Gavino Ledda has written a bestselling book in Italy all about his experiences growing up in Sardinia and the harsh life it was there under his tyrannical father (Omero Antonutti). For all the dreadful treatment he was subjected to at his hands, Gavino most vividly recalls being in primary school and his father showed up brandishing a large stick, demanding that the little boy go with him to begin his training as a shepherd. Gavino was so scared he wet himself, but the teacher had no choice but to give him up, and when the other children laughed the father frightened them into silence by telling them their fathers would be doing the same...
As a portrait of growing up, they don't come much bleaker than Padre Padrone, and even though the protagonist escapes to better himself, as is clear from the opening introduced by the actual Ledda, what stays in the mind is this culture of beating the ambition out of generations of children so they can carry on the traditions that their fathers cannot see any way of getting out of. Although there are moments of humour, some more dubious than others, it's the fearsome father that dominates, never allowing any love for his children to overtake his violent and strict ways.
Once Gavino (as a child, played by Fabrizio Forte) has been dragged out of school, there are a number of lonely years he has stretching ahead of him as he is made to sit with the sheep, all alone, often in the pitch black of night, to protect them from carnivores or bandits. Although, as the teacher points out, it's absurd to leave such a small child in charge of the flock when there's very little he could do if carnivores or bandits did turn up. This doesn't matter to his father, as long as his son is following his orders and doing exactly as he says, then that's the most important thing.
This is no sentimental idyll that Leddo conveys, quite the opposite in fact, and the only company his younger self can find is with the other boy shepherds who risk beatings simply by talking to someone else and not offering their full attention to the flock. There's no question in your mind that what we are seeing was based on true events, as after all some of it is so unpleasantly bizarre that you cannot imagine someone would make it up, from the sheep deliberately shitting in the milk when Gavino is pulling on its udders, to the bestiality often mentioned when the subject of this film comes up - I guess it really does get lonely out there.
But Gavino's story does not concentrate on his earliest years, as we jump forward in time to when he was twenty (now played by Saverio Marconi), still tending the flock but feeling more than ever that he has to get some kind of education so he can get away from his father. Eventually he joins the army, as ever under his father's orders, but the old man has made a mistake and now Gavino can learn about the world he has only dreamed of. He is taken under the wing of fellow soldier Cesare (Nanni Moretti), the only one who can understand his Sardinian dialect, and life begins to open up for him, leaving him a chance to enjoy the arts, especially the music he has only had tantalising glimpses of. Although made for Italian television, Padre Padrone was released theatrically and won awards for directors the Taviani brothers, notably the Palm d'Or at Cannes, suggesting that Leddo's story has a power that extends beyond the borders of his country; not an easy watch, but a worthwhile one even if it's to appreciate what you have now, even if you suffered a terrible childhood too. Music by Egisto Macchi.
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