The new cinematic project dedicated to the young Grazia Deledda has been presented to the press.
Director Maria Grazia Perria describes it as follows: “The idea originated several years ago; I wanted to pay homage to one of the great women of the twentieth century. I didn’t know Deledda’s life well; her story surprised and fascinated me. From her correspondence, I discovered a world; initially, she was heavily criticised, partly because she translated directly from Sardinian, but gradually, she found her style. Perhaps she didn’t write the perfect novel, but she introduced a world like few others.”
The film primarily unfolds on two levels, integrating personal episodes with the depiction of events from her stories and novels.The work spans twelve years, from 1888 to 1900, during which the writer’s artistic character was formed.
Producer Salvatore Cubeddu adds: “Telling the lives and stories of characters is becoming our trademark; Sardinia has so much to say. Grazia Deledda was formidable, and her works influenced all Sardinian filmography of past decades.”
The project also explores the environment and society in which the young Deledda grew up. A Nuoro inhabited by a few thousand people anchored to ancient customs and traditions, a closed and traditionalist environment that the writer managed to transform into her strength. No other Italian or foreign writer could have imagined her landscapes and silences, just as the characters in her many stories are unique. Only those who live and know certain realities deeply can speak of them, and this, combined with a natural talent, led the writer to the highest recognition.
Grazia Deledda is also proof that perseverance eventually pays off. As often happens, success is not immediate; none of her early stories were well-received, but writing made her feel good, and in this way, she managed to offer the community the best version of herself. She did something positive for others and herself, regardless of the constant gossip about her, an aspect well highlighted by the director.
Deledda dedicated herself to her passion, disregarding the social obligations of her time, with all the anxieties and worries that accompany courageous choices. The film clearly shows both her determination and her dissatisfaction with a world, that of Nuoro, which soon became too narrow for the young writer.
Marisa Serra intensely portrayed the protagonist, conveying with glances and lines some distinctive traits of Deledda’s character that emerge from reading the letters written during her adolescence.A girl who chose to be herself and dedicated herself wholeheartedly to what made her feel better. Thanks to this, Sardinia and Italy can boast another celebrated woman who joins the many figures who have honoured world culture. Often, what is lacking is confidence in one’s abilities, and on this, Grazia Deledda certainly has much to teach.
The film was produced by Terra de Punt with contributions from the Sardinia Region, Film Commission, Fondazione di Sardegna, and the Ministry of Culture.
“I lived with the winds, with the woods, with the mountains, I watched for days, months, and years the slow unfolding of clouds across the Sardinian sky, I leaned my head a thousand times against the trunks of trees, against stones, against rocks, to listen to the voice of the leaves, what the flowing water told; I saw the dawn, the sunset, the rising of the moon in the immense solitude of the mountains; I listened to traditional songs and music and folk tales and the speeches of the people, and thus my art was formed, like a song or a motif that springs spontaneously from the lips of a primitive poet.”
Grazia Deledda
Nobel Prize acceptance speech, Stockholm, 10 December 1927.
Author: Carlo Manca, MA.Translated into English by: Emanuele Mulas, MSc.
