The Mute Man of Sardinia

Who, better than Italians, can tell such stories, family feuds, I mean dramas, tragedies, conflicts, war between two families, around weddings, honor, vengeance, religion, vendettas...the Italians bring such an atmosphere, and all the rest: settings, surroundings...There is never any light touch in those plots, nothing to do with Hollywood stuff with predictable endings destined to idiotic audiences craving for this. Here, it is question of a Tv movie from the other side of the Alps - I live in France - and a feature that only a few people have seen, and only I guess in Italy. Such a shame, because it is really worth, very well made. So many characters don't make it easier to follow in accuracy and I would be unable to summarize this complex story with details. Just a vendetta that takes a very long time to finish, if it ever finishes....Because lack of fighters.

A Sardinia painted and narrated with mastery is the environment in which this story of conflicts between families, moved by atavistic impulses, develops in the manner of a classic tragedy. The rhythm of the narrative is perfect. The soundtrack is very beautiful and elegant. The director has great ability to direct both professional and non-professional actors. The protagonist, silent and with infallible aim, has a very intense magnetism on the screen which, however, never prevails over the other figures and the stupendous images of the landscape. The entire film is in fact a work of great balance. It is an emotional and very intense film.

Plot is okay even though it is a bit formulaic, you know what is going to happen. One think that made me laugh is that in mid XIX century rural Sardinia every one wears such beautiful, sumptuous clothes. Even people who spend years hiding in the woods, mountains and caves look like the just had their clothes laundered, the shirts are blindingly white and there is no speck of dirt on the black coats.

Some lines of dialogue are spoken in the Sardinian language that is, apparently, very difficult to understand in Italy and is considered endangered as young Sardinians do not use it anymore. And that was for me the most interesting thing in the whole movie.