I am not a poet, nor have I been able to really get into reading or reciting poetry. I found, fell in love with, and married my beautiful wife all without the benefits of poetry. But that doesn’t mean I do not understand how poetry can express things that traditional writings cannot. Metaphors, as Pablo Neruda (Philippe Noiret) in the film Il Postino proudly proclaims, tell you something by comparing it to another thing. Metaphors are the language of poetry.
Poetry is, of course, going to mean different things to different people. The film’s protagonist, Mario Ruoppolo (Massimo Troisi), sees poetry as a gift to the reader. “Poetry doesn’t belong to those who write it; it belongs to those who need it.” He’s using this to justify taking a poem written by Pablo and presenting it to a girl he has fallen in love with; using the author’s words without getting permission to do so. Some may see it as plagiarism, but Mario sees it as using what has been given for the benefit of the reader. It’s a fine line being crossed.
In the opening of the film, Pablo Neruda, a Chilean poet and Communist, is exiled to a small island in Italy in 1950 for his political views. His wife accompanies him into exile. On the island, a local, Mario Ruoppolo, is dissatisfied with following his father’s vocation as a fisherman. He goes into town to find work elsewhere and accepts a temporary position as a postman, carrying mail for just a single client, Pablo. Mario is uneducated but manages to befriend Pablo and is soon influenced by the man’s political views and his poetry.
Mario is also falling in love with a beautiful young woman, Beatrice Russo (Maria Grazia Cucinotta), who works for her aunt in a village café. Mario finds it easier to communicate with her through Pablo’s poetry, which is filled with metaphors that initially puzzle the young man. Despite the strong objections of the aunt, who is offended by the sensual poetry Mario has given Beatrice—most of which is stolen from Pablo—Beatrice responds favorably, and the two are married. But shortly after the ceremony, Pablo receives word that his exile has been lifted, and he can return home to Chile. He soon leaves, leaving some of his belongings behind for Mario to use for the time being. Mario writes to the poet but never hears back, with the exception of one letter, written by the man’s secretary, making arrangements to ship back the left-behind items. But Mario has been inspired by more than just Pablo’s poetry and has been attending communist rallies, putting him in opposition of the local government and the police.
Inspiration can come in many forms depending on the person exposed to it. For some, they can stand on the edge of a scenic lookout and be moved to tears at the beauty of the mountains and trees, while someone else can see the same view and find it drab and repetitive. Others can read the words of William Shakespeare and be emotionally moved by it, while others see it as just words on a page. I took a semester of poetry in college as part of my studies in literature, and while I appreciated the skill needed to put together words and imagery the way those writers did, I never felt moved by any of it any more than the sight of the Rocky Mountains, which I grew up around, did. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
Mario is a different kind of person than I am. He is unsophisticated and uneducated, but the words on the page affect him greatly, even when he doesn’t fully understand what it is he is reading. The best kind of writing works like this. You can get carried away in what you are reading, even if you don’t fully understand it. Mario’s sudden, some would say irrational, decision to leave behind steady, if not exactly well-paying, work as a fisherman to take a temporary, even less-paying, job delivering mail to one client would seem like folly. That decision shapes his life going forward, not entirely for the better, in my humble opinion. But it does lead him to Beatrice, which he may have never been able to woo otherwise.
The communist element is where I hit a bit of a stumbling block with this film. Perhaps that is my upbringing in America, but communism is seen as a dangerous idealism, something to be feared and shunned. The same view exists on this island in Italy, where the fact that Pablo is a communist has led to his exile as well as a stumbling block for him to even be the witness at Mario and Beatrice’s wedding. It also plays a key factor in the final fate of Mario, played in flashback in the last moments of the film, showing us how directly Pablo’s ideals have altered and shaped Mario’s destiny. This ending is a bitter one, but demonstrates how ideals can fundamentally change a person and inspire actions that forever change the direction of lives.
Massimo Troisi hid a serious illness from the production team while they were filming this movie. It was known that he needed a heart transplant and that he turned it down, feeling that the heart was the center of emotion and he wouldn’t feel the same with someone else’s inside himself. His condition came from a bout of rheumatic fever in his youth, which weakened the heart. He struggled with this all through the production of Il Postino, finally succumbing to a heart attack twelve hours after the final scenes were filmed. He was just 41 years old at the time. He would be posthumously nominated for two Academy Awards for this film, joining a very small group of people who shared in that honor.
Il Postino is an interesting little film that caught people off guard with its honesty and emotional earnestness. While its story is relatively simple, its themes are not, pairing perfectly with the metaphors of Pablo’s poetry. There is beauty in the world if you know where to look for it and have the desire to find it. But it also requires you to be proactive to truly appreciate it; passive viewing is not enough. Anyone can stand on the shores and look out at the ocean, but it takes someone with romance in their heart to fall in love with the gentle waves coming in and washing over the sand.
Academy Award Nominations:
Best Picture: Mario Cecchi Gori, Vittorio Cecchi, and Gaetano Daniele
Best Directing: Michael Radford
Best Actor in a Leading Role: Massimo Troisi
Best Writing (Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published): Michael Radford, Anna Pavignano, Furio Scarpelli, Giacomo Scarpelli, and Massimo Troisi
Best Music (Original Dramatic Score): Luis Bacalov (won)
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Release Date: June 16, 1995
Running Time: 108 minutes
Rated PG
Starring: Massimo Troisi, Philippe Noiret, and Maria Grazia Cucinotta
Directed by: Michael Radford
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