Word: gavino
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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Paolo and Vittorio Taviani's Padre, Padrone presents an unflinching look at the true story of Gavino Ledda's very personal struggle to overcome the domination of the intractable patriarch who denied him any opportunity for an education--a struggle which results in his becoming a linguist and bestselling author. So much for the basic plot. But this triumphant movie, the first internationally acclaimed Taviani brothers film, can be approached on two other levels--one structural, the other more stylistic. In one sense, Padre, Padrone develops within a movie-as-book format; based on Ledda's autobiography, the film...
...sons and two daughters of the plans he has drawn up for each of them--marriage, working for the family, and the like--while he awaits his appointment with a bank official. Efisio Ledda singles out his oldest son for special treatment, informing the 20-year-old Gavino (Saverio Marconi) that he should enlist in the army for training as a radio technician. When his wife brings up Gavino's illiteracy, Efisio dismisses her misgivings and assures her that their eldest will learn quickly. He then quizzes Gavino on multiplication tables, greeting his son's off-the-mark guesses with...
Lest the movie's title mislead us, Padre, Padrone is above all else the story of Gavino Ledda and his singular determination to acquire ever-deepening levels of knowledge and understanding, despite some very formidable obstacles. The opening scene loses no time in explaining why the cards will be stacked against Gavino for the better part of his life. Storming into Gavino's grammar school classroom, shepherd's staff in hand, Efisio demands custody of his son. He tells Gavino's awestruck teacher that the boy is more urgently needed in the fields with the family flock than behind...
...remainder of the film's initial phase deals with the child Gavino's harsh lessons in shepherding and the consequent stunting of his mental and spiritual growth. Minor instances of mischief and sloth are met with the most brutal punishments (one of which renders the young Gavino unconscious). Only the color-rich landscapes captured by Mario Masini's cinematography provide relief from the seemingly ceaseless beatings...
...movie is an adaptation of a remarkable autobiography by Gavino Ledda, a poor Sardinian shepherd's son who grew up to become an accomplished linguist. Ledda, now in his mid-30s, spent his formative years in almost total isolation and ignorance. Yanked out of school at age six by his tyrannical father, he lived alone in the fields and tended his family's flock until he turned 20. Only when he escaped to the Italian army did he discover the pleasures of literacy, industrialized civilization and social intercourse. In Padre Padrone (English title: My Father, My Master...