Wordiezett So much average

Plustown A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

Hayden Kane There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

Anoushka Slater While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

SimonJack This is a funny, heart-warming and endearing story. "Il Postino: The Postman" is based on a 1985 novel, "Ardent Patience," by Antonio Skarmeta. The book is a fictional story set in a small fishing village on the Isle of Capri. It takes places during a period in 1952 during which Pablo Neruda was a resident of the village. Neruda was a Chilean poet and communist politician traveling Europe and Asia and living in exile. The house he lived in on Capri was owned by Italian historian Edwin Cerio. The setting and scenery in this film are exquisite. It's an Italian-made movie that has something of an international cast and crew. English director and screenwriter Michael Radford directed the film. All of the cast are superb. The leading male star is Italian comedian and actor Massimo Troisi as the postman, Mario Ruoppolo. The leading male co-star is French actor Philippe Noiret who plays Pablo Neruda. Noiret has a striking physical resemblance to Neruda. Italian Maria Cucinotta plays the main female lead, Beatrice Russo. Anna Bonaiuto plays Matilde. The movie implies that she is Neruda's wife, but in real life at that time, she was his mistress. Neruda's wife was still in Chile where she tried, successfully, to have the arrest warrant against her husband lifted. Matilde would become Neruda's third wife a few years later. The film was released in Italy in September 1994, and in the U.S. in a limited release of June 1995, and then general release in March 1996. It was nominated for five Academy Awards in 1996, including Best Picture, and won the Oscar for Best Music in an original dramatic score. Troisi, who had suffered with heart problems since childhood, died the day after the filming was finished. He was just 41 years old. He received posthumous nominations for Academy Awards as best actor and for best writing based on a previous publication. The main plot of the story is a simple one, in which the hero asks the poet to sign a book so that he can impress the girls in Naples. That soon narrows to wanting to learn to be a poet so that he can woo the girl he loves in the village. A couple of subplots are involved, and the two men soon become friends, like father and son, teacher and pupil. Some of the political life of the time and place enter the picture, and Neruda's communism is something that Mario embraces as well. A documentary short came with my DVD of this film. It has more background on the movie and on the poetry and life of Neruda. Other reviews describe more of the plot. All the sources seem just to touch the edge of Neruda's communism, which was as important to him as was his poetry. Since they give very little on his political background, I thought some viewers might find that interesting. Neruda was writing poetry at the age of 10 and his first book was published when he was just 20 years old, in 1924. "20 Poems of Love and a Song of Despair" established him as romantic poet whose popularity soon spread beyond the realm of Spanish literature. His many other works were about objects, nature and politics, but his largest following was among women and those who enjoyed romantic literature. He soon became an ardent communist and a literary and public speaking champion of communism. He held diplomatic positions for Chile, and served in the Chilean Senate. In 1971, he received the Nobel Prize for Literature. Neruda was no fan of democracies and he wasn't popular among nations with governments founded as republics. He had praised the Stalin dictatorship of the Soviet Union. He supported the Cuban revolution under Fidel Castro. After Che Guevara, the communist terrorist and guerrilla leader was killed in Bolivia in 1967, Neruda wrote articles that praised him for a life of heroism. And, he loudly denounced the U. S. during the October 1962 Cuban missile crisis Of course, of these, only Stalin's dictatorship had happened before the 1952 setting on Capri that this film is about. Still, one would have to wonder how Neruda (and many others) could turn a blind eye to the great depression of 1932-33 in the Soviet Union. Stalin created it to wipe out the peasantry of the Ukraine, and it claimed about nine million lives. But, with the desire of the filmmakers to celebrate poetry with this romantic story, it's understandable that the producers wanted to keep this on a lighter plain. There is a sad note toward the end, but this is a movie that most people should enjoy. Youth audiences of today should be alerted to expect a slower pace than what they have become used to. Here are a couple of my favorite lines from this film. Mario, "Poetry does not belong to those who write it, but to those who need it."Postmaster (Orazio Stracuzzi), "Even the women are interested in politics in Chile."Mario, "I'll only ask him to sign this book. That's all, so when I get paid I'll go to Naples and show all the girls that I'm a friend of Neruda, the poet of love." Postmaster, "The poet of the people."

