听 In his last but equally career-defining role, Massimo Troisi played the simple postman who befriends exiled poet Pablo Neruda (Noiret), from whom he grows to love poetry. A favourite film of many, it gets a DVD release that's worth seeking out if you're a fan.
Technical Features:
Picture There is some minor print damage and slightly soft grain in occasional scenes, but this remains a fair transfer to DVD, with a largely clear and bright picture throughout.
Sound The 5.1 mix mainly splits the dialogue and music between the front speakers. There's little for the rears to do, so they're best just turned down to avoid any distracting hiss.
Special Features:
Audio Commentary Writer/director Michael Radford hits the audio commentary running, getting right to business for what is an information packed 105-minutes. In between providing location and shooting sequence facts, he also critically analyses various scenes as to why he felt they work or not, and problems he had directing them.
Soundtrack Featurette Here's a look at Neruda's Hollywood fans, who turned out to read his poetry for a Miramax album release to accompany the film. Sting completely destroys any warmth or meaning in the man's words, while other celebrities like Samuel L Jackson, and Andy Garcia fare a little better.
TV Special This is a 30-minute documentary that, amongst more painful celebrity readings of Neruda, also takes you behind-the-scenes of the film and give you the background to it all. Miramax heavyweight Harvey Weinstien is amongst those that provide gushing tributes to Massimo Troisi's battle to complete the role.
Region: 2
Chapters: 22
Ratio: 1.85:1 (anamorphic)
Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1
Extra Features: Scene selection, English subtitles, and English captions for the hearing impaired.
"Il Postino" is released on DVD on Monday 7th January 2002.
This DVD was reviewed on a JVC XV-S57 DVD player.
