I enjoyed the movie, beautifully shot and an interesting drama. However Rocco Ricciardulli was hopelessly mis-cast as the father of Riccardo Scamarcio. He didn't look like his son, he was far too young to be his father and was acting "too handsome" to be the sorrowful character he was supposed to be. In addition his wife looked more like his mother. So I checked the movie out on IMDB. Mystery solved. He co-wrote and directed the movie. Tip: don't cast yourself in a movie unless you fit the part.
27 Reviews
Sunday movie
faer_kr7 February 2021
An Italian drama based on real events.
Not a love story completely takes a turn in the middle of the movie.
It is about a married man whose mistress is the daughter of one of the lords of the town and the process of being discovered.
Quality.
The time spectacularly recreated.
Good performances.
Good effects on the few that are needed.
He talks about the almost authoritarians of the people, the abuse of power, the repressed rebellions, the revenge.
The only problem is that it has a good rhythm and after the middle it plummets and becomes slow and limp, making you lose interest at times.
With a rather bittersweet interpretive ending, since they make you understand other things.
Ideal to spend the afternoon.
Movie didn't know what it was supposed to be about
guyzradio10 February 2021
Warning: Spoilers
Based on the title and first few minutes of the film, "L'ultimo Paradiso" (The Last Paradiso) could have taken any number of interesting paths. I loved Cinema Paradiso... nope, L'ultimo was a different Paradiso. The photography and setting were reminiscent of parts of The Godfather, complete with a possible early Don Ciccio.... well, a prequel, it wasn't either. Neither did it develop as a struggle of olive growers against a repressive system, or a story of a blood feud as the Paradiso family seeks vengeance, nor any of a half dozen themes that are barely touch and then forgotten. And so it was for the next hour and a half, as the movie wandered from one potential story line to the next leaving a trail of unanswered questions, including an unlikely ending. I expected more, and kept hoping up to the credit roll. This was definitely not great Italian cinema.
Quite good movie
ombrettelabeauceronne13 March 2021
A movie good enough for open minded people we're able to find on Netflix these days. We find quality acting. The movie is sometimes brutal. Original storytelling based on a true story ? The end is really weird though.
Not Hollywood
parisdave31 July 2021
Very enjoyable movie, not Hollywood and the usual clichés we've become hooked on. Deserves better that 5.6 , I'd give it a 7.
Not a bundle of laughs , but we'll acted and directed and a believable story line. Give it a whirl !
Not a bundle of laughs , but we'll acted and directed and a believable story line. Give it a whirl !
Not bad neither good !!
m-schoina10 February 2021
Heaven or hell on earth
kosmasp14 August 2021
Wouldn't life be so much easier if we loved each other more? Not necessarily sexually speaking, but just plain have affection for each other, embrace each other instead of hate each other just because we are differnt or want something (similar).
But if that were the case you wouldn't have conflicts and some would say life would be boring. As is true for movies too of course. Imagine everyone hugging and kissing each other, instead of going at each others throats (literally and metaphorically speaking). Love can solve certain things, but also heighten others ... especially if it is considered "forbidden love" ... there is drama and fun here, but there is surprisingly enough also quite the amount of violence packed in here. I had no issues with it, but I imagine those only watching dramas may find it hard to stomach (no pun intended). Just be aware of it.
But if that were the case you wouldn't have conflicts and some would say life would be boring. As is true for movies too of course. Imagine everyone hugging and kissing each other, instead of going at each others throats (literally and metaphorically speaking). Love can solve certain things, but also heighten others ... especially if it is considered "forbidden love" ... there is drama and fun here, but there is surprisingly enough also quite the amount of violence packed in here. I had no issues with it, but I imagine those only watching dramas may find it hard to stomach (no pun intended). Just be aware of it.
You can try to stand on the shoulders of giants...
gcarpiceci6 February 2021
...but if you fall, you crash.
The Last Paradiso toys with some classics of the Italian neo realism, from Rossellini to Germi and De Sica but it's like playing with fire if you can't master the stuff. Young director Ricciardulli has taken up a task way above his skills and he gets it wrong on so many levels that it hurts: from a silly screenplay with carton-board dialogues to worn out clichés. But where he fails mostly is with the tone of voice of his movie, which swings randomly from tragic (in the crudely violent scenes of mafia) to sugary lighthearted (in the corny romance scenes) without finding a cohesive unity, and a good photography is not enough to save the day.
