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 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?
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.
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.
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 frightened you?
I did it...
...so you'll come back
down soon.
Before I'll be
forty years old.
Poor little dickybird...
what'll it do way up there?
Hurry! It's your father.
I'll take you to where
the wild apples grow.
And with my nails
dig up the earth chestnuts.
If you're quick, I'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...
...I 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.
I don't hear...
Listen more carefully.
It'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.
If 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.
I'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.
If my father catches us...
...look what he'll do to me.
It was Gavino!
It was Gavino!
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 fix you when you turn.
You whack me...
and I crap in the milk...
...then your father whacks 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 crap the milk.
GAVINO REACHES
HIS TWENTIETH 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.
I'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.
I swear...
I 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...
I'M GAVINO
SON OF THE SHEPHERD, EFISIO
WHO IS THE SON
OF SHEPHERD, LUCA
THE COLD HAS FILLED
OUR PENS WITH FLEAS
THE FATTEST ONES
ARE UNDER MY ARMPITS
I'M ELIGIO,
SON OF SHEPHERD GIOVANNI
WHO WAS THE SON
OF THE CARABINIERE, ENRICO
I HAD TO EA
CHEESE THAT WAS TOO FRESH
WHEN I BLOW ON MY TONGUE
IT BURNS
ANGELS OF PARADISE
WHO PLAY SO SWEETLY
I'M MATTEO, AND I BEG YOU:
LET A BASIN
OF BOILING WATER APPEAR
THAT I CAN PUT MY FEET IN
FOR I'M DYING OF COLD
MINE IS A PRAYER
Gavino is slipping away.
If only I knew how to
lure him back.
Am I getting old?
Or maybe...
I'm not as intelligent...
...as I thought I was.
I have to concentrate.
I have to keep my mind nimble.
Don't tremble, little mare.
Look, I'm steady.
No, I tremble a little too.
But if Signor Gellon spoke
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 custom wants.
Stop!
I'll tell you when he's dead!
He's already dead!
Gellon!
Signora, I'm going.
I'm leaving a guard in front
of the house.
Efisio, you take care of
selling everything.
I'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.
I'll take care of everything
Though I've little money.
I'd like to have
the olive grove.
I 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.
I'm doing it for you.
Sebastiano is my witness.
The window.
For you, Gavino,
I'm doing it...
...with the grove you'll be
a landowner.
Me and your mother 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 beautiful...
Poor Sebastiano,
he was unlucky.
Though he was rich.
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 the money,
I'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.
I don't know what I want.
I want to change names.
They named me after a man...
...grandfather, 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.
I 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
But 10,000 is the price.
The latest Common Market
provisions...
...have conditioned prices...
...and we've had to act
accordingly.
You're doubting my son?
Go on, tell him
Your offer's too low.
Quiet, you squirt.
You don't like it, beat it.
I 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!
It's useless.
It's all dead.
The frost last night
went through to the roots.
The light...
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
till noon.
The jug...
The syrup...
And glasses...
What are you doing?
- It's good.
- You like it, don't you?
Have some.
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?
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?
I wouldn't talk, Mario.
You never even had a woman...
...before you were thirty.
I asked him how it was.
"They're all right," he tells me.
"Except they have no tail."
A tail!
I'm outsmarting all of you.
I'm leaving.
I 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?
I 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.
I'm joining that list.
Me too.
So am I.
Me too.
Anybody else?
Yes, me.
Signor Gavino has spoken.
Write me in.
I can't read or write anything.
I'll add your name.
And come tell my father.
I'll come.
To Germany!
SACRED OAKS OF SARDINIA
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?
I don't know how to.
My father can read.
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 assistant bank manager'll
receive 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 olive grove...
...the carts and the dogs.
I kept the vegetable garden
and the goats.
They think I'm done for.
But they can't do in this
little brain.
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 as a maid,
You'll mail me the money
and I'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.
In exchange for your earnings
you'll get room and board.
You're the eldest son.
I'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. I promised him.
I'll teach you myself.
You're not stupid.
While we're here doing nothing,
we can practise.
- Thirty.
- Ignoramus.
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.
Yessir...
What? Don't talk dialect.
I mended the handle...
...which... was sliced.
What do you mean by sliced?
The handle couldn't
be "sliced."
You meant broken.
- Yessir.
- I ordered you...
...to disinfect the barracks.
- Did you?
Yessir, I made dead...
I 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 Italian.
He wants to go back, does he!
No, you're confined
to barracks.
Punishment for speaking
Sardinian.
The use of dialect
is prohibited.
I'm warning you.
At ease!
Platoon dismissed.
No dialect you two, understand?
Ledda!
You come up then.
Me?
- I'll pay you...
- I don't want your money.
I can buy cigarettes and pay
for a lay, that's enough.
You're always talking
about money.
Don't worry, I'll help you
to study.
Go to the doors
beneath the kiosk.
Make a mistake
and no Italian 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.
Improve your vocabulary...
...the meaning and origin
of words...
I'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.
It 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...
The filament causes the cathode
to become incandescent...
...which emits a series
of electrons.
Papa, come, take me back home.
Now I'll test your radios.
Insert plugs in the sockets.
I'll test them one by one.
Insert!
If it works...
...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...
But isn't mother
in Latin pronounced "mater"?
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:
Hence, servant to the serfs.
I'm a graduate without a job:
Hence serf to the serfs.
I am...
You are...
...my friend.
One knows all about a friend...
...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?
Dear father, this is
the first time I write you.
But I have reason.
I passed all my exams.
Even your ignorant lambs...
...can, and must learn
to study.
But I write to inform you
of something...
...still more important.
I won't become a career man...
...as you wanted...
...nor a radio technician.
I'm staying in the army until
I finish high school...
...then I'll return to Sardinia
and study...
...at the university.
You always spoke
of lambs and lions.
Now I know who the lions are...
...including some
of our lesser carnivorous...
...brothers, the army
sergeants.
I'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.
I order you to stay put.
Linguist.
Linguist!
You don't fool me
with your words.
I didn't let
the others study...
...why should you?
I'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.
I'll open up only if you've
earned your day.
Your studies don't concern
my household.
I'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.
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 studies.
As of today, I'm putting
in 12 hours...
...for my work, not yours.
I can hardly talk,
and I'm weak.
I'll not be put out
of this house.
Call the police if you like.
You used me like a tool.
Now I'm in need,
and I'm staying.
I failed an exam the other day.
You laugh.
But I was thunderstruck.
It almost makes me laugh.
There's a make-up exam in June.
I must concentrate...
...if I'm still able to.
And stop staring!
You can't order me.
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 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.
I'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.
It'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.
I'm leaving.
It'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?
I'll go in.
I'm taking the valise.
I left for the mainland.
I earned a degree...
...in Linguistics, the origin
of Sardinian dialects.
I taught.
But I was already ill.
I had a stomach operation
and healed quickly.
I had to return
to my hometown...
...despite my father.
I 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 I,
gave life to the book.
With their lives.
And I chose to come back
for that very reason.
They make the writer's trade
a valid one.
Even if often I've
the unrestrainable desire...
...to flee from this village...
...from this square.
It's lively now because
you're here...
...but come back in winter!
On the mainland...
I'd find far
greater attractions.
But I'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, I'd be
a recluse again.
As I 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.