In the film "Cinema Paradiso", Toto, the main character, is a lost child without a father to provide a male role model. The story begins after Toto is informed of the death of his dearest friend, Alfredo. At this point, Toto is a mature man and a successful film director, having long ago left his home town, Giancaldo. Throughout the movie, however, Toto is a young boy with little parental support and direction. The young Toto develops a friendship with Alfredo, the film projectionist at Giancaldo"s only cinema, the Cinema Paradiso. Alfredo takes Toto under his supervision and eventually agrees...
"Cinema Paradiso" is a lost child who requires the support and guidance of a father, the one thing missing in his life. Growing up in Giancaldo offered him a broad prospective on life and the world around it. With the direction given to him by Alfredo, Toto was able to come out of his young adulthood with knowledge and wits he would have never learned without him.

In the end, Alfredo wants Toto to leave Giancaldo in search of a "better" life. I think what Alfredo wants is what he never got, to explore life outside of his hometown.