True love never dies
ulicknormanowen2 August 2021
Warning: Spoilers
A good chronicle of life in Italy of the fifties ; both lovers take a rebel stand :Ciccio fights for a better life ,seeing the bourgeois merchant making three times more money than him without lifting a finger ;he epitomizes social justice,hope for the future ;Bianca ,in her way ,is as revolutionary as he is: to be an adultress at a time and at a place women were born to be mothers and housewives is certainly daring.
Making his hero disappear halfway through the movie may puzzle the viewer ; the flashbacks are astute and sometimes look supernatural .
On the other hand ,Charles Trénet's " que reste-t-il de nos amours?" does not fit the movie: if you understand the words ,it's too French to be included in an Italian movie."Les p'tits villages français " do not look like the Italian ones.
Making his hero disappear halfway through the movie may puzzle the viewer ; the flashbacks are astute and sometimes look supernatural .
On the other hand ,Charles Trénet's " que reste-t-il de nos amours?" does not fit the movie: if you understand the words ,it's too French to be included in an Italian movie."Les p'tits villages français " do not look like the Italian ones.
Boring
nikitovicedvard12 February 2021
A very beautiful movie
ematerso15 February 2021
Warning: Spoilers
This is one of the best movies I have seen on Netlfix. Somewhat reminiscent of "The Golden door" "The leopard" gorgeous camera work, slow pace, too intelligent maybe for most streaming audiences. It has some violence, it lacks clear intent in parts. The acting was suburb, the closeness of the villagers and the families was impressive and very well shown. The acting was first rate. The very final part was not suited to what had come before and seemed rather misplaced, but overall I would be very pleased if Netflix and others had more movies of this calibre.
Those Italians...
brockfal24 June 2022
Hot passions and family rivalries in the poor regions of 1950s Sicily or Southern Italy are the themes here. The film has great production values , looks beautiful, the period is evoked well, and the drama ('based on real events') absorbs just enough for a satisfying two hours or so, it just isn't anything more than satisfactory.
An average drama of forbidden love that seems quite pointless
ernesti7 February 2021
Perfect music choices, high production values, sets and skillful actors in an otherwise average drama that appears to miss its point. The main character being somewhat of an antihero doesn't get much sympathy from me either. The premature plot twist too early makes the end of the film quite uninteresting and almost pointless. It may be the way the film was cut, or it's just as it is, a story that does well on a novel but not on a film.
It certainly has the look and feel of the old italian films in general and that gave a very positive vibe to me. It's not a new masterpiece though.
It certainly has the look and feel of the old italian films in general and that gave a very positive vibe to me. It's not a new masterpiece though.
To be honest, it was boring
provita-111427 February 2021
I enjoy the scenery, oh yes, for a dried desert it was quite beautiful, but for the story? Oh damn, it was boring. I knew it was going to be boring from watching the trailer but it's REAL boring. Modern Italian films aren't great anymore. I recently watched Two Women (La ciociara) and it was pretty good, which is currently free on Vudu or Prime Video btw, and I noticed something. I think the reason why Modern Italian films aren't good anymore because the films are basically GQ photoshoots... They look good, but there is no story.
Beautiful but it could have gone a little deeper
robyndrugermanese15 July 2021
Warning: Spoilers
I watched it in two parts as I fell asleep half way through.
I love the setting, acting, cinematography, costume, however the script and the plot are a little dull to me.
This film perpetuates the chauvinistic stereotypes of Italian men (for a 2021 film can't we write something better?!) The main actor although a good one , I couldn't stand his swagger and cold attitude towards his family and women. We are given very little in terms of his psychology as to why he is the way he is.
A beautiful and dreamy film but I couldn't stand the shallowness of its main characters.
The end has me confused on so many levels. She seems desperate and dumb and he seems like he is fulfilling an obligation of some sort. I also felt like the director was trying to make us think that one brother passed souls onto the other one!!! Am I the only one that felt. Truly confused. Please explain.
I love the setting, acting, cinematography, costume, however the script and the plot are a little dull to me.
This film perpetuates the chauvinistic stereotypes of Italian men (for a 2021 film can't we write something better?!) The main actor although a good one , I couldn't stand his swagger and cold attitude towards his family and women. We are given very little in terms of his psychology as to why he is the way he is.
A beautiful and dreamy film but I couldn't stand the shallowness of its main characters.
