Editing Il Postino: The Postman

{{About||the opera based on the film|Il Postino (opera)}}
{{distinguish|text=the 1997 American film [[The Postman (film)|The Postman]]}}
{{EngvarB|date=September 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2024}}
{{short description|1994 film directed by Michael Radford}}
{{Infobox film
| name           = Il Postino: The Postman
| image          = Il Postino poster.jpg
| caption        = Italian theatrical release poster
| based_on       = {{Based on|''[[Ardiente paciencia]]''|[[Antonio Skármeta]]}}
| starring       = {{plainlist|
* [[Massimo Troisi]]
* [[Philippe Noiret]]
* [[Maria Grazia Cucinotta]]}}
| director       = [[Michael Radford]]
| screenplay     = Anna Pavignano<br>Michael Radford<br>[[Furio Scarpelli]]<br>[[Giacomo Scarpelli]]<br>[[Massimo Troisi]]
| story          = Furio Scarpelli<br>Giacomo Scarpelli
| producer       = [[Mario Cecchi Gori]]<br>[[Vittorio Cecchi Gori]]<br>[[Gaetano Daniele]]
| studio         = Cecchi Gori Group Tiger Cinematografica<ref name="bfi">{{cite web|title=Il postino (1994)|publisher=[[British Film Institute]]|access-date=25 March 2023|url=https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b7c81ece3|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190505215635/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b7c81ece3|url-status=dead|archive-date=5 May 2019}}</ref><ref name="adci"/><br>Penta Film<br>Esterno Mediterraneo Film<br>Blue Dahlia Productions<br>K2 Two<br>[[StudioCanal|Le Studio Canal+]]<ref name="bfi"/><ref name="adci"/>
| distributor    = [[Variety Distribution]]<br>Cecchi Gori Distribuzione<ref name="adci">{{cite web|title=Il postino (1994)|website=Archivio del Cinema Italiano|access-date=25 March 2023|url=http://www.archiviodelcinemaitaliano.it/index.php/scheda.html?codice=DD9657}}</ref><br>Penta Film Distribuzione<ref name="adci"/> (Italy)<br>[[Miramax|Miramax International]] (Select territories; through [[Buena Vista International]])<ref>{{cite web|title=The Postman (1994)|website=[[Unifrance]]|access-date=25 March 2023|url=https://en.unifrance.org/movie/12262/the-postman#}}</ref>
| music          = [[Luis Bacalov|Luis Enríquez Bacalov]]
| cinematography = [[Franco Di Giacomo]]
| editing        = [[Roberto Perpignani]]
| released       = {{Film date|df=yes|1994|9|1|[[Venice Film Festival|VFF]]|1994|9|22|Italy|1995|6|16|USA}}
| country        = Italy<br>France<br>Belgium
| runtime        = 108 minutes
| language       = Italian<br>Spanish
| budget         = $3 million<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0110877/business|title=The Postman (1994) – Box office / business|publisher=IMDb}}</ref>
| gross          = $33 million
}}
'''''Il Postino: The Postman''''' ({{langx|it|Il postino}}, {{literal translation|'The Postman'|lk=no}}; the title used for the original US release<ref>{{cite web | title=Academy invites 819 to membership | publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences | date=30 June 2020 | url=https://www.oscars.org/news/academy-invites-819-membership | access-date=28 November 2023}}</ref>) is a 1994 [[Comedy drama|comedy-drama film]] co-written by and starring [[Massimo Troisi]] and directed by English filmmaker [[Michael Radford]]. Based on the 1985 novel ''[[Ardiente paciencia]]'' (English translation: "Burning Patience") by [[Antonio Skármeta]], itself adapted from a 1983 film written and directed by Skármeta, the film tells a fictional story in which the real life [[Chile]]an poet [[Pablo Neruda]] forms a friendship with a simple [[Procida]] postman (Troisi) who learns to love poetry. The cast includes Troisi, [[Philippe Noiret]], and [[Maria Grazia Cucinotta]]. The screenplay was adapted by Radford, Troisi, Anna Pavignano, [[Furio Scarpelli]], and [[Giacomo Scarpelli]].

