Virginia Raffaele, a perfect Sardinian: “How I learned your language”. And he is moved by “babbu meu”

We already knew that she was an extraordinary imitator. That she was capable of stepping into the shoes of very different women and “stealing” their souls by redefining their attitudes and underlining their foibles was clear to everyone, ever since she had “taken possession” of Belen or Ornella Vanoni. But this time Virginia Raffaele really beat herself. In the film “Life goes like this”, the bittersweet comedy directed by Riccardo Milani which opened the Rome Film Festival and which was staged at the Teatro Lirico in Cagliari in a national preview (the film will be in theaters starting from 23 October), Virginia Raffaele shows off a perfect Sardinian accent, where the typical island cadence never slips into something caricature-like.

Virginia plays Francesca, the daughter of a Sardinian shepherd who stubbornly resists selling her “furriadroxiu” to a real estate company in Northern Italy that wants to build a five-star resort close to one of the most beautiful beaches in the world. The story is inspired by a true story of which the protagonist was Ovidio Marras, who died last year at the age of 93, a farmer from Teulada who, alone among all, never sold his land near the Tuerredda beach, where he took about ten cows to graze. Not only that. Marras had also sued the company that had started construction work on the resort, effectively occupying the small road through which he reached the sea from his property. And the Cagliari court had agreed with him. The classic story of David against Goliath which, with the tones of comedy, is capable of re-proposing a dramatic reality in which Sardinia has been struggling for decades: job opportunities or respect for the territory? Development or exploitation? Money or identity?

A film that touched very closely Virginia Raffaele, unable to hold back the tears when Giuseppe Ignazio Loi, who plays the obstinate shepherd Efisio Mulas in the film, is introduced before the screening, “my father”“my dad” as she says in Sardinian.

Virginia, how did you manage to learn Sardinian so quickly?

“I tried to do my best. Sardinian is a very difficult language and the cadence is even more so: I tried not to stereotype it. Then I had “babbu meu” next to me who still gave me advice and we spoke in Sardinian even outside the set”.

What struck you about the story of Ovidio Marras, who in the film is called Efisio Mulas? It’s a paradigmatic story, he’s a bit of a hero of our times.

“I didn’t know this story and I was fascinated by the fact that a pastor decides to sue these real estate giants and even win. It is the emblem of the courage and dignity with which to carry on one’s battles.”

You filmed in wonderful places such as Tuerredda beach and the countryside near Chia. What idea did you have? In your opinion, is there a way that saves jobs but also the territory, tourism but also sustainability?

There should be this possibility while respecting the territory and the environment. certainly something that can bring jobs and tourism to a country and everything it needs to move forward and sustain itself and remain true to itself”.

What have you discovered about Sardinia?

I was struck by humanity. There is an initial roughness to overcome but then you are like panadinas, crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside”.

And naturally, as an acquired Sardinian, she greets us in Sardinian, “have a beer”“Until we meet again”.