Tree Of Wooden Clogs Details

Following in the tradition of Georges Rouquier's Farrebique, Ermanno Olmi's sprawling study of peasant life in Lombardy at the end of the 19th century, is one of the last great neorealist films. Shot on 16mm and using only non-professional players, this pseudo-documentary epic finds drama in the changing of the seasons and the everyday tasks of the farm. Acting as his own cameraman, Olmi opts for muted colours that suggest both the period and the simplicity of the lifestyle. However, he is somewhat less subtle in emphasising the Marxist message, which he neatly conveys by means of religious, as well as traditional, rural imagery.

Sensitive, novel-like investigation of times gone by; never very exciting but certainly never dull, despite the limits of 16mm and a non-professional cast.