THE POSTMAN Movie Review
Il Postino
A bittersweet, charming film about Mario (Massimo Troisi), a shy postman who winds up the personal postman of poet Pablo Neruda (Philippe Noiret), who is exiled from his beloved Chile in 1952, granted asylum by the Italian government, and who finds himself living in the tiny Italian community of Isla Negra. The tongue-tied Mario has fallen in love with barmaid Beatrice (Maria Grazia Cucinotta) and asks the poet's help in wooing the dark-eyed beauty, striking up an unlikely friendship with the worldly Neruda. (It's Neruda's seeming ease with women that the shy postman seems most impressed by.) The picture's ever-so-slightly-over-the-top sentimentality—which finally surfaces by having what seems like one too many drawn-out endings, jeopardizing the delicacy of what has gone before—can't exactly be called a bad decision, at least on the basis of the movie's popularity. The Postman (Il Postino) is one of the most popular foreign-language films ever released in America, and while a brilliant ad campaign helped to get it jump-started, it was word-of-mouth that made it a long-running hit, even in smaller cities.(It also started a run on Neruda's poetry.) Since The Postman is in many ways what one might conjure when imagining a prototypical “small” Italian art house film, it's more than a little surprising that it's actually the product of British director Michael Radford (1984, White Mischief). The Postman’s considerable pleasures are provided in large part by the gentle and rich performances of Philipe Noiret and Massimo Troisi. Troisi, a beloved comic actor in Italy, was gravely ill during the picture's production, and died less than one day after its completion. He was posthumously nominated for an Academy Award as Best Actor for his performance. The Postman also received nominations for Best Picture, Director, and Adapted Screenplay; Luis Bacalov's lilting score did take home an Oscar.
NEXT STOP … Christ Stopped at Eboli, Cinema Paradiso, Cyrano de Bergerac (1990)
1994 (PG) 115m/C IT Massimo Troisi, Philippe Noiret, Maria Grazia Cucinotta, Linda Moretti, Renato Scarpa, Anna Buonaiuto, Mariana Rigillo; D: Michael Radford; W: Massimo Troisi, Michael Radford, Furio Scarpelli, Anna Pavignano, Giacomo Scarpelli; C: Franco Di Giacomo; M: Luis Bacalov. Academy Awards ‘95: Best Original Dramatic/Comedy Score; British Academy Awards ‘95: Best Director (Radford), Best Foreign Film, Best Score; Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards ‘95: Best Foreign Film; Nominations: Academy Awards ‘95: Best Actor (Troisi), Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Director (Radford), Best Picture; British Academy Awards ‘95: Best Actor (Troisi), Best Adapted Screenplay; Cesar Awards ‘97: Best Foreign Film; Directors Guild of America Awards ‘95: Best Director (Radford); Screen Actors Guild Award ‘95: Best Actor (Troisi). VHS TOU