Il Postino (=The Postman) tells about the friendship between a humble postman and a celebrated poet. The story is set in Sicily, in the early 50's.It was the first time I saw Massimo Troisi, who plays Mario, the postman. Mario is not a bright man, but he wants a better future. All around him, everyone is a fisherman. However, Mario doesn't want to be a fisherman. When a local post office looks for a new postman to deliver mails to Pablo Neruda, a Chilean poet who is in exile (played by the wonderful Philippe Noiret), Mario grabs the chance. At first he only wants his signature, but when Neruda is good enough to explain to him what metaphor means, Mario then begins to learn how to use metaphors to win the heart of the village's beauty: Beatrice Russo.
The movie is rather slow, but the music and dialogues are beautiful. I am a bit disappointed with the quality of the DVD because I saw some scratches and black spots here and there, and this movie was only made in 1994! I heard that Massimo Troisi died soon after finishing the shooting. He was so convincing as Mario that I thought they must have cast a real simple Sicilian man.
1 comment:
Beautiful movie! It is based on the book of Antonio Skármeta, Chilean writer. The book, of supreme beauty in his history, passes in Chile, in the epoch of the dictatorship and Allende's overthrow (year 76). Neruda never trod On Italy. Anyhow, it is a case in which the movie parts with the original history without stopping being wonderful. Massimo died of a heart attack a little time after rolling the movie, you right.
Post a Comment