Writer/star Troisi was severely ill during filming, postponing heart surgery so it could be completed. The day after principal photography ended, he suffered a fatal heart attack, and the film was completed and released posthumously.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/06/11/arts/film-a-postman-a-poet-an-actor-s-farewell.html|title=FILM; A Postman, a Poet, an Actor's Farewell|last=Laurino|first=Maria|date=11 June 1995|newspaper=The New York Times|access-date=14 March 2019}}</ref> The film was critically acclaimed,<ref>{{Citation|title=Il Postino: The Postman (Il Postino) (1995)|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/il_postino_the_postman|access-date=2019-11-19}}</ref> earning numerous accolades including [[BAFTA Awards]] for [[BAFTA Award for Best Film Not in the English Language|Best Film Not in the English Language]], [[BAFTA Award for Best Direction|Best Direction]], and [[BAFTA Award for Best Film Music|Best Film Music]]. Composer [[Luis Bacalov]] won the [[Academy Awards|Academy Award]] for [[Academy Award for Best Original Score|Best Original Dramatic Score]], and the film was nominated for [[Academy Award for Best Picture|Best Picture]], [[Academy Award for Best Director|Best Director]], [[Academy Award for Best Actor|Best Actor]], and [[Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay|Best Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published]].

== Plot ==
In 1950, [[Pablo Neruda]], the [[Chile]]an poet, is exiled to a small island in Italy for political reasons. His wife accompanies him. On the island, a local, Mario Ruoppolo, is dissatisfied with being a fisherman like his father. Mario looks for other work and is hired as a temporary postman, with Neruda as his only customer. He uses his bicycle to hand deliver Neruda's mail. (The island seems to have no cars.) Though poorly educated, the postman eventually befriends Neruda and becomes further influenced by Neruda's political views and poetry.

Meanwhile, Mario falls in love with a beautiful young lady, Beatrice Russo, who works in her aunt's village café. He is shy with her, but he enlists Neruda's help. Mario constantly asks Neruda if particular metaphors that he uses are suitable for his poems. Mario is able to better communicate with Beatrice and express his love through poetry. Despite the aunt's strong disapproval of Mario, because of his sensual poetry{{clarify|reason=Is the sensual poetry the cause of the aunt's disapproval or of Beatrice's favorable response, or both? It's ambiguous as currently written|date=November 2024}} (which turns out to be largely stolen from Neruda), Beatrice responds favourably.

The two are married. The priest refuses to allow Mario to have Neruda as his best man because of politics; however, this is soon resolved. This was because Di Cosimo was the politician in office in the area with the [[Christian Democrats]]. At the wedding, Neruda receives the welcome news that there is no longer a Chilean warrant for his arrest, so he returns to Chile.

Mario writes Neruda a letter but never gets any reply. Several months later, he receives a letter from Neruda. However, to his dismay, it is actually from his secretary, asking Mario to send Neruda's old belongings back to Chile. While there Mario comes upon an old [[phonograph]] and listens to the song he first heard when he met Neruda. Moved, he makes recordings of all the beautiful sounds on the island onto a cassette including the heartbeat of his soon-to-be-born child.

Five years later, Neruda finds Beatrice and her son, Pablito (named in honour of Neruda), in the same old inn. From her, he discovers that Mario had been killed before their son was born. Mario had been scheduled to recite a poem he had composed at a large [[communist]] gathering in Naples; the demonstration was violently broken up by the police. She gives Neruda the recordings of village sounds that Mario had made for him. The film ends with Neruda walking on the beach where he used to talk with Mario, showing at the same time the communist gathering in which Mario was killed.

== Cast ==
*[[Massimo Troisi]] as Mario Ruoppolo
*[[Philippe Noiret]] as [[Pablo Neruda]]
*[[Maria Grazia Cucinotta]] as Beatrice Russo
* [[Renato Scarpa]] as The Telegrapher
* {{ill|Linda Moretti|it|Linda Moretti|fr|Linda Moretti}} as Donna Rosa
* [[Mariano Rigillo]] as Di Cosimo
* [[Anna Bonaiuto]] as [[Matilde Urrutia]]
* [[Simona Caparrini]] as [[Elsa Morante]]
*Michael Diana as Pablito
*[[Sergio Solli]] as Peasant

Noiret's Italian-language dialogue was dubbed by actor {{ill|Bruno Alessandro|it|Bruno Alessandro}}.

