This is Gavino Ledda, age 35.
Up to 18, an illiterate shepherd.
Today, a linguist and author of a best seller...
...which narrates his life...
...and which inspired this film.
The story begins in a Sardinian village...
...in the elementary school that Gavino attended.
That morning his father burst into the City Hall...
...where a few offices were converted into schoolrooms.
He always carried this.
Oh yes, thanks.
Miss Schoolteacher. l've come to fetch him.
l need him to tend the sheep.
l've come to fetch him. l need him to tend the sheep.
He's mine.
l'm forced to leave the herd when delivering milk...
...to cut wood or to harvest.
The money l earn barely pays for clothing...
...and whatever else a shepherd cannot produce himself.
That's ONE...
...and TWO!
To come here l left my sheep prey to foxes and bandits.
Gavino has to tend them.
Gavino against bandits? But he's still a cub.
What do you know about shepherding?
Shepherds can fly without wings.
He'll go to elementary school...
...when he reaches 18. Like me.
What's the Government want?
That my children die of hunger?
l'm taking the boy 'cause l need him.
l'm at peace. But the law is not.
lt wants compulsory schooling. Poverty is all that's compulsory
...and THREE.
He can't go
Come...
You'll earn your money long before your friends.
You'll be a very good shepherd.
No one laughs at Gavino!
Hands on your desks!
On the desk!
Today it's Gavino's turn...
...tomorrow it's yours.
That's not true. lt won't happen to me.
Mama swore it wouldn't.
We're rich, we have two cows.
Oh God, please, make papa die...
...and l'll be good forever.
Have the donkey kick him in the stomach.
No, in the head so he won't know what hit him.
lt's my brother's turn first.
He's ten months older...
...even if he is shorter than me.
lt's his turn.
Soon as l get home, l'll put a stool near the window.
l'll climb on it and then leap out.
l'll jump when everyone's at the table...
...so they can see me and mama can stop me...
...when one's alone way up there...
...without a soul around...
...really alone alone...
- l know, they took me up once -
...the stillness isn't still, believe me.
lt's overpowering...
...like the tolling of a death bell.
l frightened you?
l did it...
...so you'll come back down soon.
Before l'll be forty years old.
Poor little dickybird...
what'll it do way up there?
Hurry! lt's your father.
l'll take you to where the wild apples grow.
And with my nails dig up the earth chestnuts.
lf you're quick, l'll teach you to catch a hare with a lasso.
You like hazelnuts? You'll pick bunches of them.
And we'll go by the rocks, to the young ravens.
Yesterday, behind the sheepcote...
...l found a blackbird's nest with 4 eggs.
You have to concentrate: your eyes by day...
...ears by night. Learn to know the pasture and the woods.
You'll often be alone. You must learn to find your bearings...
...in any given moment for yourself and the flock.
You hear this rustling?
Learn to recognize it.
Lower your eyes.
l don't hear...
Listen more carefully.
lt's the oak tree, that marks our pasturage.
Turn your head.
And this... is the torrent behind the wood.
We passed by it.
And this...
...is Sebastiano who's returning to the village with his horse.
He smokes with the ash in his mouth...
...so he'll not be a target by night.
Ancient vendettas stalk his every move.
Also learn to hear the dawn...
...its many sounds.
lf you've the strength of a man...
...lift up the pail of milk.
Without spilling it. Let your lungs help you.
Tonight you'll stay here alone.
Mind the fold.
Keep inside the pen!
Back to the sheepfold
There's a snake!
Behind there.
You mustn't be afraid. They're harmless.
And even if they're not...
...the pasture is ours, the flock also...
...we must defend it and utilize it.
l'll show you how to deal with snakes...
Don't go out of the pen.
Antonio!
Go away!
Go away...
...no one's allowed here.
Quiet! They'll hear us.
lf my father catches us...
...look what he'll do to me.
lt was Gavino!
Go get the other pail.
Johannus!
l'll not touch you...
l won't touch you...
You rotten beast...
...You want to do it again...
...but l'm gonna plug up your ass...
l'll milk you first, then plug with your own shit...
...your mouth, your eyes and ears.
l'll fix you when you turn.
You whack me...
and l crap in the milk...
...then your father whacks you.
You won't be able.
l'm keeping your ass plugged.
l'll do it all right, because you're stupid.
You shake. You sweat. And stink.
