I saw this back around 1996 at the local theater near the college I was attending at the time. I purchased the DVD not long ago and watched it again at home last night; first time I've seen it in more than 20 years.

Not a bad film at all; some modern audiences might find the pacing a bit slow and the comedy too understated, but I rather enjoyed this very sweet and simple love story between a shy man and a beautiful young lady, a newcomer to the rustic and quaint little Mediterranean island where he lives.

This film is noteworthy not only for the often-mentioned fact that the male lead-- Massimo Troisi --died just 12 hours after the film's completion, of heart failure at only 41, but also because it achieved a wide theatrical release and commercial success in the United States. For those non-Americans reading this, this is extremely rare, as "Il Postino" is an Italian film, filmed in Italian with English subtitles*. In the United States-- philistines that we are --"foreign-language" (non-English) films are relegated to the "art-house" circuit and rarely see the light of day in the nationwide commercial theater chains. Heck, my Midwestern parents even went to see it at a theater here in "flyover country" (and they also liked it).

In any case, for those who haven't seen "Il Postino" and are looking for an innocent, light romantic love story (no nudity, no profanity), this movie might be what you're looking for.

*: On the Miramax Collector's Series DVD I have-- which was of excellent technical quality, by the way, with bonus material navigation features frequently only found on Blu-Ray discs --the English subtitles can be turned off.