First, I should admit that until now I had never seen any movie by the Taviani brothers or heard of Gavino Ledda. This made "Padre padrone" even more of a treat. There's a stark contrast in the harshness inflicted by Ledda's father (who expects the boy to continue the family tradition) and Ledda's goal. As a person who takes an interest in foreign languages, I enjoyed hearing Sardinian spoken; I like hearing languages that we don't often get to hear.

Overall, this could be a double-viewing with "The Great Santini" or "This Boy's Life" (maybe a triple-viewing with all three). It's a wonder some people made it out of their childhoods without remaining completely damaged. All in all, a fine piece of work.

The true story of the life of Gavino Ledda, the son of a Sardinian shepherd, and how he managed to escape his harsh, almost barbaric existence by slowly educating himself, despite violent opposition from his brutal father.

Janet Maslin praised the film and wrote, "Padre Padrone is stirringly affirmative. It's also a bit simple: The patriarchal behavior of Gavino's father is so readily accepted as an unfathomable given constant that the film never offers much insight into the man or the culture that fostered him. Intriguingly aberrant behavior is chalked up to tradition, and thus robbed of some of its ferocity. But the film is vivid and very moving, coarse but seldom blunt, and filled with raw landscapes that underscore the naturalness and inevitability of the father-son rituals it depicts." Maslin may not be all too familiar with the tradition. If she was, she would appreciate why it needs no explanation. I don't know Sardinia specifically, but I know Sicily, and this behavior would just be expected. There is no deeper psychology behind it. What makes this film interesting is not that a young man overcomes his father (many do that),but that he became a Sardinian linguist... because seriously, who does that? I was not even aware they had their own language.

"Padre Padrone" ("Father Master" in Italian) is inspired by Gavino Ledda's autobiography. The book provides invaluable insight on living conditions and bigger-than-life anecdotes. The movie transforms this authentic account into a metaphor on traditions, knowledge, emancipation and growing up.

The movie only adapts selected passages of the book as usual (notably because of length),but interestingly adds a few scenes: men arguing and promising to leave Sardinia during the religious procession; Gavino peeing from the truck taking them away; Gavino and Cesare speaking Latin in the tank, etc. Logically, these scenes have a strong visual impact. Also, the father's role is more developed in the movie and we perceive how he thinks: he is a victim of the system like Gavino, even though they fight back differently.

EDUCATION

The metaphorical dimension is first expressed by the presence of Ledda himself at the beginning and at the end: the movie is hence put into perspective; we understand it carries a message. The actual life of Ledda is almost an allegory in itself: mostly alone when he was a child with limited communication possibilities, illiterate, he ultimately becomes... a famous linguist.

The movie illustrates this journey progressively:

• First there is silence, depicted by a bell ringing when Gavino is alone in the mountains, as well as in military class (he hence remains lonely despite being surrounded by people because he does not understand). Silence is also symbolised by the fact he cuts his lips twice: once to pretend he was attacked, once precisely to remain mute.
• He afterwards learns to interpret the "language" of nature: sights, sounds, smells. This will allow him to pass the blindfolded test Cesare imposes to him later on, and hence have access to education.
• Then a non-verbal medium, music, allows Gavino to communicate. He initially tries to play Strauss' waltz on his accordion... and another shepherd in the mountain answers with a flute. He then catches it on his radio, and thus passes the army test. Later on, he whistles Mozart's clarinet concerto after his father destroys the radio.
• He eventually learns Italian and articulated communication. He finally is able to answer back to his father.
• Remarkably, we partly revert to silence towards the end: the shots on the children's faces with their inner thoughts at the beginning are repeated without sound at the end; the shot when Gavino is finally leaving is totally silent. Despite all the knowledge and talk, a part of us and of our past remains mysterious.

• The movie starts and ends at school, each time with the presence of the main character both young (Gavino) and old (Ledda). Some shots are even duplicated.
• The bell representing silence rings at different points.
• Gavino cuts his lips twice.
• When adult Gavino comes back to the village, he is afraid his father will strike him, like he was as a child.
• His father then forbids him to eat and locks the food closet, as he did in the mountains.
• In the kitchen, the father wants to strike the adult Gavino with a stick, just like the other shepherd stroke his son in the mountains.
• After the father violently hit the young Gavino, he sings a Sardinian tune, which will be repeated during the religious procession when Gavino is adult. Additionally, during this fabulous procession, the young men carry a heavy statue that we visualise as the father: they are dominated by traditions in different forms (religion, father, master).

• When Gavino rebels against his father, the speech he voices to him from his bed is memorised, just like the father's speech at the beginning in school.
• Gavino recites words from the dictionary, as his father recited multiplications.
• Gavino does not understand the class at the army, as his father did not understand the olive purchaser's explanation.
• Ledda says at the end: "I might abuse my new privilege, as my father did".

• Abstract: close shots on hands washing, on a hand hitting the red table to have food.
• Symbolic: father and son fight in obscurity, expressing their subconscious desire to get rid of each other; it is the dark conflict between tradition and emancipation.
• Ironic: they fight as Mozart's beautiful music plays; afterwards, the mother sings.
• Ambiguous: when Gavino fetches his suitcase afterwards, he first ignores his father, then puts his forehead on his leg. He still loves him despite everything. And his father first wants to caress his head, then strike it. We unexpectedly move on to the next scene, so will never know what actually happened, but it does not matter: the father's emotion stays suspended between love and hate.