The Final Edit

The director's cut of Cinema Paradiso tells a different story from its theatrical release. How does our life story change depending on the editor? Will our life story have a final edit?

Top editors make films better. Often, the director’s cut is inferior to the cut for theatrical release, which is made by the film’s editor. In creating films, directors pull together all of a film’s individual pieces. But directors are typically less adept than editors in arranging those pieces.

Editors don’t just re-present a film’s story but actively shape it. They can’t choose what to add because they must take whatever pieces the director gives them. But they can rework what the director gives, omitting scenes, reframing context, determining transitions, and focusing the viewers’ attention here rather than there. 

Usually the editor’s cut and the director’s cut tell the same story. But not always. Consider the 1988 Italian film Cinema Paradiso, which won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. The 124-minute international version for theatrical release was a moving study in nostalgia, describing the young Salvatore’s love for the cinema and for the beautiful Elena.