La Terra Trema Reviews

With a lyrical, even operatic quality that subtly combines photographic beauty with the cruel plight of its subjects, LA TERRA TREMA is one of the greatest films to emerge from the Italian neorealist movement. Set in Aci-Trezza, a small Sicilian fishing village, with the entire cast consisting of locals--their weather-beaten faces lending a sense of realism--the film involves the villagers' victimization by the entrepreneurs who control the fishing market. One young man, 'Ntoni (Antonio Arcidiacono), returns home from WWII convinced that the villagers need no longer be subject to such unfairness, that by pulling together they can alter the system and eventually overcome their imposed poverty. LA TERRA TREMA is a powerful picture that exposes the injustice inherent in a society where the privileged are allowed to ride roughshod over their inferiors. Despite its social import, the film was a terrible failure at the Italian theaters. Its historical significance, however, is immense. The use of non-professional actors, deep-focus cinematography, natural light, and direct sound recording, while rarely seen in Italian films of the day, were all integral to LA TERRA TREMA--products undoubtedly of Visconti's work with Jean Renoir. Serving as assistant directors on this picture were Francesco Rosi and Franco Zeffirelli, both of whom would eventually become leading directors. LA TERRA TREMA today stands as one of the most brilliant combinations of the realistic with the stylized that Visconti ever achieved.