== Production ==
[[Massimo Troisi]], a popular Italian actor and filmmaker, had purchased the film rights to [[Antonio Skármeta]]'s ''[[Ardiente paciencia]]'' intending to adapt it into a feature film. The novel was itself an adaptation of a largely-unknown 1983 film of the same name, written and directed by Skármeta. Troisi, having seen [[Michael Radford]]'s 1983 film [[Another Time, Another Place (1983 film)|''Another Time, Another Place'']], wrote a script treatment and gave it to Radford, who appreciated Troisi's enthusiasm but was dissatisfied with the script. Together with Troisi's ex-girlfriend Anna Pavignano, they stayed in a [[Santa Monica, California|Santa Monica]] beachfront hotel and wrote a new screenplay.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2018/oct/23/how-we-made-il-postino-michael-radford-maria-grazia-cucinotta|title=How we made Il Postino|last=Hoad|first=Phil|date=2018-10-23|work=The Guardian|access-date=2019-11-19|issn=0261-3077}}</ref> Among the changes made to the original novel was changing the setting from contemporary Chile to 1950s Italy, and the character of Mario from a teenage fisherman to a 40-year old postman. Whereas the novel and the 1983 film were set in Chile, with Neruda living in his home at [[Isla Negra]] around 1970, ''Il Postino: The Postman'' moves the setting to Italy in about 1950.

Armed with a production budget of $3 million,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Stack |first=Peter |date=1995-06-19 |title=At the End of 'Postman', the End of a Life |url=https://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/article/At-the-End-of-Postman-the-End-of-a-Life-3030328.php |access-date=2025-03-12 |work=[[San Francisco Chronicle]]}}</ref> the film is set and was filmed on the island of [[Procida]], gulf of [[Naples]]; some additional filming took place on [[Salina Island|Salina]], one of the volcanic [[Aeolian Islands]] that form an archipelago off the northern coast of Sicily. [[Corricella]] is the setting for some of the waterfront scenes in the movie.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XcD9AgAAQBAJ&q=corricella&pg=PA117|title=Fodor's The Amalfi Coast, Capri & Naples|publisher=Fodor's Travel Guide|year=2014|isbn=978-1-908206-94-7}}</ref> Filming took 11 weeks, with only one break for the Easter holiday.

Troisi's performance was hampered by his worsening heart condition, brought on by childhood [[rheumatism]]. Troisi was so weak that it was only possible for him to work for about an hour each day. Most of his scenes were shot in one or two takes. A shooting schedule was designed to allow the film to be shot around him. This was aided greatly by the fact his [[body double]] bore such a striking resemblance to Troisi. He was used for all back to camera, long/medium shots and most of the bicycle riding sequences. Troisi recorded all of his dialogue early in the production, in case he died before filming could be completed. This later proved necessary, since Troisi died one day after principal photography at his sister's house.<ref name=":0" />

Troisi originally intended to co-direct the film with Radford, but was unable to effectively do so due to his illness. Though he is credited as co-director in the Italian release version, he is not credited in any other version, and as such was not eligible to be nominated for directing awards outside of Italy.

== Soundtrack ==
{{further|Il Postino (soundtrack)}}

In 1994, to promote the film, [[Miramax]] published ''The Postman (Il Postino): Music From The Miramax Motion Picture'', which besides the film's score, composed by [[Luis Enríquez Bacalov]], includes Neruda's poems recited by many celebrities. There are a total of 31 tracks.

In 2002, [[Creazioni Artistiche Musicali|CAM]] Original Soundtracks released a 17 track version of the score (CAM 509536-2) which was mastered in Dolby Surround.

The album won the [[Academy Award for Best Original Score|Academy Award for Best Original Dramatic Score]] and the [[BAFTA Award for Best Film Music]].

For the 2010 opera based on the film, see [[Daniel Catán]].

== Reception ==
The film was very well received. [[Rotten Tomatoes]] reports that 94% of the critics liked the film, based on 35 reviews; the website's critic consensus says, "''Il Postino''&nbsp;movingly explores themes of love and friendship through sensitively depicted – and beautifully acted – relationships in 1950s Italy."&nbsp;<ref>[http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/il_postino_the_postman/ Il Postino: The Postman Reviews at Rotten Tomatoes] (accessed on 14 January 2024)</ref> It received a score of 81 on [[Metacritic]], indicating "Universal Acclaim", based on 13 critic reviews.<ref>[http://www.metacritic.com/movie/il-postino-the-postman Il Postino: The Postman Reviews at Metacritic] (accessed on 24 June 2010)</ref>