The end has me confused on so many levels. She seems desperate and dumb and he seems like he is fulfilling an obligation of some sort. I also felt like the director was trying to make us think that one brother passed souls onto the other one!!! Am I the only one that felt. Truly confused. Please explain.
It was worse than I expected.
aggelousia2 March 2021
I thought that it was a classic romantic movie in Italy. The first half of this movie was good but not wow. Then it became a very deep dramatic movie and the end was unpredictable but stupid. I didn't like the whole messenge. I don't suggest seeing this. It's a waste of time.
So true, it hurts....
conniegallo21 February 2021
Watching this film made me feel what my father must have witnessed as an 8/9 yr old in Calabria. And l can confirm that this was as accurate as it can be, l know this because l was told as a young woman from the horse's mouth as they say. Young women being preyed just because they were poor and desperate.
Two of these women were family members of mine. One being my grandmother, my father's mother and the other my Aunt my mother's sister both, bore children from it!
The Italians suffered badly at the hands of greedy land owners and of course the Mafia! And to think these were the 50s not the dark ages. It makes me sad and angry to sit and watch what my father had to witness and many others the sufferance they had to endure.
Even though l had to watch this alone with my own feelings and thoughts, a good illustration of the times in southern Italy. The end was a bit fuzzy but l suppose With all the sufferance, they wanted to sugarcoat a bit with a happy ending. Concetta Gallo
Two of these women were family members of mine. One being my grandmother, my father's mother and the other my Aunt my mother's sister both, bore children from it!
The Italians suffered badly at the hands of greedy land owners and of course the Mafia! And to think these were the 50s not the dark ages. It makes me sad and angry to sit and watch what my father had to witness and many others the sufferance they had to endure.
Even though l had to watch this alone with my own feelings and thoughts, a good illustration of the times in southern Italy. The end was a bit fuzzy but l suppose With all the sufferance, they wanted to sugarcoat a bit with a happy ending. Concetta Gallo
Ultimately boring
geewhiz4611 January 2023
The first half seemed promising. A married but promiscuous village man falls in love with the local crime bosses daughter. The crime boss is a rapist of fifteen year old girls but expects his daughters to be paragons of virtue.
There is an unconvincing attempt to add a social issue with one of the landowners cheating the villagers. But that soon peters out and it's back to the lovers.
I had no sympathy for Ciccio - he got what he deserved in my opinion.
The second half of the film dealt with Ciccio's brother returning to the village - and it was all downhill from there. He spent a lot of time looking serious and walking around.
The ending was typical art house - incomprehensible and utterly pretentious and stupid.
An insult to anybody's intelligence. Mysterious does not equal marvelous.
Avoid.
There is an unconvincing attempt to add a social issue with one of the landowners cheating the villagers. But that soon peters out and it's back to the lovers.
I had no sympathy for Ciccio - he got what he deserved in my opinion.
The second half of the film dealt with Ciccio's brother returning to the village - and it was all downhill from there. He spent a lot of time looking serious and walking around.
The ending was typical art house - incomprehensible and utterly pretentious and stupid.
An insult to anybody's intelligence. Mysterious does not equal marvelous.
Avoid.
A really terrible movie
rdoyle2917 April 2023
In rural 1950's Italy, Riccardo Scamarcio kind of borrows part of the plot of "La Terra Trema" (with olives replacing fish) while having constant affairs despite having a wife and child. The main woman he's sleeping with is Gaia Bermani Amaral, the daughter of Olive Baron Antonio Gerardi.
This is a terrible movie that has GENERIC ARTHOUSE PLOT #43 with sluggish pacing and pretty rural Italian countryside footage culminating in a fairly shocking twist halfway through. What happens after that is seemingly unintentional comedy involving a prominent moustache and a really confusing plot.
Even though you can watch it for free ... don't.
This is a terrible movie that has GENERIC ARTHOUSE PLOT #43 with sluggish pacing and pretty rural Italian countryside footage culminating in a fairly shocking twist halfway through. What happens after that is seemingly unintentional comedy involving a prominent moustache and a really confusing plot.
Even though you can watch it for free ... don't.
Riccardo Scamarcio
yusufpiskin7 February 2021
Netflix should be appreciated. They embraced a movie that is not for everyone. First of all, I think the movie got me in because I am Turkish. Because villagers, olives, agha order ... Everything is very familiar. Riccardo Scamarcio has done a great job. He believed in what he did. Deserves the award as a script or acting or producer. I wish I bought it even though it was Blu-ray edition.
