A profound sense of powerlessness envelops certain childhood memories – a feeling revisited only in adult nightmares. This visceral humiliation of being small, paralyzed, mute, and useless to oneself permeates Salvatore Mereu’s short film “Su cane est su miu,” presented in competition at the Locarno Festival’s Corti d’autore section. The English term “second-hand embarrassment” aptly captures the intense discomfort viewers experience while immersed in this 25-minute story. We deeply empathize with a young boy relentlessly targeted by an older friend who vengefully seizes his dog. “Il cane è il mio” (“The dog is mine”), he pleads endlessly in Sardinian – the film’s sole language – to no avail.
Freely adapted from Salvatore Cambosu’s 1946 story published in Elio Vittorini’s “Il Politecnico,” the narrative unfolds in 1970s rural Sardinia. Jacopo is entrusted with doves, which he then asks Giaime to care for. However, Giaime’s dog, Miggia, enters the attic and overturns the birdcage. As the youngest, Jacopo must inform Tommaso, who captured the doves, that they have escaped. Yet Giaime avoids punishment; not even an encountered shepherd can halt the violence Tommaso decides to inflict.
“When selecting a story, you don’t initially know why,” Mereu reflected. “Then you realize it speaks to your own lived experience.” He clarifies he never witnessed such cruelty firsthand. “Childhood transforms everything into an adventure. I liked the idea that the world of childhood isn’t always enchanted and flawless, even if often portrayed that way.” He describes the narrative as “prophetic, because such episodes repeat and signal a certain collapse of sensitivity among the young.” Ultimately, “it’s also a coming-of-age tale. I believe Tommaso gains some awareness of his wrongdoing,” Mereu added. More broadly, “I’m perpetually fascinated by childhood. This work somewhat prepares for another project: a film based on Alberto Capitta’s ‘Alberi erranti e naufraghi’.”
The protagonists – portrayed by Giaime Mulas, Jacopo Devigus, Tommaso Devigus, Magda Devigus, and the dog Miggia – are all non-actors. “I carefully sought them in schools within communities where street life persists,” revealed the director. “I wanted youths who naturally resembled the film’s characters.” Casting Giaime was a gamble. “I feared he might not cry when needed,” Mereu concluded. “But he possesses exceptional talent.”
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