Padre padrone (“My Father, My Master)
Directed by Paolo and Vittorio Taviani
Written by Paolo and Vittorio Taviani from a book by Gavani Ledda
1977/Italy
IMDb page
Repeat viewing/Amazon Prime
[last lines] Father: Don’t laugh at Gavino. Hands on your desks! Today is Gavino’s turn. Tomorrow will be yours.
This is a good movie about the struggle of a boy to come of age despite the bleak circumstances of his life.
The story is based on the autobiography of Gavani Ledda, who narrates the beginning and ending of the film. Gavani lived in a rural Sardinian village in a large family totally dominated by its brutal, ruthless father. The father pulls Gavani out of elementary school at age 6. He goes to work as a shepherd in the mountains. This means he is alone in the middle of nowhere for long stretches of time. His most frequent visitor is his father who usually finds some reason to beat him for an infraction of the rules.
At one point, some traveling musicians wander by playing the accordion. Gavino buys a broken one for the price of two lambs. His father does not buy the story that the lambs were stolen by bandits. So he gets another thrashing but he does eventually teach himself to play well.
When Gavani turns 20 he wants to go to Germany in search of work. Dad has a nasty surprise for him there. Finally, father has a kind of half-cocked idea of becoming a financier. He thinks Gavani’s enlistment in the Italian army will bring honor to the family. Gavani arrives to basic training illiterate and unable to speak standard Italian. Dialects are forbidden. He has a hard time but his innate intelligence pulls him through.
I think I was more impressed the first time I saw this but I enjoyed it this time as well. It’s a peek into a really foreign culture. In this case, there is beauty in the simplicity of life but also a critique of how tradition stifles people. The child abuse could possibly trigger some people, but otherwise I recommend it.
