Omero Antonutti

Saverio Marconi

Marcella Michelangeli

Fabrizio Forte

Marino Cenna

Stanko Molnar

Gavino Ledda

Nanni Moretti

Pierluigi Alvau

Giuseppino Angioni

Fabio Angioni

Giuseppe Brandino

Mario Cheri

Giuseppe Chessa Perle

Domenico Deriu

Marina D'Onofrio

Pietro Paolo Fauli

Franca Floris

Mario Fulghesu

Antonio Garrucciu

Gianni Garruccio

Patrizia Giannichedda

Roberto Giannichedda

Vincenzo Giannichedda

Pietro Giordo

Antonello Gloriani

Gavino Loriga

Angelo Marras

Costanzo Mela

Domenico Morganti

Luigi Muntoni

Gianfranco Panai

Giuseppina Perantoni

Cristiana Piazza

Matteo Piu

Maria Immacolata Porcu

Cosimo Rodio

Anna Lucia Sanna

Marco Sanna

Stefano Satta

Umberto Spada

Mario Spissu

Salvatore Stangoni

Marco Unali

Vittorio Taviani

Paolo Taviani

Rita Triunveri

Egisto Macchi

Andrea Gargano

Vincenzo Caruso

Danilo Martelli

Roberto Perpignani

Mario Masini

Giuliani G. De Negri

Gianni Sbarra

Lina Nerli Taviani

Gloria Fava

Giampiero Cubeddu

Marco De Poli

Francesco Lizzani

Fernando Caso

Pietrantonio Federico

Giovanni Sardo

Adriano Taloni

Aldo Antonelli

Arnaldo Palone

Pietro Ras

Drama

Padre padrone

CINEMA S.r.l.

Italy

CinemaSerf

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.