Mario is a postman in a fishing village on a small island off the coast of Italy. Arriving there in 1953 is famed Chilean poet Pablo Neruda, exiled from his native country for espousing communist doctrine. Mario is curious about this new resident who, despite his advancing age, has a seemingly magical power over women. Eventually, after delivering Neruda's mail for a while, he gets up the courage to engage the poet in a conversation about writing. This begins an unusual collaboration, with Mario providing a sounding board for Neruda's ideas and Neruda teaching Mario about poetry and its relationship to life.
How does the ending catapult the movie from a good to a great film?
What sort of a person is Mario?
How does the director keep the reader engaged throughout the film?
How is Pablo Neruda the perfect foil for Mario? (Is Pablo a good mentor? Discuss why.)
Ultimately, what is the movie about? Is there an underlying theme or message?
3 comments:
In the end of the film, Pablo Neruda returns to the Italian island after learning that the warrent for his arrest has been revoked and that he is safe to return. When arrives, he meets Mario's wife, Beatrice and their son Pablito.
He is told that Mario was killed in a raid during a rally where he was supposed to give a speech. A peom rather than a speech. This peom was the result of Neruda's teachings of metaphors.
At first Mario is portrayed as a curios person. He wants to know why Neruda had fled and why so many women loved him and wanted to be with him. After hearing the word "Metaphor", he becomes hungery for more knowledge! He is also shy of Beatrice and is attracted to her!
A foil is a person or thing that makes another seem better by contrast.
Neruda is a perfect foil because he is a very famous poet and a great teacher. He first starts off by showing Beatrice that they are friends. Then he teaches Mario peotry.
I got from the movie that there are things that can change who we are. This was a movie showing positive change.
-Musaab
I think this film was brilliant.
Neruda was a perfect mentor to Mario because he is just such an interesting person with such a grant personality. To have only a casual conversation with him is fascinating. I think Neruda was just a natural teacher. And Mario was a fairly good student- he strived to get away from the life that was expected of him and everyone else on the island. He watches Neruda with such worship in his eyes, it's hard to miss!
I've noticed that Mario constantly watches Neruda. He notices especially his and Matilda's affection towards each other. To me it looks like a fairy tail, and I'm sure Mario felt a longing to have the same amount of closessness with Beatrice.
Mario also striked me as an amazingly good hearted character. And he seemed just so pure, it was hard not to like him!
The ending of the movie was heartbreaking. After Mario waited for Neruda for years, he finally came back, but too late. Mario was dead, and the look on Neruda's face shows nothing but agony. And probably the thought that he should have came back earlier, should have written.
Unfortunately, this kind of thing happens in our every day lives. We get so caught up in work and such that we forget the people that matter.
I think that even though it is obvious that Neruda had a major impact on Mario (teaching him, and adding a little spark to his every day life), Mario in turn had an impact on Neruda. It's always nice to know that people look up at you. I think that when Neruda finally came back he might have realised that Mario was a better person than he was- he didn't forget his friend.
The film was a great tribute to the power and beauty of poetry.
During the end of the film, Pablo Neruda returns back to the Italian island after 3years to meet Mario and his wife Beatrice. when he arrives, he meets Beatrice and their son Pablito. He sadly dicovers that Mario died in mass rally while reading a poem.
In the begining Mario is portrayed as shy and curious person. He takes on a job as a postman, where he has to only deliver mail to neruda. At first when he met Neruda he was a bit shy, later they became a bit closer,Mario's simplistic questions about poetry wind up forcing Neruda to reveal some of the raw materials of his artistic vision. Then during one visit Neruda mentions about metaphors to Mario,this sets Mario on a raeding rampage! as he was soo keen on seeing different metaphors and their effect.
Mario falls in love with Beatrice, but he is too shy to talk to her, so with the aid of Pablo he entices her with poetry. Pablo was a great teacher because he takes a total starnger under his wing and teaches him everything about poetry just to win the heart of a young girl.
The film had a great message of reality in it,where there are alot a great people that inspire us, like teachers and friends but dont really know it, but in the end you will always stand true to that person and never forget him|her just like Mario who nerver forgot about Pablo Neruda & how he changed his life.
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