Une ardente patience

A romantic Netflix film based on a book by Antonio Skármeta. It tells the story of Mario, a young postman who delivers mail to the famous local Chilean poet, Pablo Neruda, and falls in love with a waitress named Clarita. They are separated by her mother, who disapproves of their relationship, but they keep writing poems to each other. Mario is surprised to find out that Clarita is also knowledgeable about Neruda and catches him plagiarizing some of his verses. But they eventually make up and get married. The film has nice scenery of the Chilean coast, but it is somewhat simplistic and predictable.

Loosely based on Antonio Skármeta's novel "Neruda's Postsman," Ardiente Paciencia is set gently against a backdrop of political uprising in Chile in the late 1960s. The stunningly photographed art house film transports the viewer into an idealist world of young love as experienced by a former fisherman-turned-bicycle-delivery-man for the great poet and political exile Pablo Neruda in his days living on Isla Negra.

Nearly simultaneously, guileless Mario meets the famous poet, slowly strikes up an amiable friendship with him, and falls in love with Beatriz, a charming local waitress with a wide smile.

Beatriz's mother Rosa (who became pregnant at seventeen) aggressively attempts to keep the possible lovebirds apart to prevent a repeat of her solo parenting fate. Meanwhile, Neruda gifts the eager mail carrier with volumes of his poetry, casting Mario under the spell of metaphors, which he uses to woo Beatriz.

When Mario passes a Neruda poem off as his own, Beatriz, a skilled, educated poetess, is offended by having her intelligence belittled. As foamy waves crash upon picturesque shores of the island, Mario and Beatriz enter a poetic war of written words via letters sent to and from the town Beatriz is hiding away in.

The set decoration in Neruda's house was designed to perfection. It includes a row of blue opaque bottles and an olive green flying saucer swivel lamp, the same one as my father had, which now is a pricey antique. I loved the art and atmosphere in this film.

What the story lacks in narrative conflict it makes up for in ardor, generously gifted cinematography, sensational spirted music, and the pleasing Spanish language spoken in Chile.