, the latter shared by Ennio and Andrea. The film itself took the Oscar for best foreign language film.