Il Postino
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| Il Postino | |
 original movie poster |
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| Directed by | Michael Radford |
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| Produced by | Mario Cecchi Gori Vittorio Cecchi Gori Gaetano Daniele |
| Starring | Philippe Noiret Massimo Troisi Maria Grazia Cucinotta |
| Music by | Luis Enríquez Bacalov |
| Release date(s) |  1 September 1994 (premiere at VFF) 22 September 1994 14 June 1995 20 October 1995 16 November 1995 |
| Running time | 108 min |
| Language | Italian/Spanish |
Il Postino is a 1994 Italian language film directed by Michael Radford. The film was originally released in the U.S. as The Postman, a straight translation of the Italian title.[1] However, since the release of Kevin Costner's film of the same name, the film has been released on DVD as Il Postino: The Postman, and English-language film critics often refer to the film by its Italian title alone.
The film tells a fictional story in which the real life Chilean poet Pablo Neruda forms a relationship with a simple postman who learns to love poetry. It stars Philippe Noiret, Massimo Troisi and Maria Grazia Cucinotta. The screenplay was adapted by Anna Pavignano, Michael Radford, Furio Scarpelli, Giacomo Scarpelli and Massimo Troisi from the novel Ardiente paciencia by Antonio Skármeta. Skármeta himself had previously adapted his novel for the screen in 1985 as Ardiente paciencia.
Writer/star Massimo Troisi postponed heart surgery so that he could complete the film. The day after filming was completed, he suffered a fatal heart attack.
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[edit] Setting
Whereas the novel and the 1983 film were set in Chile, with Neruda living in his home at Isla Negra around 1970, Il Postino moves the setting to Italy in about 1950. The film is set and was partially filmed on the island of Salina, of the volcanic Aeolian Island chain off the north coast of Sicily. One unfortunate victim of the film's popularity has been Pollara Beach on the island, which has suffered erosion from motorboats and vandalism from tourists since the film was produced [2].
[edit] Plot
Mario Ruoppolo is a young man living in an insular Italian fishing village, on an island where time moves slowly. Mario has an aversion to his father's trade of fishing, so instead takes the job of postman. He delivers mail on a bicycle to only a single customer, the famous Chilean poet Pablo Neruda; Neruda has been exiled to Italy because of his communist views. Mario develops an interest in poetry, and after a while, the two become good friends. In the meantime, Mario meets a beautiful young lady, Beatrice Russo, in the village's only cafe. With the help of Neruda, Mario is able to better communicate his love to her through the use of metaphors. Mario and Beatrice are later married, and at the same time Neruda and his wife learn that they are allowed to return to Chile. Some months after Neruda's departure and subsequent lack of contact, Mario makes a nostalgic recording of island sounds for Neruda, including the heartbeat of his unborn son. Several years after, Neruda comes back to the island as a tourist and finds Beatrice and her son in the same old cafe. She tells him that Mario had been killed just before the birth of his son, at a communist rally in Naples. He was selected to read his poetry (dedicated to Neruda) for the crowd, but police stormed the rally before he could reach the stage. Beatrice gives Neruda the recordings of island sounds, which also record the sounds of Mario's death at the rally.
[edit] Soundtrack
In 1994 to promote the movie, Miramax published "The Postman (Il Postino): Music From The Miramax Motion Picture", which besides the film's score, composed by Luis Enríquez Bacalov, includes Neruda's poems recited by Sting, Miranda Richardson, Wesley Snipes, Ralph Fiennes, Ethan Hawke, Rufus Sewell, Glenn Close, Samuel L. Jackson, Andy Garcia, Willem Dafoe, Madonna, Vincent Perez, and Julia Roberts.
[edit] Awards
The film won the BAFTA Award for Best Film Not in the English Language. The film's score, composed by Luis Enríquez Bacalov, won the Academy Award for Original Music Score. The film was also nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role (Massimo Troisi), Best Director, Best Picture and Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium.
[edit] Notes
- ^ The official Academy Awards database refers to it as The Postman (Il Postino) [1], and a poster with the title The Postman is reproduced in its IMDb profile.[2]
- ^ Tourists threaten Il Postino beach [3]
[edit] External links
| Preceded by To Live |
BAFTA Award for Best Film Not in the English Language 1997 |
Succeeded by Ridicule |
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