Rating: 
Summary: Touchy
Review: From the first few minutes Massimo Troisi captures your heart with his looks, simplicity & great acting. The beautiful island, the simple people and the amazing poetry all build up a great love story.Massimo Troisi is a man madly in love with his Beatrice Russo (Maria Grazia Cucinotta)... whose smile spreads like a butterfly. You never get bored watching this movie... it's fun, love and touchy... feels as if you are reading a bed-time love story. Knowing that Massimo Troisi was dying of heart failure while filming this movie even makes the film more touchy.
Rating: 
Summary: Outstanding
Review: Il Postino immediately made my all-time best list with its inspiring and moving story of a simple man finding the courage to love and his greater personal destiny through the help and influence of an unlikely figure, a world-renowned poet seeking political exile in his small village. Despite some of the previous reviews here, this movie has a solid script allowing true character development, taking time to establish the right pace and realistic relationships between the main characters. Nothing in it rings false, and thus it deserves all the acclaim that has come its way. Although Il Postino did not win the Oscars that maybe it should have -- does anyone remember who took Best Picture for 1995? -- I'm sure it will continue to draw the attention and admiration of film lovers decades into the future, and what more could a serious filmmaker ask for? Like its soulful sibling Cinema Paradiso, Il Postino is profound and affecting, the kind of experience that cracks away our cynicism and weariness to reveal the beauty and power of life and the potential for creative greatness and happiness in all of us. By the end, through the postman's humility, honesty, kindness, courage, and spiritual rebirth and ascension, we, like the famous poet, witness the emergence of a greater heart and inspiration, and are thankful for being delivered home.
Rating: 
Summary: Glorification of collaborator in mass murder
Review: If this movie used a mythical accomplished poet to build the story around, I would find it a pleasant if light diversion. But it not only gives us Neruda, it is unabashedly enthusiastic about Neruda's remorseless support for Stalinist mass murder. He may have created interesting metaphors, but he was unable to comprehend morality. It wasn't that Soviet crimes were unknown in Neruda's time, it was that he chose to support them. His career was devoted to extolling Marxism, and he accepted the Stalin prize from the Soviet murderers. It is impossible to imagine a film made today that glorified an artist who was a Nazi, but we are still subjected to the mythmaking that, at once, conceals and implicitely justifies communist mass slaughter. The movie does not merely place the characters in the time of Soviet brutality, and refer in passing it, it shamelessly revels in communism. It is thin and evil propaganda.
Rating:
Summary: Charming and poignant
Review: I absolutely adore this film, a touching story of the relationship between an timid but passionate postal carrier and the Nobel Prize-winning poet Pablo Neruda. As Neruda and his poetry instruct the mailman in the ways of love, a courtship blossoms that has all the humor and bittersweet missteps of the real thing. Director Radford uses a light touch to illuminate the unusual relationship between the exiled poet and an ordinary man. Massimo Troisi as Mario (the postman) turns in a fine performance that should not be missed; his characterization of a clueless man desperately in love with both words and a woman cannot be forgotten. Likewise, Philippe Noiret as Neruda provides a memorable portrait of a man who can forget the power of his words. I can't help comparing "Il Postino" to "Life is Beautiful", also an Italian film that relies on initial humor to set up the pain found in the human heart. "Il Postino" is more subtle, however, and more realistic. Still, those who enjoyed "Life is Beautiful" should also like "Il Postino." I recommend this film highly. You don't need to know anything about Neruda to enjoy it; all you need to be is human.
Rating:
Summary: A film of friendship, love, and poetry!
Review: Il Postino is a beautiful story of relationships. A postman develops a friendship with Pablo Neruda, a famed poet, and acquires a love for poetry. With light humor, Mario uses his new poetic talents and the help of Neruda to gain the love of women, Beatriz in particular. Neruda deeply influences the life of Mario and helps him to appreciate the metaphors of life. The story of Il Postino is timeless and effectively demonstrates how one person can change the life of another. Neruda becomes a father-figure to Mario and Mario looks up to Neruda with awe and respect. Anyone who has had a special effect on another human being's life or whose life has been positively influenced can appreciate this story. From England, Michael Radford is the Director of Il Postino which was filmed in Italy and based on a Chilean novel. He does an extraordinary job incorporating a few historical and political references into the story, as it develops during the 1950's and communist revolts are occurring. Also, the friendship between Mario and Neruda is accentuated by the references to poetry and metaphors throughout the movie. There are many scenes where pure metaphorical conversation dominates and the beauty of language is expressed. Even though English subtitles are displayed, the charm of the Italian language is still heard. I thoroughly enjoyed Il Postino's story of a meaningful friendship and an expressive language of poetry and metaphors and I recommend it to you!
