Padre padrone

I saw this movie more than 20 years ago, but I have never forgotten it. There is no need for me to repeat what others have said about the plot. Let me just say that the film's use of natural sound is astounding. An illiterate boy is isolated from other people, so he develops a unique understanding of the world's noises. I appreciated the film's critique of paternalism, but even more, I was profoundly moved by the story of a peasant boy who manages to overcome his isolation and fear of his father and learn to read and then to study linguistics.

I am going to buy a copy of this movie for my grandson who is studying film at a university. Despite the fact that he is a young and urban American, I think he will appreciate the humor, the innovative techniques and the themes of this remarkable film.

Based on the true story of author Gavino Ledda, we follow his life growing up on a Sicilian farm where he is subjected to the brutal realism of his father. It all begins when he is taken out of school at a very young age because dad (Omero Antonutti) needs him to tend the sheep and keep them safe from snakes, wolves and bandits! He's barely two foot tall at this stage. This is the template for much of the rest of his childhood as his education is sacrificed to keep them fed and housed. Reaching his adulthood he finds himself manoeuvred into joining the military by his father - a responsibility that rather backfires on the older man as Gavino (now Saverio Marconi) proves not only that he is quite capable of learning - not just the basics of reading and arithmetic, but of understanding the complexities of electrical engineering and radio operation. He decides to return to Sicily after his time in the army, but much more on his own terms and to study at university. Naturally, his disappointed father has other ideas - but can these two men reconcile and Gavino learn to (or want to) forgive his father? Initially, it's really quite easy to loathe the paternal character. Save for one tiny semblance of affection (after a beating) he shows no emotional connection to his son at all. As the film progresses though, it becomes slightly easier to understand that this man comes from a long line of people with little hope, living an hand-to-mouth existence with no education and little belief in opportunity. Is it despite him or partly because of him that Gavino has such an independent spirit? Marconi delivers strongly here and both he and Antonutti sustain the degree of familial tension as both realise that change is inevitable. Change and ageing. I like the indefinite nature of the conclusion - it's all a work in process and one I found quite compelling to watch.

This film made in the late seventies in Italy describes a rural family in the island of Sardinia. One year later, another film on agrarian society, "L'albero degli Zoccoli", also made in Italy, was a smashing success. The success among the italian audiences was attributed to a nostalgic remembrance of agrarian societies and lifestyle, also seen in Bertolucci's "1900". This film had a profound effect in many third-world countries. People from Turkey and from Madascar that came from rural patriarcal families whose economy was based on sheep farming saw this movie as their life manifesto. The struggles of the young son as he grows in his father's sheep farm are depicted in Taviani's style of symbolism. Notable is the army buddy that is a medical school graduate played by Nanni Moretti, who eventually became one of Italy's current leading film directors. See this movie with "Banditi a Orgosolo" (1960) if you can find it.

"Padre Padrone" (Italian, 1977): Directed by Paolo and Vittoria Taviani. A Sardinian boy grows up under the crude and violent shadow of his sheepherder father. Family life is a combination of mind-numbing boredom and crackling moments of fear. The years pass, and almost by accident, the boy (now a man of 20) becomes involved in the larger world. Here begins his struggle to break away from the tyranny of "Father/Master", and make use all that awaits him… but the teachings of his father are NOT that easily left behind. It's an interesting psychological story shown in typical Italian 70's fashion – low production values, lots of overdubbing, and only a slight interest in creating an artful shot (no, most Italian films are NOT Fellini or Antonioni). However, THIS one is worth following. The payoff IS in the story and its message. It's a strong film that reminded me of "Pelle the Conqueror". And a second night of pondering: "Padre Padrone" ("Father Master") is a truly unique look at the relationship between fathers and sons. It's not a pastel image, that's for sure, but it raises some very interesting questions that I think most sons will recognize at some deep, unspoken level. As is always the case with a smart work of Art, the visual level is but the entryway to a broader topic which allows more viewers to relate. No, WE'RE NOT Sardinian, sheep herders, uneducated, or dirt floor poor. No, our fathers probably did not behave exactly as this father did...yet nearly every one of us can sense that the feelings we held towards our fathers (as boys) are somehow addressed in this film. He held the power. To get "out from under" his looming protections and threats, we had to leave. There was no other way to break free of the family dynamic. Upon return, for a visit or temporary living circumstance, we found he had not changed - no one in the family had changed - and the certainty we had that WE had changed while away, was only a facade days away from cracking or collapsing. What did we do? We left again, returned, left, visited, avoided, watched, and waited for "things" to change to SUCH a degree, we could now all settle into a new set of roles.

Padre Padrone was a film that shocked RTP viewers in the late 1970s, mostly for the visceral way in which it exposed the rude habits of shepherds in the Sardinian highlands, especially in sexual practices with animals.

This film by the Taviani brothers, along with others, such as Ugly, Dirty and Bad, by Scola, are part of the end of Italian neo-realism, that I cannot resist calling hyper-realism, in the sense that it is no longer enough to show the harshness of In reality, we need to look for the most unworthy and grotesque aspects of human condition, in this case the violence, isolation and bestiality of small Sardinian pastoral communities.

Other films had already look at this communities, perhaps even better, such as Bandits of Orgosolo, by Vittorio de Seta, in 1961, emphasizing, in this case, "omerta", the law of silence, distrust, ignorance and extreme attachment to the land, the main source of wealth and power, in these extremely closed rural societies.

I would say that Padre Padrone doesn't add much to Banditi à Orgosolo, other than a certain voyeurism through violence and ignorance.

It's a remarkable film, but I clearly prefer de Seta's Bandits.