La Terra Trema (1948)

7.8Not Rated165 minDirector: Luchino Visconti

1948 Italian film

La Terra Trema (Italian pronunciation: [la ˈtɛrra ˈtrɛːma]; "The Earth Trembles") is a 1948 Italian neorealist film directed, co-written, and produced by Luchino Visconti. A loose adaptation of the 1881 novel I Malavoglia by Giovanni Verga, the film documents the economic and personal struggles of poor Sicilian fishermen. The film is docufictional, featuring a cast of non-professional actors and a mix of scripted and unscripted sequences. It is considered one of the essential films of the neorealist movement and was named one of the top ten films of all time in the 1962 Sight & Sound poll.

In 2008, the film was included on the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage’s 100 Italian films to be saved which is a list of 100 films that "have changed the collective memory of the country between 1942 and 1978."

Plot summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

FAQ

What is La Terra Trema about?
La Terra Trema (1948) — Poor Sicilian fishermen are exploited by fish wholesalers. One of the families is trying to escape them by being their own bosses and buying their own boat. But nobody helps them, and even the weather and fate are against them. How can they win in a wild world?
Is La Terra Trema based on a true story?
See the production background and source material details on the official Wikipedia article.
Is La Terra Trema scary?
Content rating: Not Rated. See the reviews tab for parental guidance and tone notes.