What do we truly know about love? We know that it comes in all different forms, and we know that people have different ways of showing their affection. Sometimes people use lyrics or poems to express their feelings, and that’s what Burning Patience explores. Mario is a young fisherman who dreams of becoming a poet. He gets a job as the postman to Pablo Neruda when the legendary writer moves there after being exiled from Chile, as per the synopsis on IMDB.
While he works for Neruda and becomes his companion, he learns the ways of a poet. Neruda explains to him how to use metaphors romantically, and Mario picks up quickly. There is a young girl in town named Beatriz who he falls in love with but doesn’t have the first clue as to how to even approach her.
He starts writing her poems and sends them to the local radio station so she could hear them because her mother, Elba, is completely against the two of them getting together. Director Rodrigo Sepúlveda shows the Chilean culture and pays close attention to how the townspeople treat creatives.
Some worship the ground they walk on because they have a way with words, and others don’t understand how they make a living.
Burning Patience ending explained
In the end, Neruda and Beatriz’s mother have a sit-down and she scolds him for his poetry. When she was 17, she fell in love with a poet and ended up pregnant with Beatriz. He left her alone to raise the child and was disgusted by poetry ever since. But the stories she told Beatriz, made her into a poet herself.
She picked up on those metaphors and was a lover. She saw the beauty in everything around her and knew how to express herself. Her mother turned her into the one thing she didn’t want. Since Neruda pulled out of the election for Allende to become President, they had a welcome-back party for him at the bar she worked at.
There, Neruda and Mario made a plan to separate Beatriz and her mother, so that Mario could have some time with her. Beatriz wonders off while Neruda gives a speech and holds Beatriz’s mother beside him, as he speaks to her but it’s meant for everyone. Beatriz sneaks into a back room and finds Mario.
They reconcile and say that they have to face Beatriz’s mother together to prove their love to her. They walk out right after the speech and approach her.
In true poetic fashion, they speak about their love for each other in unique ways so her mother can understand the connection they have. Beatriz finally understands that this is more than just empty words and she gives them her blessing.
What did you think of the ending of the Netflix film Burning Patience? Comment below.
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