A Special program of Poetry and Film

at

Baggikhana, Patan Dhoka

Sunday, December 26, 2004

4:00 p.m.

Tickets: Rs. 50 (available at the venue)

Contact: 5542544

In honor of the 100th birth anniversary of the renowned Chilean poet Pablo Neruda,
The Film Club
presents

El Postino

Academy Awards nomination 1995 as Best Picture of the Year

Directed by Michael Radford

108 minutes; Color; Italian / Spanish; 1994

Screening of the film will be preceded by recitation of 2 selections of Neruda?s poetry

Presenters are:

Karina Thapa (In Spanish)
Viplob Pratik (In Nepali)
Kunda Dixit (In English)


Synonpsis of the film:

Good times and good things often come by accident.
Mario, the son of a fisherman, lives with his father in a village on a small Italian island where there are few jobs and limited fresh water. There is not much to do or even to think about, given that little ever happens on the island. Then one day Mario learns that the famous Chilean poet Pablo Neruda, who has been exiled from his country, has chosen to live on the little island. Mario, who has never heard of Neruda and does not read poetry, hears that the postman needs someone with a bicycle to deliver Neruda?s mail. There is no pay, only the possibility of a tip. The chance to make a little money plus curiosity motivates Mario to apply for the position.

What follows is Mario?s gradual awakening to his own potential and his awareness of the poetry around him. In a sense Mario?s encounters with Neruda cause him to have a deeper appreciation of his own life and of the world. He does not become a deep thinker but remains a simple fisherman who comes to see his world in a different way. Neruda becomes like an older brother whose life may not be fully understood but provides a beacon of possibilities and greater things ahead.
____________________________

Coordinator
Film South Asia
Himal Association
PO Box 166
Patan Dhoka, Lalitpur
Kathmandu
Nepal
Tel: 977 1 5542544
Fax: 977 1 5541196

Oh my god.This is one of the best Italian movies I have ever watched.I have watched it at least 5 times.Won't mind watching it 50 more times in my life time.My favorite part of the movie:
Mario falls in love with a beautiful girl by using the techniques(metaphores) he learned from Neruda.He goes back to Neruda all sad with all the SWEET PAIN love brings to one's life.Neruda tells him there's a cure.And Mario very quickly stops Neruda saying "No...No...I don't want to be cured"

If anyone loves Italian movies (just like I do), watch these also:
Life is beautiful
Johny Stockino
Cinema Paradiso
Il Monstro (comedy)

Il Postino has a bit of Cyrano De Bergrac element to it. A smitten postman, Mario Ruoppolo (Massimo Troisi) discovers that love can be that most elusive of butterflies. Anyone who has ever yearned for the affections of that special someone will be able to identify with Mario.

I, too, do love Italian movies especially old ones by Fellini.

"Life is beauitful" is in the league of its own, a modern day classic. I guess this phrase summerizes it the best, " It is a comedy (wonderful), that would make you cry."

How about Malena, its really good too.

My favorite from Malena is this:
One Sunday afternoon, a beggar enjoys the sun sitting in his usual place.But this time, he is not there with his bowl.A guy gives him some money.And the beggar goes "I don't work on Sundays".

apparently, neruda was quite the mack-daddy. i read this autobio, but did not learn any techniques for falling in love with beautiful girls. so DP, what was that metaphores that helped mario? i certainly would not mind adding an arrow to my love-quiver. j/k..

Zalim, those (techniques) were basically the "love poems" (how you praise your girl, how you express yourself, how you show your love for her). Mario called them metaphores.I can understand Neruda being a mack-daddy.Mario delivers hundreds of(love) letters for Neruda everyday.By the way, Mario was hired as a postman only because there were so many letters everyday for Neruda.So, basically he was Neruda's postman.
If you like Il Postino, and want Pablo Neruda's selected love poems read by various actors and actresses (Madonna, Julia Roberts, Andy garcia, Samuel Jackson....etc), you can buy a CD.Besides my love for Italian movies, music, and food, this is one of the best gifts I got from my friend ,Gaurab Tewari, who had grown up in Italy.

thanks for the tip DP. i haven't had the pleasure of watching il postino. it's one my to-do list, tho. i guess i should add the selected love poems to it too. but i hope madonna does not reads neruda's poetry in her fake british accent.

All the recitals on that CD are beautiful.I absolutely love them.Some of my friends thought I was crazy to listen to Pablo Neruda's poems recited.Well, Neruds's poems to them must have been like rowdy Hindi movies to me.

i love el postini
but my all time fav is cinema paradiso
its the movie that changed my life and inspired me and convinced me that i too can be a filmmaker .............watchout for my movies in coming years

Life is beautiful is fantastic movie........ofcourse who can beat when it comes to romance and love story.........i love italians..from gals to moive....How can u forget such a romantic language.........which makes u r heart goes faster? Lot of ppl dont belive me but i love italian music as well as movie...Oh pavaroti.......andrea borcelli......god that voice...man

hey i forget the italian guy who sang that song time to say goodbye.......i will love to listen to that song when i am dying. I remember when i heard that song for first time....i cant help crying.....and la bohem of pavaroti.....amazing tenor...

atsa la vista

hey guys do u know when is the next concerte of pavaroti and frens which he helds every year in his home town...modena...i cant wait to buy that DVD and cd...this year he is gonna give money to kids of iraq.....what a guy?

Talking about good foreign movies, has anybody watched Spanish movie 'Butterfly' (2000) ?

It is a must watch movie, particularly for us, who are about to watch great political polarization, turmoil and a bloody revolution possibly in a near future.

This movie, although set in the advance shadow of Spanish civil war, is not a war movie, however. It is a simple story about a unique relationship between a 8 years old boy, Moncho, and his school teacher, Gregorio. Politics does not come significantly until the end of the movie.

When I watched the movie, it felt like reading mindGame's poetry- simple story with no grand messages yet with powerful statements in them.

Moncho learns, from his teacher, from his mother, from his friends, from his company with his brother, things about life, about nature and beyond.

The end of the movie makes a powerful statement about dark side of human nature, particularly that which fear prompts. The way the fear of Spanish Facists made Moncho's mom do things brings the images of what the rule of Gyanendra Maharaj, or Comred Prachanda, for that matter, might do.

Here are some images from the movie. Hope they motivates you to watch the movie, if you have not already.

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Mocho and Gregorio learn about and from each other.

Moncho learns an interesting lesson under the guidance of his friend.

Moncho's romance

Moncho's romance

Moncho's romance

Moncho's brother loses his heart to a young Chinese girl married to an old man

Political backdrop

Shocking end. Powerful statement.