You can't milk me with those blistered hands.
lf you hurt my tits, Gavino Ledda...
...l'll crap the milk.
GAVlNO REACHES HlS TWENTlETH YEAR
Leze, take over the flock.
We're going to feast at Muros.
We took the wrong road.
Which way to Muros?
He won't talk.
Wait...
He runs like Tarzan's monkey.
l'll trade this for that.
For the accordion?
One lamb, no, it's not enough.
-But the accordion's busted. -You ask him.
Two lambs, minimum.
Two, no.
Yes, two.
All our accordions...
...have a beautiful tone. Listen.
That way...
Two lambs. And bandits besides...
...and they even cut your mouth.
l swear...
l swore!
Then what's there to be afraid of?
You'll do without cheese and sugar...
...to repay me.
Salt in your milk is fortifying.
Go to sleep.
Muros... feast... that way...
...sound... accordion...
...lambs... beautiful accord... ...beautiful...
...feast... beautiful...
Somebody, help me...
...help me....
l'M GAVlNO
SON OF THE SHEPHERD, EFlSlO
WHO lS THE SON OF SHEPHERD, LUCA
THE COLD HAS FlLLED
OUR PENS WlTH FLEAS
THE FATTEST ONES
ARE UNDER MY ARMPlTS
l'M ELlGlO, SON OF SHEPHERD GlOVANNl
WHO WAS THE SON
OF THE CARABlNlERE, ENRlCO
l HAD TO EAT
CHEESE THAT WAS TOO FRESH
WHEN l BLOW ON MY TONGUE lT BURNS
ANGELS OF PARADlSE
WHO PLAY SO SWEETLY
l'M MATTEO, AND l BEG YOU:
LET A BASlN
OF BOlLlNG WATER APPEAR
THAT l CAN PUT MY FEET lN
FOR l'M DYlNG OF COLD
MlNE lS A PRAYER
Gavino is slipping away.
lf only l knew how to lure him back.
Am l getting old?
Or maybe...
l'm not as intelligent...
...as l thought l was.
l have to concentrate.
l have to keep my mind nimble.
7 times 9: sixty three.
16 x 16: two hundred fifty six.
Don't tremble, little mare.
Look, l'm steady.
No, l tremble a little too.
But if Signor Gellon spoke the truth...
...we'll meet and make peace forever.
Let this day mark peace.
l'm grateful you accepted to shear...
...the flock with me...
...as custom wants.
Stop!
l'll tell you when he's dead!
He's already dead!
Gellon!
Signora, l'm going.
l'm leaving a guard in front of the house.
Efisio, you take care of selling everything.
l'm going to my relatives in Australia...
...before they kill me too.
You're like my own family.
Get rid of the houses, the livestock...
...the olive grove.
l'll take care of everything
Though l've little money.
l'd like to have the olive grove.
l nursed it for your family.
Plant by plant.
Sebastiano would have approved.
But you must make me a good price...
...also in consideration of the other sales.
Do what you want!
The Commissioner wants to see you.
Again?
We'll take care of him.
Put his gold rings on.
l'm doing it for you.
Sebastiano is my witness.
The window.
For you, Gavino, l'm doing it...
...with the grove you'll be a landowner.
Me and your mother are old...
...but you'll profit by it.
ln time its worth will multiply...
...you'll have all you desire...
...you can't even imagine how much.
And so our hands must be united...
...and l must guide them.
Let's dress him.
He was beautiful...
Poor Sebastiano, he was unlucky.
Though he was rich.
lt'll be different for me. My father said so.
Forgive me, l shouldn't, but...
l keep thinking of what l shall have...
...thanks to you.
An accordion, one of those real ones...
...with 85 keys, made of mother-of-pearl.
l'll be an owner too.
l don't want to get old.
lf we have the money, l'll bathe three times a day...
...and make love often.
Pray for my soul, Sebastiano.
She who makes love often stays young.
And when you're young you're happy.
They can't stop me from being happy.
l don't know what l want.
l want to change names.
They named me after a man...
...grandfather, lgnatius.
l'll call myself Dina.
Or Mina, like the singer...
...and l'll sing like she does.
l'll go to the mainland and sing. l'll sing...
l want... l want...
l can't think of anything...
...nothing.
l want a lot of things.
Once, Supply and Demand were evenly balanced...
...with reciprocal profit for the consumer and producer.
You get me?
