La Terra Trema (1948) La terra trema: Episodio del mare (original title)

Director:

Luchino Visconti

Writers:

(more)

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 | Fishermen

Awards:

1 win & 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)

Directed by
Luchino Visconti

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Giovanni Verga		novel (uncredited)

Produced by
Salvo D'Angelo	....	producer

Original Music by
Willy Ferrero

Cinematography by
G.R. Aldo

Film Editing by
Mario Serandrei

Production Management
Anna Davini	....	production manager
Claudio Forges Davanzati	....	assistant production manager
Renato Silvestri	....	production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Francesco Rosi	....	assistant director (as Franco Rosi)
Franco Zeffirelli	....	assistant director
Demofilo Fidani	....	trainee assistant director (uncredited)

Sound Department
Ovidio Del Grande	....	sound engineer
Mario Ronchetti	....	recording director
Vittorio Trentino	....	sound

Camera and Electrical Department
Gianni Di Venanzo	....	camera operator
Nello Nutarelli	....	key grip
Aiace Parolin	....	assistant camera (as Ajace Parolin)
Bruno Pasqualini	....	head electrician
Paul Ronald	....	still photographer

Music Department
Willy Ferrero	....	conductor
Edoardo Micucci	....	assistant musical director (as Maestro Micucci)
Luchino Visconti	....	musical collaborator

Other crew
Pescatori Siciliani	....	translator
Vincenzo Genesi	....	laboratory technician (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Universalia Film

Distributors

• Compagnia Edizioni Internazionali Artistiche Distribuzione (CEIAD) (1948) (Italy) (theatrical)
• Mario de Vecchi (1965) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Homescreen (2005) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Homescreen (2009) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Image Entertainment (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• Ripley's Home Video (2007) (Italy) (DVD) (restored)
• Umbrella Entertainment (2005) (Australia) (DVD)
• Versátil Home Vídeo (2003) (Brazil) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Cinecittà  sound equipment

Also Known As:

"La terra trema: Episodio del mare" - Italy (original title)
"The Earth Trembles" - , International (English title) (literal title)

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:

When financing fell through, Visconti was forced to sell some of his mother's jewelry and one of the family's apartments in Rome to finish the film.

Quotes:

Title Card:[in Italian] In Sicily, Italian is not the language of the poor.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Splendor (1989)

Heartbreaking, Bitter and Cruel Reality

In 1947, in Sicily near Catania, the fishermen in Aci Trezza have been exploited by generations by the local middlemen. The young 'Ntoni Valastro rebels against the economical situation of his poor family and convinces the Valastro to mortgage their simple house in the Fidania Bank in Catania to buy a fish boat of their own and never work again for the wholesalers. In a stormy day, he decides to fish due to the necessity of repaying the debt to the bank; however, the storm destroys his boat and the dream of his family. Without any support and job, 'Ntoni sees the disintegration of his outcast family.

"La Terra Trema: Episodio del Mare" is a heartbreaking, bitter and cruel story of a family of fishermen that decides to change their poor economical situation facing the powerful exploiters. The Marxist "Red Count" Luchino Visconti directs and narrates this little masterpiece of the Italian Neo-Realism casting non-professional actors and actresses, actually fishermen and inhabitants of Aci Trezza. The abusive treatment of the greedy and idle wholesalers gives an idea of how workers were exploited in this period of history and the reason for the ideological fight of classes between Communism and Capitalism. In Brazil, this film was released on DVD by Versátil Distributor. My vote is nine.

Title (Brazil): "A Terra Treme" ("The Earth Shakes")