The main theme in this film is the unending power of language. The power to make one able to navigate the world, the power to make someone fall in love with you, and even the power to make real change in society. The movie has several key moments that demonstrate each of the aforementioned aspects of the power of language.
The first scene that stands out is the scene where Mario goes to the mail office to ask for a job. During this scene, we learn that much of the town that Mario resides in is illiterate, as the first and only question that he gets asked is if he is literate. I believe that this scene is trying to convey that language is a necessity that is needed for people to thrive not just survive. Everyone else is "surviving" just fine, but are resigned to being fishermen and their sons and grandsons being fishermen and will never become anything more than that. This scene shows the power of language when it comes to advancing in life and navigating the world.
The next scene I want to discuss is the scene where Mario recites poetry to Beatrice on the beach. There is the surface level interpretation of this scene that he is just using poetry to try and get Beatrice to like him, but I think there is some deeper meaning. The meaning in this scene is that humans find beauty in words. Beatrice didn't have any reason to be drawn to him until he started speaking to her. Words have the power to change the way people feel about things, and therefore bring about change in society.
The final scene that needs to be talked about is the protest scene where Mario goes and protests in Rome. He is going to be selected as a speaker at the protest and is going to present some of his poetry to the audience. Before he got the chance to say his speech, he was killed. The reason he was killed is because the government felt threatened by his ability to sway public opinion and unify people. Him dying shows how powerful words are because the most powerful force in the country wants to silence him so that he cannot use them.
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