Rating:
Summary: Beautiful, Enchanting, Understated...a Masterpiece
Review: This is definitely one of my all time favorite films and one I just had to own. It's so beautifully understated and so deeply human that I don't know how anyone could fail to fall in love with it and remain in love with it, always. IL POSTINO is a film with everything: comedy, pathos, beauty, love, loss, poetry, beautifully understated performances by all the actors, gorgeous cinematography. I don't know who could ask for more. IL POSTINO takes place in 1953 and centers around an unlikely friendship of sorts between a shy, backward postman, Mario, and the great Chilean poet, Pablo Neruda. It takes place on a little island off the coast of Italy where Mario (Massimo Troisi) has just been given the job of delivering mail to the island's newest inhabitant, Pablo Neruda (Philippe Noiret). Mario, who has the soul of a poet, though he doesn't realize it yet, can't help but notice that Neruda, a very unlikely Casanova, receives many letters that seem to be from women. In fact, there is a woman who lives with him (probably his wife) and Mario can see how deeply in love they are. Mario knows there's something special about Neruda, even if he can't articulate exactly what it is, and he decides to get to know him better, no matter what. His first attempts are almost akin to stalking (and probably would be if he weren't Neruda's postman), but Mario perseveres and the friendship between the two men eventually flourishes. Initially, Mario wants to get to know Neruda so he can learn how to pick up girls (not a bad reason), but, as the men get to know each other, Mario learns that there is so much more to life, and so much more to his own soul, than simply "picking up girls." One of the things that makes IL POSTINO a masterpiece is the fact that all of the actors, and especially Troisi and Noiret, give very gracefully nuanced, very understated performances. There is no glitz and glamour here, thankfully, and none is needed. This film is so "real" and so "human" that it weaves a web of magic around the viewer before the viewer is even aware of what is happening. One of the most telling, and heartbreaking, moments comes near the film's end after Neruda has departed the island. Mario is reading a newspaper clipping in which Neruda is quoted as saying of his time on the island, "I lived in complete solitude with the most simple people in the world." Although Mario doesn't comment on this, his facial expression, which barely changes, reveals just how deeply hurt (and complex) he is. Philippe Noiret's very understand performance is lovely as well, and he and Troisi play off of each other wonderfully. IL POSTINO was Massimo Troisi's "dream project" and, sadly, he died the day the film wrapped production. With IL POSTINO, however, he left us a wonderful legacy. This film is quiet and understated, but it is also charming, endearing, beguiling and enchanting. It says more about "life" than any mega blockbuster ever could. IL POSTINO is a film made with love, about love. It is a masterpiece of life that most viewers will treasure.
Rating:
Summary: Beautiful, low-key and touching
Review: This is the sort of movie that proves that a good story, well-told and well-acted, is really all you need to make a successful effort. The story of love, friendship and the power of poetry has given this movie a following that no amount of slick special effects could have provided. Massimo Troisi, obviously on his last legs, provides a touching performance as the totally shy & awkward postman Mario, who slowly develops an unlikely friendship with the renowned Chilean poet Pablo Neruda, then exiled to a somewhat remote Italian fishing village. Neruda is played by the incomparable French comic actor Philippe Noiret (yes, he is speaking french which is dubbed over in italian --- any Noiret fan will spot this immediately). The men are worlds apart in outlook and experience, but nonetheless form a strong bond. Neruda helps Mario find his own powers of expression, which strengthens his self-confidence. This is a wonderful movie, which much deserves the following it has garnered over the last few years. It definitely belongs in any movie-lover's collection.
Rating: 
Summary: Not bad. But not a great movie either.
Review: If this movie win awards you can imagine how well is the film industry in the world. Because this is a "just ok movie". In the first place I give it praise for its originality, soundtrack, the acting -specially the main character, the postman- and stop there. This could have been a wonderful film if a talented director had taken up the enterprise. Ths could have been a wonderful film if one of the old masters of the art (Ford, Vidor, Huston, etc) were alive today. But, alas, there are few -if any- who can transform a poetic idea like this one into a work of art. And let me say that it is not bad. But I can't give it 4 stars because it saddens me too much to see how beautiful ideas get spoilt again and again in the hands of untalented and unfairly acclaimed directors. The girl is beautiful, though. Yours faithfully
Rating:
Summary: If you haven't seen the movie don't read this...read later!
Review: In this film Massimo Troisi really dies towards the end, in fact there were some modifications on the movie itself. Towards the end of the movie when they talk about Massimo's death, Massimo Troisi had really died before the movie was finished. You can also tell this from the actors themselves, which are sincere in their sorrow. Also in the movie you can spot several simbols of death, including the cuffin going around town which had no connection to the movie with the exception of the death of Massimo. Massimo Troisi was from Naples Italy, and had heart problems since he was 13, his first hearth attack. When Massimo died Italy was in mourning for a long time, and I have seen Naples locals with Massimo's picture in their wallets. It was a great loss for all of us. Massimo sei grande!
Rating:
Summary: THE BEST MOVIE OF OUR TIME
Review: There is so little to say after watching this remarkable movie.
Massimo Troisi is a true legend of Italian cinema.
You don't need to hear a word from his mouth; his eye will tell you everything you need to know. I just wish there are more movies like this.
| 
