Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!: The Postman/Il Postino (1994)

12/02/2023

The Postman/Il Postino (1994) - Troisi's moving swan song performance

♥♥♥♥

A serene shoreline scene and a sympathetic-looking co-star Massimo Troisi in an old-fashioned postman's hat makes up this poster for Michael Radford's The Postman

On a small South-Italian island Chilean star poet and Communist Pablo Nerudo arrives some years after WWII and befriends a simple postman named Mario.

Il Postino: The Postman is written by Anna Pavignano (Elsa & Fred (2014)), Furio Scarpelli (La Cena (1998)), Giacomo Scarpelli (Opopomoz (2003)), co-writer/co-star Massimo Troisi (Hotel Colonial (1987)) and co-writer/director Michael Radford (Another Time, Another Place (1983)). It is an adaptation of Ardiente Paciencia (1985) by Antonio Skármeta (La Chica del Trombón (2001)). The title is a literal translation of the original Italian title.

Troisi plays the titular postman with moving sincerity: Mario may be of simple background, but his intellect is keen enough. Wonderful images (cinematography by Franco Di Giacomo (Un Altro Mondo è Possibile (2001, documentary))) of the rural, innocent-looking Procida island here clash some with many of the portrayals of growling, coarse, desire-ruled Italians, we have seen in films from Federico Fellini and others.

The Postman resurrects the joy at beauty, pure infatuation as well as the marvelous force of poetry as an enhancer of love. Meaningful is also the reflection and postlude following the maestro's leaving the island, without even a letter. The rampantly romantically idyllic score (by Luis Bacalov (Hotel Meina (2007))) and the in hindsight somewhat exaggerated purity ultimately settles The Postman as 'just' a sweet little film.

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 3 mil. $

Box office: In excess of 33 mil. $

= Mega-hit (returned at least 11 times its cost)

[The Postman premiered 1 September (Venice Film Festival) and runs 108 minutes. Shooting took place from March - June 1994 in Italy. Troisi postponed heart surgery for the film and reportedly could only work for about an hour a day, (a double was used extensively for every possible scene for this reason), and just 12 hours after wrapping production Troisi passed away from a heart attack. The film opened #13 to a 95k $ first weekend in 10 theaters in North America, where it grossed 21.8 mil. $ (66.1 % of the total gross). The film was nominated for 5 Oscars, winning for Best Score. It lost Best Actor to Nicolas Cage in Leaving Las Vegas, Director to Mel Gibson for Braveheart, Picture also to Braveheart and Adapted Screenplay to Emma Thompson for Sense and Sensibility. It also won 3/5 BAFTA nominations, 1/6 David di Donatello awards and a National Board of Review award, among other honors. Roger Ebert gave it a 3.5/4 star review, translating to a notch over this one. Radford returned with Homicide: Life on the Street (1996, TV-series) and theatrically with B. Monkey (1998). For Troisi The Postman was his last credit; Philippe Noiret (Soleil (1997)) returned in Le Roi de Paris (1995). The Postman is fresh at 94 % with an 8.00/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Postman?

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Donald Sutherland has passed away

Born in Canada, Sutherland battled polio as a child. His first credit was in Suspense (1963, TV-series) and his first film was The Castle of the Living Dead (1964). Later credits in his remarkable career include The Saint (1965-66), The Dirty Dozen (1967), M*A*S*H (1970), Kelly's Heroes (1970), Klute (1971), Don't Look Now (1973), 1900 (1976), Casanova (1976), The Eagle Has Landed (1976), Ordinary People (1980), A Dry White Season (1989), JFK (1991), Outbreak (1995), Fallen (1998), Virus (1999), Fierce People (2005), Pride & Prejudice (2005), Lord of War (2005), The Hunger Games (2012), The Undoing (2020, miniseries) and many more. He passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Roger Corman has passed away

Born in Detroit, Michigan, Corman had a sprawling, intellectually hungry life as a youth and young man before arriving with his first film in 1955, Five Guns West. He would follow that with titles such as Apache Woman, It Conquered the World, Attack of the Crab Monsters, Teenage Cave Man, A Bucket of Blood, House of Usher, The Little Shop of Horrors, The Pit and the Pendulum, The Intruder, The Raven, The Terror, The Masque of Red Death, The Tomb of Ligeia, The Wild Angels, The Trip, Bloody Mama and many more. As a producer he was behind almost 500 films. Arguably among the most important filmmakers of the 20th century, Corman passed away at age 98. R.I.P.

