Le facteur

Mario takes up the job of postman on a small Italian island. The island has a new resident, the famed exiled Chilean poet Pablo Neruda, and he is receiving heaps of mail (mostly from women, to Mario's fascination). Mario strikes up a friendship with Neruda, who helps the not-overly-literate Mario develop his writing skills and appreciate poetry and prose. Then Mario meets a beautiful woman in the village and his new-found poetic skills are put to the test.

Great film. Wonderfully warm and charming, with a mellow style that is very engaging. Sweet plot that develops at just the right pace. The discussions between Neruda and Mario are a wonderful insight into creativity and how art is formed. The way Mario develops his creative side is also great to witness.

It does falter a bit in the third quarter or so. A certain point, about halfway through the movie, felt like a natural ending to the movie so it was difficult for the writers to develop the plot from such a high. Not that it was dull from that point on, it just didn't have quite the same ability to enthral. The ending is quite emotional though.

Great performances all round, especially by Massimo Troisi as Mario. He would go on to get a Best Leading Actor Oscar nomination for his efforts. Troisi also co-wrote the film and received a Best Adapted Screenplay nomination. Sadly, he never saw the fruits of his labours as he died of a heart attack 12 hours after filming ended.

All in all Il Postino received 5 nominations at the 1996 Oscars, including for Best Picture and Best Director, and ended up winning one, for best score.

A beautiful movie that does an excellent job bringing to life Neruda's love poems and how they touch the life of a simpleton postman. It inspires in one, a spiritual and sensual love for poetry. The music is intricately woven into the fabric of the story, and is surely a high point in the movie. Great cinematography, matched frame by frame with the splendid acting, especially that of Massimo Troisi and Philippe Noiret. Watch this movie if you are disillusioned with the notion of romance, and need some succour.

The movie once again reinforces my admiration for the Italian film-makers. What amazes me is their simplicity in relating a tale, and how subtly pathos is displayed in their movies. This is also evidenced in "Life is Beautiful" and "The Bicycle Thief".

Lyrical, moving and beautifully photographed gentle comedy in which an exiled Chilean poet inspires his Italian postman to woo and marry a local girl. Massimo Troisi gives a wonderfully contained performance as the postman who learns to see the beauty in poetry and his home on an Italian island. Philippe Noiret plays the poet Pablo Neruda with the usual assuredness. It is difficult not to be moved by the simple beauty of the film.

'Il Postino' is a love story between men. There's something poetic about that, in this movie about love & poetry. Neither of them is gay, mind you. In fact, a ravishing beauty (Maria Grazia Cucinotta) is the object of the title character's affection. Still, this movie belongs to Philippe Noiret and the Oscar-nominated Massimo Troisi. Noiret is a Chilean poet, exiled in Italy for his communist leanings. Troisi is the postman, a man going nowhere who comes to idolize this intelligent poet. They become friends and Noiret essentially Cyranos Troisi into Cucinotta's ample heart.

I didn't find the entire film to be heart-rending, but the final scenes add deep resonance to the material. My eyebrows were raised when the movie ended and there was a "For Massimo" credit. Troisi died less than a day after they finished shooting. It seems fitting that the end of the film is bittersweet because the cast & crew had been working with a dying man who wanted nothing more than to finish this final project. 'Il Postino' ended up grossing a boatload of money, so his subtle performance clearly struck a chord with audiences.

Troisi got all the press for his fine work, but Noiret is certainly his equal. Director Michael Radford does well to stay out of their way. I like how he didn't sentimentalize the Troisi/Cucinotta relationship. He's infatuated with her, but that diminishes a bit once he gets her. They're a fair representation of a real couple who were brought together for what might have been the wrong reasons. In fact, the film is filled with surprises. It's a quiet character study, but all the players in 'Il Postino' go through earth-shaking changes of personal proportions. And the Noiret/Troisi friendship is right at the heart of the matter.

A sweet, gentle film about a quiet postman who discovers the power of poetry in winning the heart of his true love.

Massimo Troisi gives a warm, wonderful performance as said postman, while Phillipe Noiret plays the poet Pablo Neruda. The setting, a sleepy Italian village, gives the film a cozy atmosphere, and it's got a lovely score to match.

One of the rare foreign-language films to be nominated for a Best Picture Academy Award, it lost to the thunderingly stupid "Braveheart." Mel Gibson could use a little poetry himself.

Grade: A