In Italy, the film grossed over $8 million.<ref name=SI>{{cite magazine|magazine=[[Screen International]]|date=16 February 1996|page=16|title=Grosses of selected non-English language films by territory}}</ref> The film was the second-highest-grossing non-English-language film in the UK for 1995 (behind ''[[La Reine Margot (1994 film)|La Reine Margot]]''), with a gross of £534,673.<ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=[[Screen International]]|title=Top 10 foreign-language films in the UK 1995|date=26 January 1996|page=33}}</ref> It also grossed almost $1 million each in Germany and Spain.<ref name=SI/> In the United States and Canada, the film surpassed ''[[Like Water for Chocolate (film)|Like Water for Chocolate]]'' as the highest-grossing non-English-language film of all time, with a gross of $21,848,932.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=ilpostino.htm|title=Il Postino (1995) – Box Office Mojo|publisher=[[Box Office Mojo]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/genre/sg4208980225/|title=Genre Keyword: Foreign Language|publisher=[[Box Office Mojo]]|access-date=4 September 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=Variety|title='Life' shows there's life for foreign pix|last1=Carver|first1=Benedict|last2=Cox|first2=Dan|date=21 March 1999|url=https://variety.com/1999/film/news/life-shows-there-s-life-for-foreign-pix-1117492549/|access-date=4 September 2022}}</ref> Worldwide, it grossed in excess of $33 million.

== Accolades ==

=== Academy Awards ===
At the [[68th Academy Awards]] (1996), the film's score, composed by [[Luis Bacalov|Luis Enríquez Bacalov]], won the [[Academy Award for Best Original Score|Academy Award for Best Music (Original Dramatic Score)]].
* The film was also nominated for: [[Academy Award for Best Picture|Best Picture]]; [[Academy Award for Best Director|Best Director]] ([[Michael Radford]]); [[Academy Award for Best Actor|Best Actor in a Leading Role]] ([[Massimo Troisi]]); and [[Academy Award for Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay)|Best Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published]].

Troisi received [[List of posthumous Academy Award winners and nominees|posthumous Academy Award nominations]] for [[Best Actor]] and [[Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay|Best Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published]]. Furthermore, producer [[Mario Cecchi Gori]] also received a posthumous Academy Award nomination for [[Best Picture]].

=== BAFTA Awards ===
* The film won the [[BAFTA Award for Best Film Not in the English Language]].
*[[Michael Radford]] won for [[BAFTA Award for Best Direction|Best Direction]].
* The film's score, composed by [[Luis Bacalov|Luis Enríquez Bacalov]], won the [[BAFTA Award for Best Film Music]].

Troisi received posthumous [[BAFTA Award]] nominations for [[BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role|Best Actor in a Leading Role]] and [[BAFTA Award for Best Screenplay|Best Screenplay]].

