I felt that Il Postino was an interesting movie from the perspective that its scope and its pacing was different than any of the other movies that we watched so far. While other movies have spanned large cities, took on decades of material, and saw characters take on gargantuan tasks, Il Postino dedicated its runtime to a single island off the coast of Italy, and prioritizes one man's quest to find himself and seek true love. One of the most believable films we've watched in class so far, the story's development takes place over one summer and sees famous communist poet Pablo Neruda befriend a poorly-educated postman and set him on a path to gain the confidence to find a wife and eventually become politically active with the communist party in Italy.
The most interesting interpersonal character relationship I found was between Pablo Neruda and Mario, the central characters of the story. In a later scene of the movie, after Neruda's political exile was ended and he had returned home, Mario and his family sit around a table and debate whether Neruda actually felt his relationship with Mario was significant. In the scene, Mario's mother-in-law states that Neruda was "a bird who has eaten its meal", moving on now that it had eaten its fill. While I don't agree with Donna Rossa's interpretation, I agree with her statement that Neruda is a bird of sorts. Within this line of thinking, I invoke the concept that Neruda is a nurturing bird, and Mario the bird Neruda takes care of. If we take this analogy and transpose it, Neruda's departure and neglect is simply because he believes he has taught Mario all that he can, and that Mario now has to find his own path toward flight, so to speak. His job is done; he found Mario as a neglected and uneducated young man, and has now provided him with the tools to become his own person, leading a more confident and forward-thinking life. While his eventual neglect of their relationship is something of a sore spot for Mario, undoubtedly their friendship improved Mario's outlook on life, and allowed him to come out of his shell and become a more confident member of society.
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