MY FATHER MY MASTER
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. I've come to fetch him.
I need him to tend the sheep.
I've come to fetch him. I need him to tend the sheep.
He's mine.
I'm forced to leave the herd when delivering milk...
to cut wood or to harvest.
The money I earn barely pays for clothing...
and whatever else a shepherd cannot produce himself.
That's ONE...
and TWO!
To come here I left my sheep prey to foxes and bandits.
Gavino has to tend them.
Gavino against bandits? But he's still a fledgling.
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 from me?
That my children die of hunger?
I'm taking the boy 'cause I need him.
I'm at peace. But the law is not.
It 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.
Nobody laugh at Galvino!
Hands on your desks!
On the desk!
Today it's Gavino's turn...
tomorrow it's yours.
That's not true. It won't happen to me.
Mama swore it wouldn't.
We're rich, we have two cows.
Oh God, please, make papa die...
and I'll be good forever.
Have the donkey kick him in the stomach.
No, in the head so he won't know what hit him.
It's my brother's turn first.
He's ten months older...
even if he is shorter than me.
It's his turn.
Soon as I get home, I'll put a stool near the window.
I'll climb on it and then leap out.
I'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...
- I know, they took me up once -
the stillness isn't still, believe me.
It's overpowering...
like the tolling of a death bell.
I scared you, huh?
I did it...
because I want you to come back as soon as you can.
Before I turn forty.
Poor little thing...
what'll you do up there all alone?
Quick! Your father's waiting.
I'll take you to where the wild apples grow.
I'll dig chestnuts for you with my bare hands.
If you're quick, I'll teach you how to trap a hare.
You like nuts? You'll pick bunches of them.
And we'll go by the rocks, to the young ravens.
Yesterday, behind the sheepcote...
I found a blackbird's nest with 4 eggs.
You have to concentrate: Your eyes by day...
ears by night. Learn to know the fields and the woods.
You'll be alone a lot. You must learn to find your bearings...
in any given moment for yourself and the flock.
You hear the rustling?
Learn to recognize it.
Close your eyes.
I don't hear anything.
Listen more carefully.
It's from the oak that borders the area.
Turn your head.
That is the stream behind the woods.
We passed by it.
And this...
is Sebastiano who's returning from the village on his horse.
He smokes with the ash in his mouth...
so he'll not be a target in the night.
Ancient vendettas rest on his head.
Listen to the dawn...
and the many noises it brings.
Let's see if you're as strong as a man.
Lift up the pail of milk.
Without spilling it. Let your voice help you.
Tonight you'll stay here alone.
Mind the fold.
Don't leave the pen!
Back to the fold.
There's a snake!
Back there.
Don't be afraid of the snakes. They don't bite.
Even if they did, who cares?
This pasture and herd are ours...
to be defended and exploited.
I'll show you how to deal with snakes...
Don't take a step out of the pen.
Antonio!
Go away!
Go away...
no one's allowed near here.
Quiet! They'll hear us.
If my father catches us...
look what he'll do to me.
It was Gavino!
Go get the other pail.
Johannus!
I'll not touch you...
I won't touch you...
You rotten beast...
You want to do it again...
but I'm gonna plug up your ass...
I'll milk you first, then plug with your own shit...
your mouth, your eyes and ears.
I'll screw you when you turn your back.
You beat me...
and I'll shit in the milk...
then your father beats you.
You won't be able.
I'm keeping your ass plugged.
I'll do it all right, because you're stupid.
You shake. You sweat. And stink.
You can't milk me with those blistered hands.
If you hurt my tits, Gavino Ledda...
I'll shit in the milk.
Gavino is now twenty years old
Leze, guard the flock.
We're going to fair at Muros.
We took the wrong road.
Which way to Muros?
Hey, he doesn't talk.
Wait...
Wait!
He runs like Tarzan's monkey.
I'll trade this for that.
For this accordion?
One lamb, no, it's not enough.
- But the accordion's busted. - You ask him.
Two lambs, minimum.
No, not two.
Yes, two.
The accordion's worth double.
It sounds beautiful. Listen!
That way...
Two lambs. The bandits.
And they even cut your mouth.
I swear!
I swore!
Then what's there to be afraid of?
You'll do without cheese and sugar...
to repay me.
Salt in the milk will strengthen you.
Go to sleep.
Muros... fair... that way...
sound... accordion...
lambs... beautiful accord... beautiful...
fair... beautiful...
Somebody, help me...
help me...
I'm Gavino
son of Efisio, the shepherd...
who's the son of shepherd Luca.
The cold has filled
the herd with fleas.
The fattest ones
are under my armpits.
I'm Eligio, son of Giovanni, the shepherd...
who was the son
of Enrico, the policeman
I had to eat
cheese that was too fresh
If I breathe hard, it burns my tongue.
