Il Postino

Tonight, in celebration of National Poetry month,we watched the 1994 film: Il Postino, which tells a fictional story in which the real life Chilean poet Pablo Neruda forms a relationship with a simple postman who learns to love poetry. It stars Philippe Noiret, Massimo Troisi, and Maria Grazia Cucinotta and was directed by Michael Radford. The screenplay was adapted by Anna Pavignano, Michael Radford, Furio Scarpelli, Giacomo Scarpelli, and Massimo Troisi from the novel Ardiente Paciencia by Antonio Skármeta. Skármeta himself had previously adapted his novel for the screen in 1985 as Ardiente Paciencia (English translation: "Burning Patience") in keeping with our literature and film theme as well.

Massimo Troisi

Massimo Troisi died just twelve hours after the completion of filming due to a heart problem that he reportedly refused to have corrected while the movie was still in production. Troisi was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor for the role -- only the sixth actor to be so honored posthumously.