PADRE PADRONE directed by Paolo and Vittorio Taviani (Italy, 1977)
Also known by the English title of ‘My Father, My Master’, this is a film based on the true life experiences of Gavino Ledda, who endured a barbaric upbringing but survived to tell his story.
His tyrannical father justified his cruelty by saying that forcing his eldest son into labour as a shepherd at the age of six was the only way to ensure the family’s livelihood could be maintained.
The process of Gavino’s initiation is systematically brutal and merciless. The boy is forced to work in isolation and beaten regularly when he resisted or showed fear.
He is treated as little more than a chattel, denied of any love or friendship. In the remote and primitive Sardinian setting the exploitation went unchecked.
A weaker child would have gone crazy but Gavino showed remarkable strength of character and the ability to endure and maintain a rebellious spirit that prevented him losing his sanity.
He grew up illiterate, speaking the Sardo dialect, with only a rudimentary knowledge of the standard Italian language.
Given that he only began his formal studies when he was 20, it is amazing that he went on to get a degree in linguistics, become a teacher and write a book of his experiences. Continue reading
