Life is life

Directed by Director's notes
  • Riccardo Milani
Directed by
  • Riccardo Milani
Year
  • 2025
Length
  • 158 min.
Year
  • 2025
Length
  • 158 min.
Cast
  • Virginia Raffaele
  • Diego Abatantuono
  • Aldo Baglio
  • Giuseppe Ignazio Loi
  • Geppi Cucciari
Synopsis

At the dawn of the new millennium, on an unspoiled coast of southern Sardinia, Efisio Mulas, a solitary shepherd and guardian of a time that seems no longer to exist, stubbornly defends his land from Giacomo’s plans, a powerful entrepreneur determined to transform it into a luxury resort. Mariano, a pragmatic construction site manager, tries to convince him to sell, while Francesca, his daughter, finds herself suspended between attachment to her roots and the urgency for change sweeping through the community. When the dispute reaches the courthouse, it is settled by Giovanna, a judge originally from those parts. While the community looks hopefully to the future, Efisio’s refusal remains the sole voice defending identity and territory: because sometimes, precisely because “that’s just how life is,” one must stop and choose their own path.

Director's notes
  • LIFE IS LIFE is not just the story of a man who had the courage to say no. It is also the story, inspired by a real event, of a community in our country caught between the necessity of work and respect for the land, where people are constantly pitted against each other, where conflict leads to divisions, pain, and suffering. And it is in stories like this that I seek the humanity hidden within each of us, always looking for a possible common ground between opposing sides, even when hostility, fueled, seems to prevail. Perhaps to remind us, every now and then, of what we all are: human beings, with universal values, from honesty to courage, from dignity to consistency, values that transcend trends, time, and History. All this while trying to make people laugh and reach the widest possible audience, perhaps with a different viewpoint from my own. Virginia, Diego, Aldo, and Geppi walked with me on this project. And we all walked with him, Ignazio Loi, an 84-year-old Sardinian with the purity of a child and the wisdom of the shepherd he was for seventy years. I owe so much to all the splendid Sardinian actors, and to all the non-actors, who told a story with me that is theirs. Sardinia is a land for which I have respect and gratitude. The sense of belonging is strong, and its history is often marked by resistance to arrogance. A land where nature is powerful and where everyone knows at least two languages, Sardinian and Italian, which is often the kindest Italian possible. A land from which signals of ethical and human resistance still arrive. From this story, I believe not only the courage of a choice emerges. Here, a strong voice bravely asserts that not everything can be bought. For this reason, the film is dedicated to one of the good teachers I was fortunate enough to meet in my life: Gigi Riva.
Directed by
  • RICCARDO MILANI
Story and screenplay
  • RICCARDO MILANI
  • MICHELE ASTORI
Produced by
  • LUDOVICA RAPISARDA
  • LORENZO GANGAROSSA
Produced by
  • SONIA ROVAI
Produced by
  • MARIO GIANANI
  • LORENZO MIELI
A production
  • OUR FILMS, Company of the MEDIAWAN Group
  • WILDSIDE, a Fremantle company
In association with
  • PIPERFILM
  • MEDUSA FILM
In collaboration with
  • CIRCLE ONE
In collaboration with
  • NETFLIX
Executive producers
  • ROBERTO LEONE
Executive producers Wildside
  • SAVERIO GUARASCIO
  • MANDELLA QUILICI
Executive producers Our Films
  • ILARIA ZAZZARO
  • NICOLA LUSUARDI
Editing
  • SIMONE D’ONODFRIO
  • SAVERIO GUARNA
Scenography
  • MARTA MAFFUCCI
Director of photography
  • SIMONE D’ONODFRIO
  • SAVERIO GUARNA
Costumes
  • ALBERTO MORETTI
Furniture
  • CLAUDIA COSENZA
Music
  • MOSES CONCAS
Direct sound engineer
  • CARLO MISSIDENTI
Assistant Director
  • LOREDANA CONTE
  • ALESSANDRO DE ROSA
Makeup
  • MARTINA COSSU
  • ALESSANDRA ROMANI
Hairdresser
  • ARMIDO PEZZATO
Casting
  • ANTONIO ROTUNDI
Production manager
  • GIORGIA PASSARELLI
Distribution
  • MEDUSA FILM
  • PIPERFILM
International sales
  • PIPERPLAY
Director's notes
X

LIFE IS LIFE is not just the story of a man who had the courage to say no. It is also the story, inspired by a real event, of a community in our country caught between the necessity of work and respect for the land, where people are constantly pitted against each other, where conflict leads to divisions, pain, and suffering. And it is in stories like this that I seek the humanity hidden within each of us, always looking for a possible common ground between opposing sides, even when hostility, fueled, seems to prevail. Perhaps to remind us, every now and then, of what we all are: human beings, with universal values, from honesty to courage, from dignity to consistency, values that transcend trends, time, and History. All this while trying to make people laugh and reach the widest possible audience, perhaps with a different viewpoint from my own. Virginia, Diego, Aldo, and Geppi walked with me on this project. And we all walked with him, Ignazio Loi, an 84-year-old Sardinian with the purity of a child and the wisdom of the shepherd he was for seventy years. I owe so much to all the splendid Sardinian actors, and to all the non-actors, who told a story with me that is theirs. Sardinia is a land for which I have respect and gratitude. The sense of belonging is strong, and its history is often marked by resistance to arrogance. A land where nature is powerful and where everyone knows at least two languages, Sardinian and Italian, which is often the kindest Italian possible. A land from which signals of ethical and human resistance still arrive. From this story, I believe not only the courage of a choice emerges. Here, a strong voice bravely asserts that not everything can be bought. For this reason, the film is dedicated to one of the good teachers I was fortunate enough to meet in my life: Gigi Riva.