- Release year: 1948
- Director: Luchino Visconti.
- Producers: Salvo D’Angelo and Luchino Visconti.
- Screenplay by: Antonio Pietrangeli and Luchino Visconti.
- Cinematography by: G. R. Aldo.
- Music by: Willy Ferrero.
Synopsis: a fisherman rebels against the exploitation of wholesalers, with dreadful consequences.
Shotgun Commentary: essay on the importance of education and community.
Review
La Terra Trema is a post-WWII Italian classic. With an obviously communist message, the film follows the story of a fisherman’s fall into ruin and shame as a result of a broken, jealous community that has no sense of camaraderie. Radiance brings you this classic in 2K, physical copies available now. More information after the review.
Not you average pick-me-up
Let’s get one thing out of the way first: this feature is long and depressing. If you are looking for something to lift your spirits, this is not it. Tired of the horrible realities of the world around? Tough. This movie doesn’t care. You don’t want reality? You’re gonna get double ration. Do you hate sad stories of people being treated unfairly by the ignorance of those around them? Well, you can totally skip this film… and the news while you’re at it.
Despite starting as a documentary, this feature soon became a fictional piece based on the real lives of many fishermen in Sicilia. The tale follows a fisherman that comes from a huge family and wants to do better by them. Being the only member of the family, and indeed, of the village, who’s ever seen the world outside the town, he’s more educated than most. As such, he knows that the fishermen’s situation is unfair and easily fixable, whether he can make them understand that or not is another matter entirely.
Contagious idiocy
The fishermen go out when the sun goes down and fish all night, returning at dawn to sell their product to the wholesalers, who buy the fish for nothing and then sell it to the shops for a fortune. Thus, the former live in poverty while the latter get richer by the day while telling their glorified slaves to be grateful. Due to generations of tradition, the fishermen let the wholesalers exploit them, like their fathers before them and so on down the family tree. The protagonist, Ntoni (Antonio Arcidiacono), has a plan to stop this unfair situation, but no one outside his family believes or supports him.
Overall, this is a critique about the damage of lacking education. Sure, it also has some political tints and feels like a syndicate commercial, but that isn’t really the main issue. The people living in this rural Sicily town, are portrayed as mindless ignorants. While it might seem like a harsh portrayal, it is also an incredibly realistic one, and not only for people in Sicilia or rural areas any more. Now, people can be ignorant all over, and the main problem is not their ignorance, but how easily it can be weaponised.
You see it in politics, the use of fear and a few well-placed lies will make people turn on their own principles faster than you can say the word “principles”. How is it possible that fellow fishermen watch Ntoni starve and lose everything instead of following him and facing their exploiters? Well, the same way people from oppressed groups in society keep voting for their oppressors. This film is, strangely enough, global politics explained at a small scale. Not diplomacy or the inner functioning of politics, but the relationship between politicians and citizens, a bonkers dynamic that is beautifully exposed through this narrative.
Another day, another injustice…
Another fascinating subject brought up by the film is that of sexism and social customs. While most members of the family display one problem or another, mostly love related, one that strikes specially is the one protagonised by Lucia (Agnese Giammona). Lucia is a victim of the patriarchy, cheated by a man she trusts and turned into a social pariah.
Her life is destroyed over harmful beliefs that serve for nothing other than to free the man from any responsibility, while the woman is severely punished. In this case, a teenager’s life is ruined by a middle-aged man, one of those stories that are too real to cause anything other than wrath among the audience watching.
All in all, La Terra Trema is the type of film you watch when you have lost all faith in humanity and do not wish to leave that state. It is the film that will make your blood boil, regardless of the clumsy acting. A story so tragic, you’ll want to just go to bed and wait for the day to be over. It is objectively good regardless, so if you are into that, knock yourself out.
Radiance’s Blu-ray of La Terra Trema is out now. Link and details below!
LIMITED EDITION BLU-RAY FEATURES
- 2K restoration of the film from duplicate negative and positive materials
- Original mono DTS-HD audio
- New interview with critic Christina Newland (2025, 10 mins)
- Interview with Italian politician and journalist Pietro Ingrao (2007, 9 mins)
- Interview with assistant director Francesco Rosi (2007, 14 mins)
- Interview with film producer Turi Vasile (2007, 3 mins)
- Gallery
- Optional English subtitles
- Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Time Tomorrow
- Limited edition booklet featuring new writing by Stephen Gundle and archival writing on the film by André Bazin
- Limited edition of 3000 copies, presented in full-height Scanavo packaging with removable OBI strip leaving packaging free of certificates and markings
Find the Radiance release right here!
Advice to take from this movie:
- It is important to have enough support and a backup plan before taking a big risk.
- Education is KEY.
- Sometimes a documentary becomes a work of fiction, and that’s alright.
What’s your take? Have you watched La Terra Trema? Don’t hesitate to let me know your thoughts in the comments section below, or leave a message in my contact page! For more reviews and cinema-related articles, check out the rest of my blog! 😀