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La Terra Trema Reviews

1948

70
from 808 members

Luchino Visconti's pseudo-documentary look at the exploitation of Sicilian fishermen was based on Giovanni Verga's 1881 novel I Malavoglia. The townspeople of Aci Trezza, Sicily, portrayed themselves, speaking in their native dialects and fretting about economic hardship for over 160 minutes of screen time. As nobly neorealist .. Read more

Starring	Luchino Visconti
Director	Luchino Visconti
Genres	Drama, World Cinema

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Critic's review of La Terra Trema
View all critics' reviews (2)
- Seriously intended, carefully composed semi-documentary stressing the economic problems of the simple life. A commercial disaster: even the Italians couldn't understand the accents of the local actors.
- 32376
- - Halliwell's Film Guide
  - 02 Mar 2006 at 15:42
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Most helpful member's review of La Terra Trema
View all members' reviews (16)
- - 14
  - 0
  The poor fisher folk of Aci Trezza
  
  This is one of the best films on a Marxist theme. It takes the single linear story of a Scicilian fisher family and their attempts to break the stranglehold of ... read more »
  
  Report this review
- 105452
- [Highly rated reviewer]
  - Zamy
  - 552 reviews
  - London
  - 20 May 2005 at 11:04
Most recent members' reviews of La Terra Trema
View all members' reviews (16)
- - 0
  - 0
  Dull and patronising
  
  I wanted to see this film because I've been reading Jean Renoir's memoirs in which he blasts this and other neo-realist films for their inability to be ... read more »
  
  Report this review
- 929875
- - zorilla
  - 140 reviews
  - Kew, Richmond
  - 08 Oct 2010 at 11:08
- - 0
  - 0
  The Mastery of Visconti
  
  For many of us, Luchino Visconti is the lush, almost operatic director of masterpieces like 'Death in Venice' and 'The Leopard'. Yet, at the ... read more »
  
  Report this review
- 918999
- - LeedsLecturer
  - 3 reviews
  - Leeds
  - 29 Aug 2010 at 15:02
- - 0
  - 0
  Felt like a documentary
  
  This film had a very clunky old fashioned feel to it, and felt like a morality play about the oppressed working classes as it follows the trials and ... read more »
  
  Report this review
- 896840
- - Ferry41
  - 190 reviews
  - Oxford
  - 07 Jun 2010 at 17:25
- - 0
  - 0
  La Terra Trema
  
  'Unrelenting', 'hypnotic' are words used by other reviewers; 'sublime' is another. Post-war Italian neorealist films are indeed truly ... read more »
  
  Report this review
- 757193
- - spettatore
  - 8 reviews
  - Exeter
  - 14 May 2009 at 01:54
- - 0
  - 0
  Haunting
  
  THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS | Show review anywayHide
  
  I feel as though the images from this film will haunt me for a long time to come. Verga's story, which is quite a hard read, is vividly transposed into a ... read more »
  
  Report this review
- 736305
- - a customer
  - Bordon
  - 01 Apr 2009 at 18:39
- - 2
  - 0
  Scritti politti….but no cultural hegemony here.
  
  Discussions as to the purism of the Marxist theme of this film are largely misplaced - given that the Italian film industry suffered under the establishment of ... read more »
  
  Report this review
- 677618
- - Stephen
  - North Cornelly, South Wales
  - 27 Dec 2008 at 12:50
- - 0
  - 0
  One of those films.....
  
  Innovative in its shooting style and use amateur actors but, God, it's slow and laboured. One of the films you have to watch, are pleased you watched but ... read more »
  
  Report this review
- 647691
- - a customer
  - London
  - 22 Oct 2008 at 10:16
- - 0
  - 0
  I adored, adored this film.
  
