L'albero degli zoccoli (1978)

Director:

Ermanno Olmi

Writer:

Ermanno Olmi (written by)

Release Date:

1 June 1979 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | History

Plot:

The life inside a farm in Italy at the beginning of the century. Many poor country families live there...

Plot Keywords:

School | Money | Italy | Farm | Snowing

Awards:

14 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Luigi Ornaghi	...	Batistì
Francesca Moriggi	...	Batistina
Omar Brignoli	...	Minec
Antonio Ferrari	...	Tuni
Teresa Brescianini	...	Widow Runk
Giuseppe Brignoli	...	Anselmo
Carlo Rota	...	Peppino
Pasqualina Brolis	...	Teresina
Massimo Fratus	...	Pierino
Francesca Villa	...	Annetta
Maria Grazia Caroli	...	Bettina
Battista Trevaini	...	Il Finard
Giuseppina Langalelli	...	La Moglie Finarda
Lorenzo Pedroni	...	Il nonno Finard
Felice Cervi	...	Uslì

Also Known As:

The Tree of Wooden Clogs (USA)
The Tree with the Wooden Clogs (UK)

Runtime:

186 min

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian

Color:

Color (Gevacolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Italy:T | Australia:G | Netherlands:12 | Argentina:Atp | Finland:K-12

Filming Locations:

Cividate al Piano, Bergamo, Lombardia, Italy

Company:

Radiotelevisione Italiana (RAI)

Trivia:

One of Al Pacino's favorite movies of all time.

Goofs:

Continuity: When the children are making music with pots and pans, the 'instruments' of the little girl are switching from one hand to the other when the camera looks at her from the other side.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Splendor (1989)

The film will be with me for a long time.

An artistic masterpiece that almost any observant Catholic will cherish, especially an Italian Catholic. It is unclear how nonbelievers will connect to the film. By watching the film one discovers that while material possessions may make life easier they certainly can be a stumbling block on the path to sanctity. These peasants really put late twentieth century American Catholics to shame.

The film slowly unveils to the viewers one year in the life of Italian peasants at the close of the nineteenth century. That's about it. There's no hero, no antagonist, and no great wrong that gets set right; it's simply a slice of life. I do not want to reveal too much of the story because I think it will spoil it for the viewer.

The film can serve as an educational tool for viewers with children. It's like going to an outdoor historical museum, only the viewer gets to see everything that it would take one whole year to see at the museum (without the crowds). For example, the director takes the time to show painstakingly what it was like to wash clothes one hundred years ago. It's essentially a living documentary of late nineteenth century Italian provincial life.

Most American audiences will have to get used to the slow pace of the film. Even the humor is extremely subtle. Surprisingly, I enjoyed the pace. The pace was silent, peaceful, and steadfast just as the families are in the film. To me it is an escape (ironically an escape from an escape) from many of today's films that just explode with sound effects and rock music; films that move at blurring speed with scene cuts that are made with the intent to maximize audience stimulation but often with the result of increasing our stress level. This movie is a restful reprieve.