A 1994 Italian film directed by Michael Radford, Il Postino ("The Postman", and originally released under that title in the U.S.) is based on the 1985 novel Ardiente paciencia. The film starred Massimo Troisi, who died of a heart attack within hours of finishing the film. Troisi had long suffered heart problems, and had actually delayed heart surgery so he could finish the film.
Chilean Poet Pablo Neruda is living in exile on a small Italian island. A simple fisherman named Mario Ruopollo becomes a postman. Mario starts delivering Neruda's mail and discovers the wonders of poetry. He comes to Neruda, asking his advice, when he falls in love with a woman named Beatrice.
This work features examples of:
- Distant Finale: Neruda meets Mario's family a few years after the main story.
- Noble Fugitive: Pablo Neruda fled Chile to evade arrest. Later, the warrant for his arrest is revoked and he gets to return home.
- Retronym: It was released in the U.S. as The Postman in 1995. Later releases title it Il Postino: The Postman.
- Someone to Remember Him By: Mario dies before his son is born.
- Victoria's Secret Compartment: Beatrice hides her love letters there.