Angels of Paradise
who play so sweetly
I'm Matteo. I pray to you:
Please send a pail of boiling water...
to put my feet in so I don't freeze to death.
This is a prayer...
Gavino is slipping away.
I don't know how to hold him.
I'm getting old.
Or maybe...
I'm not as clever...
as I thought I was.
I have to concentrate.
I have to keep my mind working.
7 times 9: Sixty three.
16 x 16: Two hundred fifty six.
33 x 19...
Don't tremble, little mare.
Look, I'm steady.
No, I tremble a little too.
If Thiu Giuseppe or Gellon told the truth...
we'll meet and make peace forever.
Let this day mark peace.
I'm grateful you accepted to shear...
the flock with me...
as tradition has it.
Gellon! Stop! He's dead!
I'll see if he's dead!
Gellon!
Signora, I'm going.
I'm leaving a guard in front of the house.
Efisio, sell everything.
I'm returning to Australia.
Before they kill me too.
You're like my own family.
Get rid of the houses, the livestock...
the olive grove.
I'll take care of everything
Though I've little money.
I'd like to have the olive grove.
I planted the whole grove for your family,
tree by tree.
Sebastiano would have approved.
You'll have to meet my price...
if only for the job of selling off the properties.
Do what you want!
Excuse me, madam,
the police chief would like to talk to you.
Again?
We'll take care of him.
Put some gold on him.
I'm doing it for you.
Sebastiano is my witness.
Close the window.
I'm doing this for you, Gavino.
With the grove you'll be a landowner.
Your mother and I are old...
but you'll profit by it.
In 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 I must guide them.
Let's dress him.
He was handsome...
Poor Sebastiano, he was unlucky.
So rich but it all went wrong.
It'll be different for me. My father said so.
Forgive me, I shouldn't, but...
I keep thinking of what I shall have...
thanks to you.
An accordion, one of those real ones...
with 85 keys, made of mother-of-pearl.
I'll be an owner too.
I don't want to get old.
If we have some money, I'll bathe three times a day.
I'll make love every other day.
Pray for my soul, Sebastiano.
They say: Making love often keeps you young.
And when you're young you're happy.
I don't want them to keep me from being happy.
I know what I want.
I want to change my name.
They named me after a man,
grandpa Ignatius.
I'll call myself Dina.
Or Mina, like the singer...
and I'll sing like she does.
I'll go to the mainland and sing. I'll sing...
I want... I want...
I can't think of anything...
nothing.
But I know I want a lot of things.
Once, supply and demand were evenly balanced...
which was advantageous for both consumers and producers
Understand?
But now, with the olive oil market fluctuating...
it's very difficult to make a deal...
due to recent agreements in the EEC. Understand?
With a few of the Mediterranean countries...
Greece, Spain and Turkey that produce more...
and sell for less.
But 10,000 lire a pressing 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. Understand?
My son's a bookkeeper...
and can explain the situation better.
We'll take the whole crop and give you 8,000 lire per pressing.
But 10,000 seems like the right price...
The latest EEC provisions...
have conditioned prices...
and we've had to act accordingly.
8,000 lire a pressing.
You're doubting my son?
Go on, tell him.
Your offer's too low.
Shut up, snotty nose!
If you don't like it, you can leave.
I can defend our interests. It's none of your business.
Maybe the kid wants to go work...
with our servants.
No...
Come...
Go get your accordion.
He plays really well.
Ok, you can eat now.
There are lots of leftovers.
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.
Nature was awakening.
The olive trees...
deceived by the balmy weather, were blooming ahead of time.
They were sprouting in the heart of winter.
The end of February...
brought the end of the world.
An arctic cold as never before.
Entire groves wiped out throughout the region.
And our grove was also destroyed.
The milk's frozen.
Let's go to the grove!
It's useless to go look.
It's all dead.
The frost last night went through to the roots.
Turn off the lights.
It's black beneath the bark.
The whole trunk is turning black.
The trees were in bloom.
I'm going back to bed...
be quiet and let me sleep until midday.
Give me the jug.
Get the syrup.
And glasses...
What are you doing?
- Delicious! - You like it?
Um, good, you take some too.
Makes me cold just to look at it.
It's like ice cream.
Look at papa!
The sky is clear.
Too late, it's useless.
Where are you, Justice?
Sitting on my balls?
Aren't you lifting?
He's too weak.
His master only feeds him bread and salt.
You didn't make it at the brothel!
How'd he pay?
His Uncle Tonino beats him, doesn't pay him.
To keep him quiet he took him to Sassari at Christmas.
But when he got to the room,
under pressure...
Couldn't do it, huh?
Don't you like women?
Shut up, Mario. You never even had a woman...
before you were thirty.
