La Terra Trema

1948

2h 40m

Drama

List

82%

Tomatometer

11 Reviews

87%

Audience Score

500+ Ratings

Antonio (Maria Micale) returns to his home in an Italian fishing village, convinced that he can buck the long-entrenched practices of low-paying wholesalers by purchasing his own fishing boat and running his own business. Unfortunately, going solo is extremely demanding, and when a disaster at sea severely damages his boat, he finds that he must again work for his rivals. His family begins to disintegrate from the stress and misfortune, as do his dreams of social justice.

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André Bazin

Esprit

There is no doubt that the film does have propaganda value, but this value is purely objective: there is no moving eloquence to bolster its documentary vigor.

Jan 5, 2022

Full Review

Dwight MacDonald

Esquire Magazine

This one-way pathos trundles along for three hours slowly, glumly, predictably.

Aug 13, 2019

Full Review

Sean Axmaker

Parallax View

It's as if Sicily has existed in a bubble, unchanging for a century as sons take over the boats of their fathers and children apprentice at their feet, taking their place in "a hopeless slavery."

Apr 25, 2015

Full Review

Fernando F. Croce

CinePassion

Luchino Visconti's epic account of peasant defiance inflamed and squelched, where to live in poverty is to drown on dry land

Apr 17, 2015

Full Review

Christopher Long

Movie Metropolis

It's a rough slog... but La terra trema shows that Visconti, with just his second feature, was already a master of the medium.

Rated: 7/10

Aug 21, 2012

Full Review

Cole Smithey

ColeSmithey.com

Visconti used real Sicilian fishermen as non-actors expressing their circumstances and beliefs. The effect is a powerful portrait of graceful human dignity caught between the cruelty of the sea and opportunistic greed.

Rated: A+

Apr 12, 2009

Full Review

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William L

It's purely the timing of the viewing, but there are many parallels between Visconti's La Terra Trema and Chloé Zhao's Nomadland - both featuring non-professional actors with nonfiction roles, (albeit to a different degree), both focusing on the social consequences of financial exploitation in a true-to-life setting, and both having received critical acclaim (Nomadland being the recipient of both the Golden Lion and the Academy Award for Best Picture, La Terra Trema a top ten film on the 1962 Sight & Sound poll). However, while logistically impressive, Visconti's film stands out as the far more straightforward and rather protracted of the two, using its nonprofessional talent in conventional dramatic contexts (where their inexperience is less of a virtue) and taking an achingly long time to hammer home its obvious (if still relevant) point, that the working class is constantly forced into unbreakable cycles of poverty and self-betterment has been demonized on a social level such that even fellow victims look down on those attempting to break the wheel, either out of prejudice or jealousy. More an academically relevant and historically significant film than a well-aged classic; the docudrama format isn't really used to its fullest here. Love how the Italian theatrical release poster looks like the cover of an old adventure novel, with a crew ferociously battling a storm in their small skiff. Just know, that borders on false advertising; nothing even remotely that exciting happens in this film's 165 minutes. (3/5)

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

04/09/22

Full Review

Audience Member

A rustic setting, real looking people, and enough social commentary to make up its runtime. Glad I finally gave it a look.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/20/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Lost somewhere between realism and neorealism, this film focuses on attempted socialist leader Ntoni facing the insuperable force of a fascist-loving business owner who controls every fisherman's salary in Trezza, no matter what their output is. The film has us experiencing long drawn out shots, moments of quiet, which typically I enjoy in a film with better cinematography. As many great tracking and dolly shots as there are, the film has trouble with exposure, often right on the edge of complete underexposure.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/12/23

Full Review

Audience Member

A sadly misguided film that deserves more credit for what it wants to say than for how it does it, since it is marred by stiff, unnatural performances by non-actors (like watching a school play), heavy-handed dialogue, a redundant narration and a formal rigor not so in tune with the kind of neorealist docufiction that Visconti wants to make.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

02/14/23

Full Review

Audience Member

"La Terra trema" is director Luchino Visconti at his very best.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/04/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Despite a slow start, this highly Marxist drama reflects the destitute of the proletariat and sarcasm over Mussolini's regime vividly and vigorously. A true masterpiece for both the Neorealist cinema and Communist studies.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/25/23

Full Review

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Luchino Visconti

Director

Antonio Arcidiacono

'Ntoni

Salvatore Vicari

Alfio

Maria Micale

la madre

Sebastiano Valastro

il padre

Antonio Micale

Vanni

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78%

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Mister Johnson

0%

17%

Monsignor

97%

85%

Drugstore Cowboy

43%

82%

The Field

43%

31%

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Synopsis

Antonio (Maria Micale) returns to his home in an Italian fishing village, convinced that he can buck the long-entrenched practices of low-paying wholesalers by purchasing his own fishing boat and running his own business. Unfortunately, going solo is extremely demanding, and when a disaster at sea severely damages his boat, he finds that he must again work for his rivals. His family begins to disintegrate from the stress and misfortune, as do his dreams of social justice.

Director: Luchino Visconti
Genre: Drama
Original Language: Italian
Release Date (Streaming): Sep 10, 2012
Runtime: 2h 40m

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