=== Other awards ===
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable"
|- 
! Year
!Association
! Category
!Nominee
!Result
|-
| rowspan="21" |1995
|[[David di Donatello|Accademia del Cinema Italiano]]
|[[David di Donatello for Best Actor|Best Actor]]
|Massimo Troisi <small>(posthumous)</small>
|{{nom}}
|-
|Accademia del Cinema Italiano
|[[David di Donatello for Best Cinematography|Best Cinematography]]
|Franco Di Giacomo
|{{nom}}
|-
|Accademia del Cinema Italiano
|[[David di Donatello for Best Editing|Best Editing]]
|Roberto Perpignani
|{{won}}
|-
|Accademia del Cinema Italiano
|[[David di Donatello for Best Film|Best Film]]
|{{N/A}}
|{{nom}}
|-
|Accademia del Cinema Italiano
|[[David di Donatello for Best Score|Best Music]]
|Luis Bacalov
|{{nom}}
|-
|Accademia del Cinema Italiano
|[[David di Donatello for Best Supporting Actor|Best Supporting Actor]]
|Philippe Noiret
|{{nom}}
|-
|Association of Polish Filmmakers
|Best Foreign Film
|Michael Radford
|{{won}}
|-
|[[Ciak]]
|Best Film
|Michael Radford
|{{won}}
|-
|Ciak
|Best Score
|Luis Bacalov
|{{nom}}
|-
|[[Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists]]
|Special Silver Ribbon Award
|Massimo Troisi <small>(posthumous)</small>
|{{won}}
|-
|Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists
|Best Cinematography
|Franco Di Giacomo
|{{nom}}
|-
|Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists
|[[Nastro d'Argento for Best Producer|Best Producer]]
|Mario Cecchi Gori <small>(posthumous)</small><br>Vittorio Cecchi Gori
|{{won}}
|-
|Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists
|[[Nastro d'Argento for Best Score|Best Score]]
|Luis Bacalov
|{{won}}
|-
|Kansas City Film Critics Circle
|Best Foreign Film
|{{N/A}}
|{{won}}
|-
|[[Los Angeles Film Critics Association]]
|[[Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Foreign Language Film|Best Foreign Language Film]]
|Michael Radford
|{{nom}}
|-
|[[National Board of Review]]
|Top Foreign Films
|{{N/A}}
|{{won}}
|-
|Rome Foreign Press Association
|Best Cinematography
|Franco Di Giacomo
|{{won}}
|-
|Rome Foreign Press Association
|Best Film
|Michael Radford
|{{nom}}
|-
|Rome Foreign Press Association
|Best Original Score
|Luis Bacalov
|{{won}}
|-
|[[São Paulo International Film Festival]]
|Audience Award – Best Feature
|Michael Radford
|{{won}}
|-
|[[Society of Texas Film Critics]]
|Best Foreign Film
|{{N/A}}
|{{won}}
|-
| rowspan="10" |1996
|[[Argentine Film Critics Association]]
|[[Silver Condor Award for Best Foreign Film|Best Foreign Film]]
|Michael Radford
|{{won}}
|-
|[[Broadcast Film Critics Association]]
|[[Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Foreign Language Film|Best Foreign Language Film]]
|{{N/A}}
|{{won}}
|-
|[[Chicago Film Critics Association]]
|[[Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Foreign Language Film|Best Foreign Language Film]]
|{{N/A}}
|{{won}}
|-
|[[Directors Guild of America]]
|[[Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing – Feature Film|Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures]]
|Michael Radford
|{{nom}}
|-
|[[London Film Critics' Circle]]
|British Director of the Year
|Michael Radford
|{{won}}
|-
|London Film Critics' Circle
|Foreign Language Film of the Year
|{{N/A}}
|{{won}}
|-
|[[Norwegian International Film Festival]]
|Best Foreign Feature Film
|Michael Radford
|{{won}}
|-
|[[Radio Nacional de España]]
|Rosa de Sant Jordi Audience Award
|Michael Radford
|{{won}}
|-
|Radio Nacional de España
|Best Foreign Film
|Michael Radford
|{{won}}
|-
|[[Screen Actors Guild]]
|[[Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role|Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role]]
|Massimo Troisi <small>(posthumous)</small>
|{{nom}}
|-
| rowspan="4" |1997
|[[Danish Film Critics Association]]
|[[Bodil Award for Best Non-American Film|Best European Film]]
|Michael Radford
|{{won}}
|-
|[[Japan Academy Film Prize|Japan Academy Film Prize Association]]
|Best Foreign Language Film
|{{N/A}}
|{{won}}
|-
|[[Kinema Junpo]]
|Best Foreign Language Film
|Michael Radford
|{{won}}
|-
|[[Lumière Awards]]
|Best Foreign Film
|Michael Radford
|{{won}}
|}

==See also==
*''[[Neruda (film)|Neruda]]:'' A 2016 film about Pablo Neruda

== References ==

{{reflist}}

== External links ==
{{wikiquote}}
* {{IMDb title|0110877}}
* {{rotten-tomatoes|il_postino_the_postman}}
* [https://www.varietydistribution.it/en/catalogue/the-postman/ ''Il Postino: The Postman''] at [[Variety Distribution]]

{{Pablo Neruda}}
{{Navboxes
|title = Awards for ''Il Postino: The Postman''
|list =
{{BAFTA Best Foreign Language Film}}
{{Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Foreign Language Film}}
{{Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Foreign Language Film}}
{{Japan Academy Film Prize for Outstanding Foreign Language Film}}
{{London Film Critics Circle Award for Foreign Language Film of the Year}}
}}
{{Massimo Troisi}}
{{Michael Radford}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Postino: The Postman}}
[[Category:1994 films]]
[[Category:Italian drama films]]
[[Category:1990s Italian-language films]]
[[Category:1990s Spanish-language films]]
[[Category:1994 drama films]]
[[Category:Films about language]]
[[Category:Films about writers]]
[[Category:Films based on Chilean novels]]
[[Category:Films directed by Michael Radford]]
[[Category:Films that won the Best Original Score Academy Award]]
[[Category:Films set in Italy]]
[[Category:Films set on islands]]
[[Category:Best Foreign Language Film BAFTA Award winners]]
[[Category:Films shot in Italy]]
[[Category:Films about Nobel laureates]]
[[Category:Films scored by Luis Bacalov]]
[[Category:Films whose director won the Best Direction BAFTA Award]]
[[Category:Films set in the 1950s]]
[[Category:Films about postal systems]]
[[Category:Films adapted into operas]]
[[Category:Cultural depictions of Pablo Neruda]]
[[Category:Films about poets]]
[[Category:BAFTA winners (films)]]
[[Category:1994 multilingual films]]
[[Category:Italian multilingual films]]
[[Category:Italian-language drama films]]