La terra trema

A neorealist tragedy about a family of exploited Sicilian fishermen.

  • Director

    Luchino Visconti

  • With

    Antonio Arcidiacono, Giuseppe Arcidiacono, Nelluccia Giammona

  • Italy 1948. 160min

  • Digital

  • Certificate

    U

  • English subtitles

  • Courtesy of Cinecittà

This is easily the most ‘neorealist’ of Visconti’s films, featuring non-professional actors playing versions of themselves and speaking in real Sicilian dialect. An epic story, it follows the lives of ‘Ntoni and his family, a group of impoverished, exploited fishermen. Told in three acts, the drama finds the community forming a collective to fight against greedy wholesalers, only to find themselves at risk of impoverishment and destitution. With Leftist intent and a documentary feel, this tragic story is one of Visconti’s most heartbreaking works.