La terra trema: Episodio del mare (1948)

User Rating:

7.8/10   

Director:

Luchino Visconti

Writers:

Antonio Pietrangeli (dialogue)
Antonio Pietrangeli (screenplay)

Release Date:

1957 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

In rural Sicily, the fishermen live at the mercy of the greedy wholesalers. One family risks everything to buy their own boat and operate independently.

Plot Keywords:

Sicilian | Fish | Sicily | Boat | Rowing

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Antonio Arcidiacono	...	Ntoni (uncredited)
Giuseppe Arcidiacono	...	Cola (uncredited)
Venera Bonaccorso	...	La vecchia che ride (uncredited)
Nicola Castorino	...	Nicola (uncredited)
Rosa Catalano	...	Rosa (uncredited)
Rosa Costanzo	...	Nedda (uncredited)
Alfio Fichera	...	Michele (uncredited)
Carmela Fichera	...	La baronessa (uncredited)
Rosario Galvagno	...	Don Salvatore, il maresciallo dei carabinieri (uncredited)
Agnese Giammona	...	Lucia (uncredited)
Nelluccia Giammona	...	Mara (uncredited)
Giovanni Greco	...	(uncredited)
Ignazio Maccarone	...	Maccarone (uncredited)
Giovanni Maiorana	...	Un bambino (uncredited)
Antonino Micale	...	Vanni (uncredited)
Maria Micale	...	La madre (uncredited)
Concettina Mirabella	...	(uncredited)
Angelo Morabito	...	Un cliente dell'osteria (uncredited)
Pasquale Pellegrino	...	Pescatore (uncredited)
Amilcare Pettinelli	...	Voce narrante (uncredited)
Antonio Pietrangeli	...	Voce narrante (uncredited)
Alfio Valastro	...	Bandiera (uncredited)
Antonino Valastro	...	Pandolla (uncredited)
Francesco Valastro	...	Afro (uncredited)
Lorenzo Valastro	...	Lorenzo (uncredited)
Raimondo Valastro	...	Raimondo (uncredited)
Salvatore Valastro	...	Il pignoratore (uncredited)
Santo Valastro	...	Santo (uncredited)
Sebastiano Valastro	...	Il padre (uncredited)
Giuseppe Vicari	...	Piccola (uncredited)
Salvatore Vicari	...	Alfio (uncredited)
Luchino Visconti	...	Voce narrante (uncredited)

Also Known As:

La terra trema: Episodio del mare
The Earth Trembles
The Earth Will Tremble

Runtime:

160 min | France:152 min | Germany:92 min (video version)

Country:

Italy

Language:

Sicilian | Italian

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Australia:G | Finland:S | UK:U

Filming Locations:

Aci Trezza, Aci Castello, Catania, Sicily, Italy

Company:

Universalia Film

Trivia:

The cast was exclusively composed of non-professional actors. They were genuine fishermen and inhabitants of Aci Trezza (Sicily). The credits doesn't give the name of any of the actors; they are collectively listed as "Pescatori Siciliani" (Sicilian Firshermen).

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Monty Python's Flying Circus: The Money Programme (#3.3)" (1972)

Realistic and operatic

This moving slice of life has several acts and moves like an opera, but the scenes are "neo-realistic" in the best sense.

All of Visconti's actors are from the Sicilian fishing village, but they were not acting--just portraying their lives. You care about these real people!

Family is everything--and it survives despite the buffeting by the storms, the stranglehold of the oligarchical wholesalers, and shortsightedness of the townspeople. We see the exploitation of the fishermen vividly and how most accept it as "God's will."

It also brings to mind the old joke: What is the difference between capitalism and communism? Capitalism is the exploitation of man by man, and communism is just the reverse.