THE KISSING MONTAGE

PAUL RUDD on CINEMA PARADISO

When I was in my first year in acting school, I went to a matinée of Cinema Paradiso. There were only a few people in the theatre, but when Salvatore (Jacques Perrin) watches all the spliced kissing footage that Alfredo (Philippe Noiret) left him, I was a wreck. It was like getting hit by a bolt of lightning. My chest hurt. As hard as it was to hear the other sniffles above my own, I did. Everyone was a mess.