★★★★☆
Can an 80-year-old, 4th-grade-educated shepherd stand up against a pushy multimillion-dollar juggernaut and win? Riccardo Milani’s Life is Life (La Vita va Cosi), a Best Comedy winner at the 2026 Nastro d’Argento Awards, poses just that.
Written by Ricardo Milani and Michele Astori, the film was inspired by the true story of Sardinian shepherd Ovidio Marras, who spent decades opposing a tourist development threatening one of Italy’s last untouched coastlines.
It opens on the eve of the millennium, the precipice of a time when things were about to rapidly shift. We’re immediately brought into a sharp juxtaposition of imagery and character.
Pappy Efisio sits on a beach looking out at sea, his face weathered with years of working the land, as his cows mill about. Then to Milan and the rush of the city streets as the president of a major real estate company heads to his office.
These opposite realities hilariously collide as Mariano (Aldo Baglio) is sent south to pressure the 80-year-old Efisio (Giuseppe Ignazio Loi) into selling his ancestral land, a farm carried down through generation upon generation, for a cool $150 million.
Giacomo (Diego Abatantuono), the president of a powerful Milanese real estate group, wants the coastline for a luxury resort, but Efisio’s stubborn, steadfast refusal – a simple, unwavering no – sends the business elite, and the struggling township, into spiral.
The film is a triumph, full of surprising switches in tone. There’s quirky, melodramatic comedy and moments of slapstick with a resonant emotional undertone.
The pristine, untouched beach contrasts starkly with the sharp, shiny edges and uninspiring offices of corporate Milan. The village crowd scenes at Efisio’s house, when the townspeople come to plead their cases for the sale of his land, are expertly crafted.
The razor-sharp script is cleverly constructed, hilariously showing how hyper-capitalism has us all caught in the undertow. Efisio’s refusal to budge has a ripple effect through the town. As pressure mounts, the desperate village people trying to keep their businesses afloat turn on him, clamouring and protesting at his door.
Milani has cleverly, expertly balanced quirky, laugh-out-loud humour with moments that are arresting and moving. There are moments in the film that border on an overt morality tale, with lines that could be taken as didactic. But the script and commanding performances pull it back, unravelling a story full of surprisingly powerful and poignant exchanges.
Efisio is the grounding centre of the film, his laconic resoluteness hilarious against the desperate panic of the people around him. Played by Giuseppe Ignazio Loi, an 84-year-old Sardinian shepherd in his first-ever screen role, Milani’s choice to cast a non-professional actor as the Pappy who sticks stubbornly to his principles is a brilliant one. The man’s untouched authenticity perfectly mirrors the land he is protecting.
A true highlight for me is the contrast between the other two core performances. Aldo Baglio as Mariano provides amusing, almost slapstick humour. While he’s at times explosively expressive, he never veers outside the tone of the film or undermines the narrative.
Virginia Raffaele as Francesca is the everywoman. She commands the screen with a presence, a distinct groundedness that is compelling. Her comedy is wonderfully restrained, wry and sarcastic. Torn between two worlds, she represents the daily human struggle of the modern world.
These two serve as a stark contrast, representing the opposite poles of Italy, creating a vibrant pop in their scenes together, bolstering the story along.
Life Is Life offers a balanced take on the modern-day struggles of society and what it is to grapple with living in a capitalist world. It acknowledges the social cost of steadfast principles and unwavering virtue, while also highlighting the necessity of it.
Milani’s direction is far too sharp for didacticism, instead unravelling a narrative that’s both profound in its social critique and poignant in its emotional undercurrent. In the end, Efisio’s quiet, stubborn no has never felt more necessary.
Life Is Life screens at the 2026 ST. ALi Italian Film Festival, presented by Palace. In cinemas now in the locations below.
Tickets: https://italianfilmfestival.com.au/films/iff26-life-is-life
Website: https://italianfilmfestival.com.au/
Socials: https://www.instagram.com/italianfilmfest/
Watch the trailer below:
Film details:
Title: Life Is Life (La Vita va Cosi)
Director: Riccardo Milani
Cast: Diego Abatantuono, Aldo Baglio, Virginia Raffaele, Giuseppe Ignazio Loi, Geppi Cucciari
Country of Origin: Italy
Duration: 118 mins
Rating: CTC
2026 Festival Dates and Venues by City:
Canberra 16 September – 14 October, Palace Electric Cinema
Adelaide 16 September – 13 October, Palace Nova Eastend Cinemas, Palace Nova Prospect Cinemas
Sydney 17 September – 14 October, Palace Moore Park, Palace Norton St, Palace Central
Byron Bay and Ballina 17 September – 14 October, Palace Byron Bay, Ballina Fair Cinemas
Melbourne 18 September – 15 October, The Astor Theatre, Palace Balwyn, Palace Brighton Bay, Palace Cinema Como, Palace Penny Lane, Palace Westgarth, The Kino, Pentridge Cinema, Cinema Nova
Ballarat 18 September – 15 October, Palace Regent Cinemas
Brisbane 24 September – 18 October, Palace Barracks, Palace James Street
Perth 24 September – 18 October, Palace Raine Square, Luna Leederville, Luna on SX, Windsor Cinema
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