William Friedkin has died

Born in Chicago, Friedkin accrued TV credits prior to his advance to the big screen as the director of Good TImes (1967), The Birthday Party (1968), The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968) and The Boys in the Band (1970) before his major breakthrough, The French Connection (1971), for which he won his only Oscar. He followed it up with the even bigger smash, The Exorcist (1973), arguably the best horror film of all time, for which he was Oscar-nominated. Later credits include Sorcerer (1977), Cruising (1980), To Live and Die in L.A. (1985), Rampage (1987), Rules of Engagement (2000), Killer Joe (2011) and The Devil and Father Amorth (2017, documentary). Friedkin passed away at age 87. R.I.P.

Louise Fletcher has passed away

Born in Alabama to deaf parents, Fletcher got her first credits in late-1950s TV-series.She took a 10 year-long sabbatical to devote her time to motherhood after the release of A Gathering of Eagles, but then came back and soon saw her career's most important part, as Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), for which she won her sole Oscar. Later credits include Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977), The Lucky Star (1980), Brainstorm (1983), Two Moon Junction (1988), Cruel Intentions (1999), A Perfect Man (2013) and many more. Fletcher passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Jean-Luc Godard has passed away

Born in Paris, France, Godard lived much of his life in Switzerland. He wrote for French film criticism magazine Cahiers du Cinema and became foundational for the New French Wave that inspired new waves in scores of other countries across the world with his Breathless (1960). Later credits include A Woman Is A Woman (1961), Vivre Sa Vie (1962), Le Petit Soldat (1962), Contempt (1963), Alphaville (1965), Pierrot le Fou (1965), 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her (1967), Weekend (1967), Every Man for Himself (1980), King Lear (1987), Century of Cinema (1995, documentary), Goodbye to Language (2014) and many more. Godard died of assisted suicide at age 91. R.I.P.

Wolfgang Petersen has died

James Caan has died

Caan was born the son of Jewish immigrants from Germany in New York. He got his start on TV in the early 1960s. His credits include El Dorado (1966), The Rain People (1969), Brian's Song (1971, TV movie), The Godfather (1972), - for which he earned his only Oscar nomination, - Slither (1973), The Gambler (1974), Funny Lady (1975), Rollerball (1975), Silent Movie (1976), Hide in Plain Sight (1980), - the only film he also directed, - Thief (1981), Misery (1990), Honeymoon in Vegas (1992), Bottle Rocket (1996), Eraser (1996), Dogville (2003), Elf (2003), Las Vegas (2003-07), Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009) and many more. Caan passed away at age 82. R.I.P.

Jean-Louis Trintignant has died

Born in Vaucluse, France, Trintignant's theatrical debut as an actor was in If All the Guys in the World... (1955). Later credits include ...And God Created Woman (1956), The Seven Deadly Sins (1961), Inferno (1964), A Man and A Woman (1966), My Love, My Love (1967), A Man to Kill (1967), The Great Silence (1968), Z (1969), The Assassination (1972), Three Colors: Red (1994), Amour (2012), Happy End (2017) and many more. He also wrote and directed two films in the 1970s. Trintignant passed away at age 91. R.I.P.

Ray Liotta has died

Adopted from an orphenage at a young age, Liotta got hooked on acting in high school. He had various TV credits in the late 1970s and early 80s, with his film debut in The Lonely Lady (1983). Later credits include Something Wild (1986), Field of Dreams (1989), Goodfellas (1990), Cop Land (1997), Hannibal (2001), Blow (2001), Narc (2002), John Q (2002), Identity (2003), Observe and Report (2009), Youth in Revolt (2009), The Details (2011), Killing THem Softly (2012), The Place Beyond the Pines (2012), Shades of Blue (2016-18), The Simpsons (2018, TV-series), Marriage Story (2019), The Many Saints of Newark (2021), Black Bird (2022, TV-series) and many more. Liotta passed away at age 67 in his sleep while on production in the Dominican Republic. R.I.P.

Philip Baker Hall has died

Born in Ohio, Hall didn't start acting until he was 30. His long list of credits include Zabriskie Point (1970), Miami Vice (1987, TV-series), Midnight Run (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Cheers (1993, TV-series), Hard Eight (1996), The Rock (1996), Air Force One (1997), Boogie Nights (1997), Seinfeld (1991-98), Rush Hour (1998), The Insider (1999), Magnolia (1999), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), Bruce Almighty (2003), Dogville (2003), The Zodiac (2005), Zodiac (2007), Curb Your Enthusiasm (2004-09), Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011), Modern Family (2011-12) and many more. Hall passed away at age 90. R.I.P.

Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!

Eagerly anticipating this week ... (17-24)

12/02/2023

The Postman/Il Postino (1994) - Troisi's moving swan song performance

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Eagerly anticipating this week ... (16-24)

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