With the current theatrical aversion to foreign-language films, would "Cinema Paradiso" have been a hit today? Sixteen years ago, Giuseppe Tornatore's romantic, melancholy memory movie about a boy sustained by movies and his friendship with a theater projectionist (Philippe Noiret) in World War II Italy was not only critically acclaimed, but also a commercial success. It helped create the adult audience that sustains art houses today.

The new special edition of "Cinema Paradiso" (Genius/ Weinstein) would seem definitive. It contains the version that became an international hit, as well as Tornatore's original cut, which was 50 minutes longer and a flop when it was released in Italy. In that version, the relationship of the adult Toto and his lost love, Lina, is finally resolved. The package includes a sentimental retrospective documentary, a Food network tribute with recipes and a CD of the original Ennio Morricone score.

Music is also central to one of the best French films of the '90s, "Un coeur en hiver," or "A Heart in Winter" (Koch Lorber). Director Claude Sautet's elegant, austere yet gripping 1993 drama is about a violinist (Emmanuelle Beart) who, while romantically involved with the co-owner (André Dussollier) of a violin repair shop, finds herself drawn to his emotionally repressed partner, played by Daniel Auteuil.

The violinist's favored composer is Ravel, and the trios and sonatas heard here are wiltingly beautiful, as is the film, which has been impeccably restored to its widescreen glory. Well-chosen extras include an excerpt from a documentary on Sautet, interviews and a perceptive four-page essay by French critic Michel Boujut.

British director Carol Reed's rarely seen 1948 adaptation of Graham Greene's short story "The Fallen Idol" takes a small sacrifice in the new DVD (Criterion Collection): size.

The visual design of the psychological thriller — about the lonely young son of a diplomat whose devotion to the fatherly embassy butler (Sir Ralph Richardson ) leaves him not knowing how to respond when the man is accused of an unthinkable crime — is equal to that of Reed's far better known adaptation of "The Third Man."

FAMILY PICK OF THE WEEK

The story of an arrogant race car (voice of Owen Wilson) who learns a few lessons when he gets waylaid in a small town off the highway isn't the strongest part of "Cars" (Disney). The latest family comedy from Pixar is so clever, so visually dazzling and inventive, and so customized with great car characters, that it hardly matters. It looks terrific in wide-screen and includes two Pixar shorts as well as an interview with big-kid creator John Lasseter.