I'm surprised at some of the comments on this film. Far from being either "surreal" or "unrealistic", it seems to me very earthy and realist. I see no reason for having a moral spasm just because it depicts things as they were. As for the bestiality scene - this was how things were; boys were horny, and the available options were either farmyard animals or each other. I don't suppose the animals suffered more than mild discomfort at most. As for it being 'disgusting', my feelings are the same as Terence, "Homo sum; nil humani alienum mihi puto." In any case, the film definitely scotches any notion of peasant life as a bucolic idyll - the Taviani brothers side more with Marx's "idiocy of rural life". The protagonist's father isn't demonised, though - he is simply an outcome of his own upbringing; if anything is to blame for the brutishness of it all then it's the poverty and insecurity of peasant life. I found the whole film wonderful and enlightening. A definite 'must-see'. (Get the Arrow Academy Taviani blu-ray set whilst it's still available!)

My Movie Rating: 10 / 10

a much watch film to gain an insight into life in Sardinia in the 20th century. They didn't even speak italian. Triump of spirit over family and circumstances.

My Movie Rating: 10 / 10

Very disgusting. This sort of surrealism should be prohibited. Have you ever tried to play an accordeon upside down? In a way this was funny, but mostly pathetic. The sexual abuse of animals was shocking for even a broadminded person like me. I will waste no further words on this film.

My Movie Rating: 1 / 10