Getting to Know… Il Postino

Suitable for:
Edexcel A Level

Ready-to-use research tasks, worksheets, background information and practice exam questions ensure comprehensive understanding of Il postino – a film directed by Michael Radford and written by Furio and Giacomo Scarpelli in collaboration, amongst others, with Massimo Troisi and Michael Radford himself.

Students will explore this engaging film about a fictional friendship between a postman and Chilean poet Pablo Neruda, and be fully prepared for the writing exam.

The structure offers the perfect balance between guided classwork and independent study:

  • Before: Students will familiarise themselves with the social, cultural, political and geographical context of the film, as well as technical vocabulary, the director.
  • During: The film is broken into key sections to provide in-depth active learning opportunities for students to familiarise themselves with the plot and the characters.
  • After: These sections cover the structure of the film, the themes and the cinematic style, and provide exam-style questions and model essays to help students prepare for the exam.
  • Answers are provided for all activities, including model essays and indicative content for the exam-style questions.

What do teachers say about this resource? (11329)

In my opinion, this booklet is well written and follows closely the Edexcel Specification for A Level Italian. One of the positive aspects of this booklet is the accuracy of the language and the way the author scaffolds the learning, introducing key vocabulary gradually. I think that this booklet fulfils the needs of the A Level spec. especially where the author explains the success criteria for a good essay and simplifies the criteria with an example. I also believe that this booklet provides students several opportunities to expand their vocabulary/idiomatic expressions/grammar and technical language, especially cinematic techniques. There is a good variety in terms of activities. There are several opportunities for students to complete online tasks (e.g.research…) This is very welcome because it allows students to become more independent and explore the topic at their own pace.

F La Bua, Teacher and Peer Reviewer