SUMMER VACATION LET THE FILM WATCHING COMMENCE!
Nominee
This is where simplicity meets poignancy and where artistic license speaks with the narration. All in all I am not a fan of narration for the sake of narration or art for the sake of art (there are exceptions but not many). This is because film is so much more when the two work together in a multidimensional system of building the viewing experience. If you defamiliarize the audience with an image and then make it subtly accentuate the story its not only beautiful but it's also useful.
Il Postino uses this idea in a very simple and clean way which then allows the viewer to access the characters on a very real and emotional level. This is a story that is completely driven by the characters and all cost we must access them, and we do. The postman, played by MassimoTroisi, is a lovable bumbling man who wants nothing more than what everyone wants, love. He then befriends an exiled Pablo Neruda (Philippe Noiret) and begins to see the beauty around him and becomes more connected with his world, including wooing Beatrice (Maria Grazia Cucinotta) which comes with the most entertaining part of the movie, her aunt.
The characters give us a story of friendship and of admiration, and we see it through images of landscape and history. At one point Pablo Neruda asks Mario, the postman, what is beautiful about his island and he says nothing. Yet throughout the film we are given artistic shots of rolling waves and winding roads up picturesque mountains. We have the answer because of the visual choosing of the director, but we watch the postman learn it. However we are also given a historical context to deal with, with Pablo Neruda only being there because he is exiled from Chile for his communist platform, the postman is given Pablo the communist and so are we. Which makes the end that much more tragic...can't tell you about it because it is the turning point of the whole movie so watch and find out.
My one real qualm with the film is pacing...I do admit I am an impatient person...however, it does drag its feet at times.
Overall: Simplicity can speak so very clearly to an audience if it is done with grace and purpose. This movie does this very well, making us fall for the characters and therefore the story. Yes it is slow at times but I think it is a real hidden gem in the mass of movies that embodies the best picture nominees. Watch and enjoy!
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