I asked him when he got back: How'd it go?
He said: "They're all right, except they have no tail."
- What was missing? - The tail!
Screw you. I'm leaving.
I signed up to go work in Germany.
What's he doing?
- Pinuccio's emigrating. - To Germany, to his cousin.
Change!
You'll still be serving a master.
At least he'll call me by name.
By name?
I never knew yours. When they talk about you, they say:
"Thiu Peppe's servant, Peppe's serf."
- So you're leaving? - And about you they say:
"Thiu 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.
I'll sign up too.
Me too.
So am I.
Me too.
Anybody else?
Yes, me.
Thiu Gavino has spoken.
Write me in.
I can't read or write anything.
I'll add your name.
You can all come to my father.
I'll come.
Germany!
Sacred oaks of Sardinia, goodbye!
Hold me!
Hold me up!
- There's a signature missing. - Which signature?
His father didn't sign.
- What did my father do? - He didn't give his permission.
What?
He didn't give his consent.
- He said yes. - But he didn't sign.
- What do you mean? - Didn't you read the regulations?
I can't read.
- My father can read. - But he didn't sign.
Gavino Ledda can't emigrate.
You can't leave.
You have to sign a release.
I can't write.
A cross will do.
Idiots!
The vice-director will see you after this gentleman.
I'll do the talking. You only have to sign.
But I want you to know what I'm doing.
I've sold everything.
The flock, the cow, the ruined olive grove...
the carts and the dogs.
I kept the vegetable garden and the goats.
They think I'm done for.
This head here can't be put down.
We're starting anew.
Our savings go in the bank at 10% interest.
In 7 years with compounded interest...
I'll double the capital, then I'll loan to others.
Minimum guarantees, high rates: 25%.
Ignatia...
you'll go work for Forli at 50 thousand lire a month.
You'll send the money home. I'll make profits with it too.
You'll find money for the wedding...
if the family doesn't need it.
You two will go work as day laborers.
In exchange for your earnings you'll get room and board.
You're the oldest.
I have something else in mind for you.
Our family needs to be respected.
You want to leave? So go, you'll enlist.
The army. Either for an army career...
or to become a radio technician.
Yes, he'll go through elementary school. I promised him.
I'll teach you myself. You're not stupid.
5 times 5?
I'm not joking. Let's start right away.
5 X 5?
- Thirty. - Ignoramus.
But don't worry. They'll promote you anyway, I know it.
The government ordered the committee to pass shepherds...
even if they're ignorant like you are.
The vice-director is ready for you.
5 X 5?
8 X 3?
16 X 4?
Yes, sir...
What? Speak Italian!
I repaired the handle...
which... was torn.
What do you mean by torn?
The handle couldn't be "torn."
Do you mean it was broken?
- Yes, sir. - I ordered you...
to disinfect the barracks. Did you?
Yessir, I murdered...
I murdered all the ants.
You didn't murder them. You killed them!
How'd you get through elementary school?
You're a caveman, Ledda!
Yes, sir...
What did you say? Translate!
He said he wants to go home, because...
he doesn't speak Italian.
Our little baby wants to go home. Sorry buddy, you're staying.
You're under house arrest because dialects are forbidden.
You've been informed! At ease.
Platoon dismissed.
You two, no Sardinian! Got it?
Ledda!
You come up then.
Me?
- I'll pay you... - I don't want your money.
I just need money for cigarettes and screwing.
You talk about money too much, Gavino Ledda.
I promised to help you study and I will.
Now try to get to the door under the niche.
If you don't make it, no Italian lesson.
What's a niche?
First of all, improve your vocabulary.
See the mimosa tree by the wall? Look up...
That's the niche.
Today niche means corner.
In art history it means temple or shrine with statues.
Ready, go.
Improve your vocabulary...
the meaning and origin of words...
I'll lend you a dictionary.
Do you know what a dictionary is?
The flag...
You should always be aware...
of the symbolic significance...
of the flag.
You can forget the names of your mothers...
of your fathers...
your brothers.
But not the meaning of the flag,
Symbol of a nation...
our dear motherland.
Even a man in a hut...
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.
It only salutes the Head of State.
State...
stray, strap...
strident, stalagmite...
statute, status...
ploy...
Little 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... the rectifier diode...
transforms the alternating current into a continuous one...
Normally 0.50 amperes, 200 volts.
The filament causes the cathode to become incandescent...
which emits a load of electrons.
Father, come get me. Take me home.
Now I'll test your radios.
Insert plugs in the sockets. I'll test them one by one.
Insert!
If you work...
I swear I'll study through college...
even Latin and Greek.
Bravo!
Incendium, incendii...
pater, patris, frater, fratris...
dominus, domini...
puella, puellae, meretrix, meretricis...
sponsa, sponsae, mamma, mammae...