SnoopyStyle Mario Ruoppolo is uneducated and tired of being a fisherman. He picks up a job as the extra postman to deliver mail to famous Chilean poet Pablo Neruda. He has just been exiled to the island with his wife. He is interested in the amount of mail from women and hounds Pablo to teach him to write poetry. He falls for the sexy Beatrice Russo and enlists Neruda's help.Am I the only one who found Mario creepy? He's suppose to be the lovable loser but I found him stalkery. I wish Massimo Troisi had more childlike innocence quality about him. I'm sorry to see he died soon after but he looked gaunt. He does grow on me a little and after awhile, I realize he wasn't going to turn into a serial killer. The second half has some interesting poignant moments. It has a quiet charm and a powerful turn at the end.

edantheman The Chilean poet and communist agitator Pablo Neruda may never have set foot on the island of Salina in 1950, but writer-actor Mariamo Troisi's exploration of the idea is probably more interesting than any account of his actual exiles abroad. The eponymous postman of the film, Mario, has never taken to the patrilineal profession of fishing in his family. His widower father understands he never will and releases his seemingly simple son from his duties, to choose an occupation more suited to his abilities. In town, the communist postmaster needs a hand with the flurry of fan mail in the wake of Neruda and his wife's arrival. He greatly admires the Bolivarian bard and has his new postman run reconnaissance and procure signatures from him. Though their early exchanges may be of little significance, the two very different men of letters soon form a bond through a series of exchanges on poetry, love and politics. When Mario first meets barmaid Beatrice Russo over a game of table football, he instantly falls in love. He is inspired by his mentor to write her love poems, many of which he plagiarizes, and soon wins her heart. Michael Radford's surname may seem a little consonant-heavy for a production of this origin but the writer-director's English eye can only be clearly detected in the humour of the pacey, racy table football scene; which a native or continental director may have shot a little more seductively. It is really Troisi who leaves his indelible print on the film, which would be his last (dying tragically the day after production wrapped). The actor's physical frailty comes across as his character's mumbling humility. When beautiful Maria Grazia Cucinotta falls for his charms (or lack thereof), no one would seem more deserving a husband than he, and it is immensely gratifying to see his son Pablito stumble onto screen at the end. Phillipe Noiret also evokes much feeling in the last scene, imagining his friend's great yet fatal agitation for change, while walking their familiar beach. We get the feeling they may have liberated one another.'Il Postino' is very much a film that flows like poetry. There is no solid structure as prescribed by the script doctors of the time. No stakes and little drama. When our lovable protagonist dies at the end, it is not played for tears of devastation. I felt quiet elation: he had finally found his voice and could speak up for his people at the rally. He asks Neruda earlier in the film a question regarding the writer's revolutionary ideals, "So what if we break off our chains? What do we do then?" He obviously has an answer to that question by the end, which is satisfaction enough. In another exchange, when Mario's plagiarism is discovered by Pablo, he counters "Poetry doesn't belong to those who write it; it belongs to those who need it." This strikes one as quite humorous in the context of the scene but when recalled or read alone it signifies the point at which Mario has cast the chains off his mind. Sadly the distributors do not live by this dictum, and intellectual copyright law prevails online and elsewhere.While it may be a fictional account, the film is very much a celebration of the actual effect Neruda's poetry had on many of the working people of the world. Not so much a tribute to him, but to the millions of postini worldwide who have been delivered and a rallying call for all those who have yet to be.

Chrysanthepop 'Il Postino' is one of the most authentic love stories on screen. Set in a beautiful exotic Italian island, director Radford tells the story of a poet and a postman. Poetry brings them together and poetry is what creates a strong bond between them. I loved how the story is treated with such sincerity. Radford cleverly avoids clichés and keeps the movie pure. 'Il Postino' is an incredibly romantic film and yet it doesn't appear syrupy or corny, a risk most films of this genre run into. Radford avoids showing the romance between Beatrice and Mario under an overtly sentimental light. He captures the landscape marvelously through first-rate camera-work. The soundtrack too is one of the most romantic ones I have ever heard and it beautifully supports the movie like scent does to flowers. Philippe Noiret brings wisdom and compassion as poet Pablo Neruda. Maria Grazia Cucinotta sizzles on screen with a natural sex appeal. But, 'Il Postino' belongs to the late Massimo Troisi who delivers a memorable final performance. It is indeed very sad that he died just twelve hours after completing shooting but I admire his courage and passion to go on making this film. The end of the film also echoes the departures of this fine actor. Neruda's poetry is also wonderfully utilized within the story giving the film a poetic rhythm. This movie should be shown in poetry class. 'Il Postino' is one of the finest of its genre, a classic lyrical gem.