La terra trema: Episodio del mare (1948)

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 | Boat | Sicily | Fish | Crying

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:

Edited into Bellissimo: Immagini del cinema italiano (1985)

Man of Aran This Ain't....

Too much of the off-camera narration as if we were watching a puppet show. There are better examples in the neorealist field because structurally Visconti makes it half fictional story and half documentary. Flaherty did a much better, more eloquent job on a similar (desperately poor fishermen folk) theme without any words used in MAN OF ARAN. The only thing I really liked about this film is the Sicilian dialect which does not contain any decipherable Italian words. Like Central and Southern Spain the Arabic influence here was very powerful and the insular culture fought a hard battle to keep its own identity (not Italian and not Arabic). Not a very great film from a director who is very highly regarded but for me is not in the league with the best of Italian filmmakers.