Yasmin: Hello Michael, my name is Yasmin.

I’d like to start by thanking for you making the

time to speak with me.

Michael: Thank you for your invite!

Yasmin: I also wanted to congratulate you on your very successful award-winning Il Postino
film in which you directed. The film was loved by all the viewers, and it would be deranged
to affirm otherwise.

Michael: Thank you!

Yasmin: Throughout the course of Il Postino, it became evident that the film and peotry had
consisted of the themes of relationships, power, and identity. There was also the fact that
poetry is capable of influencing people’s actions and ultimately their lives being addressed
in the film and poetry by Pablo Neruda. Would you also see eye to eye with this?

Michael: Yes, of course.

Yasmin: It came to my attention that the scene ‘Metaphors’ focuses greatly on the theme of
relationships. Do you think you could enlighten us?

Michael: Yes, of course! This is because the scene exhibits the type of friendship that Pablo
Neruda had with Mario. It is evident in this scene that Mario and Pablo are having a friendly
conversation due to the tone of their voices being calm, and the body language of Pablo is
relaxed since he’s sitting down for part of the conversation and when he’s standing up, he’s
smiling with Mario. The ambient sounds present in the scene for instance the calming waves
and sounds of footsteps gives a realistic effect and makes you feel like your there. The
Natural lighting present in the scene gives the audience a more realistic view for the
surrounding area. The power of poetry managed to bring Mario and Pablo closer and
strengthen their relationship more than before and allowed them to have a conversation. If
this conversation didn’t occur, then later in the film when he meets Beatrice, he wouldn’t
have to encourage him to talk to her which would change the plot of the movie and make
the movie almost pointless.

Yasmin: I also noticed that the theme of relationships was present in the scene Words in Il
Postino. Would you like to summarize what the scene is about for the viewers who might
not understand and analyse the scene for us?

Michael: The scene Words in Il Postino, the theme relationships was present. The scene
illustrates Beatrice and Donna arguing over whether Mario is good for Beatrice. Donna is
attempting to expose Mario’s intentions for his ‘bad’ intentions while he has good intentions
for Beatrice. Within the scene calming music is present at the start when Beatrice is having
flashbacks, however, the music stops when serious conversation occurs which sets the
mood and allows the audience to know when something is wrong. Within the scene natural
lighting is present which gives a romantic mood when she thinks of Mario. However, it’s also
used as a form of intimidation from Donna when Beatrice is talking to her about Mario. The
poetry that Mario had given to Beatrice influenced the way that he was perceived by Donna
and Beatrice. Donna thought that he had evil intentions and thought that he was
undeserving of her. On the contrary, Beatrice knew that Mario was kind-hearted and had
good intentions for her and has never laid a finger on her body.

Yasmin: Thank you for your partaking your insightful point-of-view with us. Now I wanted to
take a step back from the movie for a bit and just delve deeper into the poetry of Pablo
Neruda in particular, I’m explaining a few things. The poem has the power present within
the poem. The poem navigates the ravages of war that Pablo never fought in but had
observed the tragedies of. Would you delight in elaborating the poems deeper meaning, the
theme of power within the poem?

Michael: Yes, Pablo had indeed expressed his emotions though his words and how he has a
deep hatred for this war and what’s it done to the children and the community. The poem
had a violent accumulation of emotion and had used personification, exemplified in the line,
‘And the rain repeatedly spattering its words and drilling them full…’ The personification of
rain and using the verb ‘drilling’ generates the result of forceful and heavy rain. The
forcefulness of the rain adds to the atmosphere of violence to the poem, which goes with
the poem’s overall aggressive tone. The theme of power is present in the poem because the
poem is about the Spanish civil war, the collapse of Spanish democracy was the major cause
of the Spanish Civil War. This was due to the Spanish parties' and groups' inability to
compromise and accept democratic standards. This poem was used in attempt to change
the situation of the war and to protest against it, the poem spoke about how other
individuals’ lives were impacted ‘from every house burning metal flows, instead of flowers.
The use of the words ‘burning metal’ was a metaphor to express the destruction, it was one
of the numerous examples of visual imagery in the poem, it illustrated the pain, death, fire,
and horrors of the war. The power of poetry was exploited to Pablo’s advantage to protest
the Spanish war, with the power of poetry Pablo managed to get other individuals who
would be convinced and want to protest with him.

Yasmin: Thank you for answering my question to a distinguished standard. The theme of
identity was very evident in the poem Poetry also written by Pablo himself. So, my inquiry is
how was the poem Poetry related to the theme identity and the power of poetry?

The poem is about how he is tied to poetry and that he has a love, passion, and is fond of
poetry. Pablo Neruda’s’ experiences throughout his lifetime as a child when he was taught
his culture, has impacted his point of view with everything including how he perceives
poetry and how it allows him to feel pure. Pablo Neruda uses repetition, exemplified in the
line, ‘I don't know, I don't know…’ The repetition of ‘I don’t know’, creates an effect of
emphasis to the audience. The emphasis of not knowing adds a thick atmosphere of the fear
he faces of not knowing why he has a love for poetry. The poem Poetry takes use of
symbolism in various lines in the poem for instance the use of the word ‘raging fires’ and
‘great starry void’ are to grab the attention of the reader to keep them from losing interest,
and it also contains a deeper meaning to it. The two examples listed above were used to
emphasize his love for poetry. He also expressed that no matter how far he would try to run
away from it, he would always be brought back to it because he’s fated to it.
Yasmin: Thank you for taking the time out to be here! I would like to thank you for your
insightful responses. I wish you a good day!

Michael: Thanks for having me. Have a good day.