But now, with the olive oil market fluctuating...
...it's very difficult to make a deal...
...with the Common Market... You get me?
...and those Mediterranean countries.
Greece, Spain and Turkey that produce more...
...and sell for less.
But 10,000 lire a grinding is fair.
No, with the abolition of import tariffs...
...prices for the local product...
...have dropped considerably...
...and each lot has to be...
...contracted separately. You get me?
My son's an accountant...
...and he explained everything.
We're offering 8,000 lire a grinding.
But 10,000 is the price.
The latest Common Market provisions...
...have conditioned prices...
...and we've had to act accordingly.
8,000 lire a grinding.
You're doubting my son?
Go on, tell him
Your offer's too low.
Quiet, you squirt.
You don't like it, beat it.
l know how to look after our interests.
Maybe the kid wants to go work...
...with our servants.
No...
Come...
Go get your accordion.
He's good on the accordion.
You can eat too.
There's plenty of stuff left over here.
Enough to make yourselves a hot meal.
Our dreams ended with the frost.
Winter was mild till the end of January.
So much so, it felt like spring.
All nature was awakening.
The olive buds...
...deceived by the balmy weather were blooming ahead of time.
They were sprouting in the heart of winter.
Then February came...
...and destroyed all.
An arctic cold as never before.
Entire groves wiped out throughout the region.
And our grove was destroyed as well.
The milk's frozen.
Let's go to the grove!
lt's useless.
lt's all dead.
The frost last night went through to the roots.
The light...
lt's black beneath the bark.
The whole trunk is turning black.
The trees were in bloom.
l'm going back to bed...
...be quiet and let me sleep till noon.
The jug...
The syrup...
And glasses...
What are you doing?
-lt's good. -You like it, don't you?
Have some.
Makes me cold just to look at it.
lt's like ice cream.
Look at papa...
The sky is clear.
Too late, it's useless.
Where are you, Justice?
Up the ass, that's where!
Aren't you lifting?
He's too weak.
His master only feeds him bread and salt.
You were weak in that cathouse.
Him in a cathouse? With what money?
His Uncle Tonino beats him, doesn't pay him.
Go to make up, he took him to the city last Christmas.
But once inside the room,
at the crucial moment...
He couldn't make it!
Won't go up?
l wouldn't talk, Mario. You never even had a woman...
...before you were thirty.
l asked him how it was.
''They're all right,'' he tells me. ''Except they have no tail.''
A tail!
l'm outsmarting all of you. l'm leaving.
l signed up to go work in Germany.
What's he doing?
Emigrating...
...join his cousin.
You'll still be serving a master.
At least he'll call me by name.
What do you mean, how?
l never knew yours. When they talk about you, they say:
''Signor Peppe's servant, Peppe's serf.''
-So you're leaving? -And about you they say:
''Signor Efisio's servant... is milking, is eating...
''...is scratching...''
''...has gone to pasture...''
Not me...
...my master calls me by name. He's my father.
l'm joining that list.
Me too.
So am l.
Me too.
Anybody else?
Yes, me.
Signor Gavino has spoken.
Write me in.
l can't read or write anything.
l'll add your name.
And come tell my father.
l'll come.
To Germany!
SACRED OAKS OF SARDlNlA
FAREWELL...
Hold me...
Hold me up!
The signature is missing.
His father's signature.
-What did my father do? -He didn't give his consent.
How's that?
He didn't give his consent.
-He said yes. -But he didn't sign.
-What do you mean? -Didn't you read the regulations?
l don't know how to.
My father can read.
Gavino Ledda can't emigrate.
You can't leave.
You have to sign a release.
l can't write.
A cross will do.
ldiots!
The assistant bank manager'll receive you after this, gentleman.
l'll do the talking. You only have to sign.
But l want you to know what l'm doing.
l've sold everything.
The flock, the cow, the olive grove...
...the carts and the dogs.
l kept the vegetable garden and the goats.
They think l'm done for.
But they can't do in this little brain.
We're starting anew.
Our savings go in the bank at 10o%o interest.
ln 7 years with compounded interest...
l'll double the capital, then l'll loan to others.
Minimum guarantees, high rates: ...25o%o.
lgnatia...
...you'll go work as a maid, 50 thousand lire a month.
You'll mail me the money and l'll put it to work.
You'll have a dowry for your wedding...
...if the family will not have need of it.
