Il Postino

 I didn’t realize how much this movie impacted me until its end. Mario’s unexpected death evoked a lot of emotions in me; I was really rooting for his growth throughout the whole movie, and to see it all come to an end with his death at a protest was really unsatisfying. From the beginning, I thought Mario was a bit odd. He didn’t seem to fit the stereotype of a regular Italian man at the time; he was quieter, awkward, and overall just very different from the other male characters in the movie. I think his desire to do anything other than fishing, even delivering mail to a single person, symbolized his defying of the stereotype. His interactions with Neruda at the beginning seemed slightly uncomfortable, as his awkwardness was the driving force in the conversations. However, I admired that Neruda was so open to answering Mario’s questions and helping him to expand his perspective. I think that the poet saw Mario as a lost soul of sorts, and decided to take him under his wing. Eventually, I think that their relationship reached a point where it had become a father-son dynamic. I think that this was really good for Mario, as his father had never really given him attention, and he didnt have any other friends on the island. It was extremely apparent how lonely he was when he determinedly peppered the poet with questions daily, even when he had no mail to deliver. I think that life on the island caused Mario to have a very slim and lonely view of the world; all had known his entire life had been fishing and poverty. His discovery of a “metaphor” really hit me; up until that point, I hadn’t realized how significant his lack of education was until that moment. I really enjoyed watching how the poet was gradually helping to expand Mario’s knowledge about the world. His explanation of where he sees poetry in the world was beautiful, and I think that it played a huge role in who Mario grew to be. 

I was really proud of Mario towards the end of the movie because it was obvious that he had grown a lot; he was much less awkward, found himself a beautiful life, and had finally discovered something that he believed in-he knew that things in Italy needed to change. I think the most important part of the movie was the fact that Mario realized that the poet’s work was about change. He realized that he didn’t just want to sit around and remain inactive when someone needed to stand up and make a change. I admired Mario in the final scenes when he was at the protest that killed him. His growth was the most apparent in these scenes, and paired with the flashes of Neruda’s face after discovering Mario's death was incredibly impactful. I think that Neruda probably regretted not ever visiting Mario again, because I feel like the camerawork at the end showed that he realized that he was the one who had left a huge impact on Mario, enough for him to gain the desire to go to a dangerous protest.