Wildly misunderstood, but that's to be expected.
davidgoodfellowpicassa24 November 2021
Warning: Spoilers
Italy has become, especially for Americans, "Italy" - a place of romantic dark cypress trees and dream weddings in Tuscan villas (restored by other Americans). This film, with its title a parody of 'Cinema Paradiso', aims to correct that, and show exactly why so many Italians, mainly from the south, couldn't wait to escape in the 1950s to America, Canada, Australia - anywhere but the grinding poverty, exploitation and cruelty of those picturesque hill villages (Paradise indeed!). Filmed in Gravina in Puglia, exactly such a hill-town, outside Bari, the filmmaker even gives a nod to its history as a wheat mother-lode for everyone from the Romans to the Normans.
The plot (yes, there is an excellent one, despite some of the reviews) deals with the struggle between the pull of home and the urge to escape; rebellion against exploitative landowners and the local mafioso Dons; and love as a salve and a trap. One brother escapes, the other remains, but defiantly falls in love with the Dons daughter while dreaming of escape - for which he pays the ultimate price. The escaped brother - whose modern life in Trieste is nicely contrasted with the poverty of his roots - is drawn back by those very roots. Beautifully filmed and acted - even the dubbing is pretty good!
As for the ending, yes, it is the reason I only gave a 9, but I respect what I take to be the intent. We are asked, I think, "So, after all this, you think you need a happy ending? Well, here it is", a fairy-tale parody of the cliché romantic finale, where one brother sacrifices himself for the dream of the other. Fortunately it was a choice rejected by the millions who fled the south, and found new homes, leaving deserted villages, true, but finding better lives, I hope. Pity we don't welcome today's refugees from similar poverty with the same open arms as so many countries once did! This film is enough to make me think Netflix might actually have a future in cinema.
The plot (yes, there is an excellent one, despite some of the reviews) deals with the struggle between the pull of home and the urge to escape; rebellion against exploitative landowners and the local mafioso Dons; and love as a salve and a trap. One brother escapes, the other remains, but defiantly falls in love with the Dons daughter while dreaming of escape - for which he pays the ultimate price. The escaped brother - whose modern life in Trieste is nicely contrasted with the poverty of his roots - is drawn back by those very roots. Beautifully filmed and acted - even the dubbing is pretty good!
As for the ending, yes, it is the reason I only gave a 9, but I respect what I take to be the intent. We are asked, I think, "So, after all this, you think you need a happy ending? Well, here it is", a fairy-tale parody of the cliché romantic finale, where one brother sacrifices himself for the dream of the other. Fortunately it was a choice rejected by the millions who fled the south, and found new homes, leaving deserted villages, true, but finding better lives, I hope. Pity we don't welcome today's refugees from similar poverty with the same open arms as so many countries once did! This film is enough to make me think Netflix might actually have a future in cinema.
A beautiful and emotional movie
elisabeth-santana28 February 2021
Warning: Spoilers
The movie exceed my own expectations. It's beautiful, sensitive and different from everything I have watched. I really enjoyed. Got caught in the emotional scenes, dramatic and sad moments. Got angry with the character and along with them.
It can bring tears.Well, it did on me...
I was a little confused by the ending. Am I the only one?
(SPOILERS ALERT)
Antonio was trying to fix his own mistakes after murdering Biancas's family men or being guided by Ciccio spirit to came back and marry her? It doesn't explain if the both brothers were close before. Were they trying to imply some twin connection? Neither tells if Bianca and Antonio had a previous relationship, besides Maria being his long lost half sister. Was his actions only remorse for leaving the family?
(SPOILERS ALERT)
Antonio was trying to fix his own mistakes after murdering Biancas's family men or being guided by Ciccio spirit to came back and marry her? It doesn't explain if the both brothers were close before. Were they trying to imply some twin connection? Neither tells if Bianca and Antonio had a previous relationship, besides Maria being his long lost half sister. Was his actions only remorse for leaving the family?
Awesome
zero-705-64615511 March 2021
Simple story well told
azddhmhgv2 March 2021
Cracking film with a wonderful cadence. This is not a film for everyone, judging by some of the negative reviews. This won't appeal to tiny minds and empty souls who may harbour a fondness for 'movies' with 'Avengers' somewhere in the title.
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