  I adored, adored this film. It is so current and I cannot believe it was made in the 1940s. The fishermen of Sicily are amazing, the story heartbreaking, the ... read more »
  
  Report this review
- 551089
- - a customer
  - Bermondsey, London
  - 09 Apr 2008 at 09:43
- - 1
  - 0
  I was there
  
  amazingly real film. it didnt even seem like they were acting. its incredible that many of these people had no experience in acting. visually its also sttunning... read more »
  
  Report this review
- 464419
- - a customer
  - england
  - 08 Aug 2007 at 18:06
- - 0
  - 0
  Master's piece
  
  Yes, it's long (153 minutes) and it's not remastered, but this is classic Italian film at its very best. Shot in 1947 with a cast of completely unknown... read more »
  
  Report this review
- 463404
- - Cato
  - 589 reviews
  - Lydbury North
  - 04 Aug 2007 at 12:14
View all members' reviews (16)

- - 14
  - 0
  The poor fisher folk of Aci Trezza
  
  This is one of the best films on a Marxist theme. It takes the single linear story of a Scicilian fisher family and their attempts to break the stranglehold of ... read more »
  
  Report this review
- 105452
- [Highly rated reviewer]
  - Zamy
  - 552 reviews
  - London
  - 20 May 2005 at 11:04
- - 4
  - 0
  Highest possible achievement
  
  Itay produced during this immediate Post War era undoubtably some of the greatest Films ever made. The story of this one is superb but it is photographed in ... read more »
  
  Report this review
- 148527
- - a customer
  - Glasgow
  - 07 Sep 2005 at 21:55
- - 3
  - 2
  Great Docu-Drama - in it's day.
  
  This is a good and worthy film about a good and worthy topic: the exploitation of workers. However, what was adventurous in 1948 is now slow, sluggish, and ... read more »
  
  Report this review
- 242547
- - A classical actor
  - from deep in the luscious green valleys of stunning Mid-Wales.
  - 10 May 2006 at 10:22
- - 2
  - 0
  Scritti politti….but no cultural hegemony here.
  
  Discussions as to the purism of the Marxist theme of this film are largely misplaced - given that the Italian film industry suffered under the establishment of ... read more »
  
  Report this review
- 677618
- - Stephen
  - North Cornelly, South Wales
  - 27 Dec 2008 at 12:50
- - 1
  - 0
  I was there
  
  amazingly real film. it didnt even seem like they were acting. its incredible that many of these people had no experience in acting. visually its also sttunning... read more »
  
  Report this review
- 464419
- - a customer
  - england
  - 08 Aug 2007 at 18:06
- - 0
  - 0
  italian genius
  
  Although this may not be to the taste of many of today's young film fans, this fascinating account of the life and very hard times of a poor fishing family ... read more »
  
  Report this review
- 347824
- - toughie
  - Aberdeenshire
  - 04 Nov 2005 at 22:22
- - 0
  - 0
  Brilliant - but punishingly long
  
  Visconti's lyrical, committed account of one family's attempts in a small Sicilian town to escape the monopoly of the wholesalers, is an hugely ... read more »
  
  Report this review
- 390438
- - Savage
  - 632 reviews
  - London, England
  - 30 Nov 2006 at 11:03
- - 0
  - 0
  Master's piece
  
  Yes, it's long (153 minutes) and it's not remastered, but this is classic Italian film at its very best. Shot in 1947 with a cast of completely unknown... read more »
  
  Report this review
- 463404
- - Cato
  - 589 reviews
  - Lydbury North
  - 04 Aug 2007 at 12:14
- - 0
  - 0
  I adored, adored this film.
  
  I adored, adored this film. It is so current and I cannot believe it was made in the 1940s. The fishermen of Sicily are amazing, the story heartbreaking, the ... read more »
  
  Report this review
- 551089
- - a customer
  - Bermondsey, London
  - 09 Apr 2008 at 09:43
- - 0
  - 0
  One of those films.....
  
  Innovative in its shooting style and use amateur actors but, God, it's slow and laboured. One of the films you have to watch, are pleased you watched but ... read more »
  
  Report this review
- 647691
- - a customer
  - London
  - 22 Oct 2008 at 10:16

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- La Terra Trema
  
  Luchino Visconti's pseudo-documentary look at the exploitation of Sicilian fishermen was based on Giovanni Verga's 1881 novel I Malavoglia. The townspeople of Aci Trezza, Sicily, portrayed themselves, speaking in their native dialects and fretting about economic hardship for over 160 minutes of ...