You said Latin for mamma was "mater", didn't you?
In Latin, mamma means "mammary"...
"breast," "tits"...
"the bosom"...
Think in Latin now!
Gavino is a bad pupil.
Cesare is an excellent teacher.
I'm a shepherd and a farmer:
Therefore servant of the soil.
I'm a graduate without a job:
Therefore servant of the soil.
I am...
You are...
my friend.
Friends know each other well...
but you're closed tighter than a clam.
AENEID, Book Two...
They all hushed, eager to catch his words.
And so Aeneas, from his high perch, began:
Would you want, my queen...
that I renew old wounds.
Who can relate such things...
without sheddings tears?
Dearest father, this is my first letter and there's a reason.
I completed all the required exams.
I found that even "sheep"...
can study, or rather, have to.
But I have to inform you of a more important decision.
I'm not going to make a career of the military...
as you wanted...
nor a radio technician.
I'll remain here to get my diploma...
then I'll return to Sardinia and study...
at the university.
You always spoke of lambs and lions.
Fine, now I know who the lions are...
starting with the small carnivores,
the sergeants.
I'm leaving because I don't want to feel like a vegetarian...
forced to eat meat.
Do you hear me, papa?
If you leave...
it'll make you prey for the hunter...
and anyone can shoot at you.
I order you not to come home.
Linguist.
Linguist!
You don't fool me with your words.
The others didn't study.
Why should you?
I'm no laughingstock.
In my house if you don't work, you don't eat.
A man who doesn't work is a man...
to be rid of, a thief.
But you won't steal bread.
You'll have to come to me to eat:
For oil... corn... wine.
I'll only unlock this if you've worked for me.
My house has no interest in your studies.
Only produce.
I only get that from your arms and legs.
The sweat off your back like me.
Put the roots in deeper.
Ancu ti fettana in paighinoso.
Repeat that...
You have to bury the roots more.
No, the curse.
In Barbagia they say: "Ancu ti facan pedikinoso"
I have to study these phonetic differences.
"Facan" or "fettana"?
Is that right?
Starting Monday I'll stay in town...
while you milk the goats.
Get up.
I can't. You've used me too much...
these past months...
and I've neglected my work, my studies.
As of today, I'm putting in 12 hours...
for my work, not yours.
I can hardly talk, and I'm weak.
I'm not leaving here.
Call the police if you want.
I worked hard enough.
Now I need to stay here and I will.
I failed an exam the other day.
Go ahead, laugh. I stood with my mouth open.
I could laugh thinking about it.
I'll have to make up spring session.
I must concentrate...
if I still can.
Don't look at me like that.
Don't order me around. Here, I'm your father and your master.
You're no master, and I'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.
I prepared this talk all night...
and now you'll hear every word.
You patriarchs have done only two things in life...
- I don't hear anything. Obeyed first, and commanded later.
- I don't hear anything. - Commands fill your lungs...
Obedience is the air you breathe...
even if you won't listen.
I'm going to go home and kill him.
Turn off the radio and get out or I'll disfigure you.
What are you whistling?
Why don't you slap me?
Strike me.
Strike me!
Mama, come down!
Hurry down.
Come!
- He used a knife! - That's a lie!
He says it was me in order to throw me out.
You went like this.
No...
Yes... yes...
Our Gavino is getting smart...
but this little brain here...
He'll kill me.
- I'll go back to the continent. - Good idea. But how?
Tomorrow morning there's a train for Porto Torres.
- No, I'll leave tonight - With the bus?
- Will you go get my coat? - I'll get the suitcase.
It's under papa's bed.
That's right...
Who's going to go?
I'll go in.
I have to get the suitcase.
I left for the mainland. I earned a degree...
in Linguistics, the origin of Sardinian dialects.
I taught. But I was sick...
I had a stomach operation and I got better.
I had to return to Siligo...
to the shame of my father.
I returned to write my story...
on which this film is based...
and freely interpreted.
This is not only my story.
Some shepherds say that their lives made the book.
And I chose to come back for that very reason.
That's what I believe in, the art of writing.
I confess that sometimes I have the driving desire...
to flee from this village...
from this square.
It's lively now because you're here...
but come back in winter.
On the continent...
I'd find far greater attractions.
But I'd be using my position as a privilege...
just like my father directed his power.
His last victory...
Perhaps it's only a selfish consideration...
which keeps me here:
The fear...
that, away from my land, parents...
smells, I'd be mute again.
As I was in the sheepcotes...
and the pens of Baddevrustana.
The book...
begins in a building like this one...
the day my father came...
to drag me out of school.
Nobody laugh at Galvino!
Hands on your desks.
Today it's Gavino's turn...
tomorrow it's yours.
SUBTITLES: STUDIO ORION