You two will go work as day laborers.
ln exchange for your earnings you'll get room and board.
You're the eldest son.
l've something else in mind for you.
Our family needs to be respected.
You wanted to leave home? Go. As a volunteer.
The army. Either for an army career...
...or to become a radio technician.
Yes, he'll go through elementary school. l promised him.
l'll teach you myself. You're not stupid.
5 times 5?
While we're here doing nothing, we can practise.
5 X 5?
-Thirty. -lgnoramus.
But don't worry, you'll be promoted just the same.
Schools have been ordered to pass shepherds who volunteer...
...even if they're ignorant like you.
The assistant director's waiting.
5 X 5?
8 X 3?
16 X 4?
Yessir...
What? Don't talk dialect.
l mended the handle...
...which... was sliced.
What do you mean by sliced?
The handle couldn't be ''sliced.''
You meant broken.
-Yessir. -l ordered you...
-...to disinfect the barracks. -Did you?
Yessir, l made dead...
l deaded the ants.
You don't ''dead'' ants, you ''kill'' them.
How'd you get through elementary school?
You belong in a cave.
Yessir...
What's that? Translate.
He said he's returning home because...
...he can't speak ltalian.
He wants to go back, does he!
No, you're confined to barracks.
Punishment for speaking Sardinian.
The use of dialect is prohibited.
l'm warning you. At ease!
Platoon dismissed.
No dialect you two, understand?
Ledda!
You come up then.
Me?
-l'll pay you... -l don't want your money.
l can buy cigarettes and pay for a lay, that's enough.
You're always talking about money.
Don't worry, l'll help you to study.
Go to the doors beneath the kiosk.
Make a mistake and no ltalian grammar lessons.
What's a kiosk?
First of all, improve your vocabulary.
See the mimosa tree by the wall?
Aim for that...
...to the ''kiosk.'' Not the ''newspaper kiosk,'' mind you.
But the shrine...''tabernacle'' containing statues.
Ready, go.
lmprove your vocabulary...
...the meaning and origin of words...
l'll lend you a dictionary.
Do you know what it is?
The flag...
You should always be aware...
...of the symbolic significance...
...of the ''flag.''
You may forget the names of your mothers...
...of your fathers...
...your brothers.
But not what the flag signifies:
symbol of a nation...
...our dear motherland.
Even a man in a shack...
...when he thinks of his motherland...
...feels like a king, in a palace.
The illiterate overcomes his shame...
...when facing his country's banner.
Banner, bandana...
...ban...
...bandit, banditry...
...baritone, benevolent...
...baroque, basilica...
...baron.
Everyone must salute the flag.
lt only salutes the Head of State.
State...
...stray, strap...
...strident, stalagmite...
...statute, status...
...ploy...
...boy...
...yearling...
...infant, babe, baby...
...welt, chapped, sore, rapous...
...rapacious, wild, agrestic...
...domestic...
...bucolic, idyllic...
...Arcadian, pastoral...
...pastures...
...pasteurization...
...deportation, separation...
...annihilation...
...masturbation...
...craving, turgid...
...languid, lurid...
...father...
...fatherly, godfather...
...paternal, patriarch...
...patronize...
...electron, neutron, fuse...
...tube, the radio tube...
is made up of a glass container inside of which...
...the component parts are placed in a vacuum.
Main parts: ''plate,'' ''filament,'' ''catrode''...
...cathode...
There're many types of radio tubes according to their functions
For example the dio...
transforms the alternating current into a continuous one...
0,50 amperes. 200 volts.
The filament causes the cathode to become incandescent...
...which emits a series of electrons.
Papa, come, take me back home.
Now l'll test your radios.
lnsert plugs in the sockets.
l'll test them one by one.
lnsert!
lf it works...
...l swear l'll study through college...
...even Latin and Greek.
Bravo!...
lncendium, incendii...
...pater, patris, frater, fratris...
...dominus, domini...
...puella, puellae, meretrix, meretricis...
...sponsa, sponsae, mamma, mammae...
But isn't mother in Latin pronounced ''mater''?
ln Latin, mamma means ''mammary''...
''breast,'' ''tits''...
''the bosom''...
Think in Latin now!
Gavino is a bad pupil.
Cesare is an excellent teacher.
l'm a shepherd and a farmer:
hence, servant to the serfs.
l'm a graduate without a job:
Hence serf to the serfs.
l am...
You are...
