Padre Padrone (1977)

Directors: Paolo Taviani, Vittorio Taviani
Writers: Gavino Ledda (book), Paolo Taviani
Stars: Omero Antonutti, Saverio Marconi, Marcella Michelangeli

The Taviani brothers first established their international reputation with this powerful film based on an autobiographical novel by Gavino Ledda, who escaped an impoverished childhood in Sardinia to become an accomplished linguist. Ledda himself introduces the film by passing the stick used by his father, an illiterate shepherd who can conceive no other future for his son than following the family tradition, to the actor (Omero Antonutti) who will play him. The primal conflict between an authoritarian father and a rebellious son is carefully situated by the Tavianis within a specific culture and a specific landscape, which paradoxically serves to make the struggle seem more timeless.

Vittorio and Paolo Taviani are surely one of the most important Italian directors ever and just like all the great masters they often have their not so brilliant movies, but "Padre Pardone" certainly belongs to the best they ever made. It's all based on a true story and sometimes people tend to forget that there are places that God forget. In an agricultural area in Sardinia some folks pretend it's better to take care of the sheeps rather than scoring well at school. The young Gavino (Fabrizio Forte) goes to his school but one day he's father comes in the classroom telling him that his schooldays are over and that it is time to take up his duty as shepherd. The brothers Taviani are masters in filming the useless factors of the job as we see a young boy who absolutely has no interest in the job he got by his father, and we see some explicit scenes in where the almighty father beat his children. Schoking that's for sure and if the Gavino grows older we see his hunger to learn something (the poor boy couldn't read) as soon as he must enter the world of the army which is in total contrast with the world of the hills where sheep run. The story itself is rather hard to bear and you often shake your head by disbelief but still the Taviani-brothers are opting for a sober and poetic approach of the problem that it looks like you're viewing some touristic documentary of an area that God forgot. "Padre pardone" is certainly the kind of movie that will have both its lovers and enemies but having said that, you know that "Padre Pardone" belongs to the classic section of the Italian cinema that will never be forgotten.

More in My Blog