Bread & Tulips | Pane e Tulipani
Director | Michael Radford
Presented by Mediterranean Foods
Silvio Soldini's Bread And Tulips (Pane e Tulipani) took nine prizes at Italy's leading awards ceremony - the David di Donatellos - in 2000, including Best Film, Best Director and Best Screenplay for Soldini and Doriana Leondeff.
The film also bagged awards for Best Actress, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress and Best Sound. Bread And Tulips was a surprise hit at the Italian box office, winning its audience and critical appeal strictly by word of mouth.
2000 | 115 mins | Romantic Comedy | Italy
Cast | Massimo Troisi, Maria Grazia Cucinotta, Renato Scarpa
Appealing for its delightfully laid-back philosophising, disarming charm and the restrained performance by the comic genius Massimo Troisi. Set in the 1950s on the idyllic Phlegraean Island of Procida, off the coast of Naples, it is a world left behind by the progress of mainland Italy. Nobel Prize-winning Chilean poet Pablo Neruda (played by veteran French actor Philippe Noiret) is exiled to the island for his political convictions. Mario, the seemingly guileless postman, is intrigued as he delivers stacks of fan mail to the famous poet. Soon, Mario’s good-natured, yet naive questions opens the door to an unexpected friendship. The power of language and poetry expands Mario’s horizons. Troisi’s depiction of Mario’s uneducated but intellectual spirit is drawn with such tenderness and humour that it is both profound and hilarious in the same moments. Mario soon wishes to use the newly discovered power of words to woo the beautiful Beatrice. The uplifting and allegorical simplicity of Il Postino disguises its beauty and its weight. This is a film that can truly be called ‘Cinema’ and deserves to be seen on the big screen.
WINNER
32 wins and 13 nominations in 2000/20001
I am not at the movies for lonely-hearts tips. I require the characters to be strange and wonderful, romantic and quirky, and above all, lovable.
Roger Ebert, Rotten Tomatoes