...my friend.
One knows all about a friend...
...you're closed tighter than a clam.
AENElD, Book Two...
They all hushed, eager to catch his words.
And so Aeneas, from his high perch, began:
Would you want, my queen...
...that l renew old wounds.
Who can relate such things...
...without sheddings tears?
Dear father, this is the first time l write you.
But l have reason. l passed all my exams.
Even your ignorant lambs...
...can, and must learn to study.
But l write to inform you of something...
...still more important.
l won't become a career man...
...as you wanted...
...nor a radio technician.
l'm staying in the army until l finish high school...
...then l'll return to Sardinia and study...
...at the university.
You always spoke of lambs and lions.
Now l know who the lions are...
...including some of our lesser carnivorous...
...brothers, the army sergeants.
l'm leaving so as not to feel like a vegetarian...
...who eats worms.
Do you hear me, papa?
Leaving the army...
...you go from hunter to prey...
...for anyone to shoot at.
l order you to stay put.
Linguist.
Linguist!...
You don't fool me with your words.
l didn't let the others study...
...why should you?
l'm no laughingstock.
You won't eat here.
A man who doesn't work is a man...
...to be rid of, a thief.
You'll not steal bread.
You'll come to me when you're hungry...
...for oil... wheat... wine.
l'll open up only if you've earned your day.
Your studies don't concern my household.
l'm interested in produce...
...and only your arms give me that, your labor.
You've got to sweat in your crotch, like me.
Put the roots in deeper.
Repeat that...
You have to bury the pant more.
No, the curse.
Elsewhere they say.
l have to study these phonetic differences.
''Facan'' or ''fettana''?
ls that right?
Starting Monday l'll stay in town...
...while you milk the goats.
Get up.
l can't. You've used me too much...
...these past months...
...and l've neglected my studies.
As of today, l'm putting in 12 hours...
...for my work, not yours.
l can hardly talk, and l'm weak.
l'll not be put out of this house.
Call the police if you like.
You used me like a tool.
Now l'm in need, and l'm staying.
l failed an exam the other day.
You laugh. But l was thunderstruck.
lt almost makes me laugh.
There's a make-up exam in June.
l must concentrate...
...if l'm still able to.
And stop staring!
You can't order me. l'm your father and your master.
You're no master, and l've had it with fathers...
...and family blood. With no blood ties at all...
...people have helped me more than you did these past years.
l went over this speech all night...
...and now you'll listen.
You patriarchs have but one goal in life...
-Don't hear you. -...obey first, and command later.
-Don't hear. -Commands fill your lungs -
Obedience is the air you breathe...
...even if you won't listen.
l'll go home and kill him.
Shut off the radio and be gone with you.
What are you whistling?
Why don't you strike?
Strike me.
Strike.
Mama, come down!
Hurry down.
Come!
With a knife...
He cut himself.
lt's an excuse to throw me out.
You went like this.
No...
Yes... yes...
Our Gavino is getting smart...
...but this little brain...
He'll kill me.
l'm leaving.
lt's best. But how?
Tomorrow morning there's a train for Porto Torres.
No, tonight.
The bus?
Go get my coat.
The valise is under papa's bed.
That's right...
Who's going to go?
l'll go in.
l'm taking the valise.
l left for the mainland. l earned a degree...
...in Linguistics, the origin of Sardinian dialects.
l taught. But l was already ill.
l had a stomach operation and healed quickly.
l had to return to my hometown...
...despite my father.
l had to come to write my story...
...on which this film is based...
...taking the necessary liberties.
Not really my story, but of the shepherds.
They, not l, gave life to the book.
With their lives.
And l chose to come back for that very reason.
They make the writer's trade a valid one.
Even if often l've the unrestrainable desire...
...to flee from this village...
...from this square.
lt's lively now because you're here...
...but come back in winter!
On the mainland...
l'd find far greater attractions.
But l'd be using my position as a prerogative...
...as my father wielded his.
And it would be his final victory.
Perhaps it's only a selfish consideration...
...which detains me here.
The fear...
...that far from my cave, my people...
...from my smells, l'd be a recluse again.
As l was in the sheepcotes...
and the pens of Baddevrustana.
The book...
...begins in a building like this one...
...where my father came...
...to pull me out of school.
You don't laugh at Gavino!
Hands on your desks.
Today it's Gavino's turn...
...tomorrow it's yours.