Il Postino

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Am I the Only One??
that thinks that many of these acclaimed Foreign films, and especially, the Italian films ( I am Italian myself ) are dull and plodding?? They take the most small and trivial of situations and then labor through it for 2 hours. In this case, IL POSTINO, my feeling is that it looked like it had to be chop edited to make a certain amount of running time. There were many jump points that bore inconsistency. the lead girl couldn't be less interested in the main character, or men, in general, however, several scenes later , she is seductively rolling a plastic ball in her mouth. The Aunt or matron or whatever she was, of the lead girl, is ready to shoot the suitor with a shotgun, but then, after he whisks her off for an elopement style marriage, we see no repercussions whatsoever, in fact, he is now a worker in the small cafe of the angry matron. Blink your eyes, and there is a grown up son walking around.....blink once more, and a completely tragic event occurs off screen without any sort of buildup whatsoever. Minutes after finishing that movie, I was scanning movie channels on cable, and happened upon Forrest Gump, and then, hypnotically glued to this movie, in spite of the fact that I had seen it so many times before, and after yet another great cry at the ending, I said to myself: THIS is beauty and THIS is profoundness....... sorry: in my humble opinion, many of these foreign films and especially this one, don't quite compare.

Much more than it first appears.
I like films that offer more than just a story. Il Postino can be enjoyed on a number of levels. It's about opening up to beauty, and appreciating it. A simple man 1) wins the heart of a beautiful woman, 2) develops a love for the beauty in poetry, 3) discovers the natural beauty of his island, 4) becomes a wiser and more perceptive person. I expect I will discover more the next time I watch it.

Poignant and nostalgic film
Il postino is the film adaption from the novel of Chilean author Antonio Skármeta. the Basic plot is almost identical. Apart from the fact that in the movie Mario is 30 year old Italian rather than 18 year old Chilean boy who worships Nobel lauterate poet Pablo Neruda. Due to the change of background, the movie is almost non-political in comparison to the novel that describs the advent of horrible dictatorship of Pinochet. Although there are a couple scenes that remotely criticize allegedly right wing politician, who call D'Annunzio as "His Poet", as well as huge communist demonstraion scene in the end that beautifully potrayed in Black and White. Since Mario doesn't want to follow his father's vocation as fisherman, he spends most of his time doing practically nothing. It was late 40s or early 50s in southern Italy where unemployment rate was higher than the rest of Europe ,thus most able young men tended to leave their hometown for either to Turin ,Milan, Germany or the United States.By chance, Mario obtains the position as a postman in a local post office . In truth , it's special type of postman who exclusively delivers mail for the sake of world famous poet Pablo Neruda who recently exiles in Italy. At first , Mario seems to be interested in the sobriquet of Pablo Neruda "Poet of Love and Women",however , a bit by bit thorugh contacting Pablo Neruda , Mario begins to change and opens his eyes to the power of poem and the world he could not see. The slow change is portrayed so naturally by late actor Massimo Troisi. Some will say his acting is slightly passive.But it's his style; a bit mumbling , hesitating , stammering as if he ie a bit mentally challenged.As many people pointed out it is not a romantic comedy,but it was heart warming movie that show how friendship and poem can change a person who otherwise remains passive and never try to change his life. Yes, Poem is his savior. The last scene (demonstration scene) was truly poignant and resounding.

Excellent Foreign Film
IF you like foreign films then you may find that sometimes they can be hit or miss. This whimsical film will not disappoint. It truly does belong in the collectors series and should be owned by all who treasure excellent foreign films.

Exquisite movie
I love this movie. I love it from beginning to end. Pablo Neruda, a very famous Chilean Poet is the center of the movie and he creates an amazing environment. GREAT MOVIE, GREAT ACTORS AND GREAT PHOTOGRAPHY