Director: Luchino Visconti
Screenplay by: Luchino Visconti, Antonio Pietrangeli
Based on a Novel by Giovanni Verga
Starring: Antonio Arcidiacono, Giuseppe Arcidiacono, Nelluccia Giammona, Maria Micale, Salvatore Vicari, Sebastiano Valastro
Country: Italy
Running Time: 160 min
Year: 1948
BBFC Certificate: U
La Terra Trema (1948), which is being released on Blu-ray by Radiance Films, was Visconti’s second feature film as director, and it came after quite a long gap (his debut, Obsession, was released in 1943). This was perhaps largely due to the shifting political climate in Italy during and after the war, and Visconti’s own Communist views at the time.
La Terra Trema originally started life when Visconti was paid 6 million lire by the Italian Communist Party to direct a tryptic of documentaries in the Sicilian town of Aci Trezza. He headed over there with a small crew and began to explore the area and speak to the locals.
However, the Communist Party money fell through and, moved by what he’d experienced in the village, Visconti decided instead to develop a feature-length film, in the style of a docudrama, about the lives of the fishermen in Aci Trezza. He’d also previously bought the rights to the 1881 novel ‘I Malavoglia’ by Giovanni Verga, and thought that elements of that would work in this context.
The finished film went on to be nominated for the Golden Lion at the 1948 Venice Film Festival, and is now often considered one of the finest examples of Italian neorealism.
To summarise the plot, I’ll use Radiance’s blurb:
In the fishing village of Aci Trezza, Sicily, the Valastro family dream of a better life. Living modestly thanks to merciless wholesalers, eldest son Ntoni (Antonio Arcidiacono) takes matters into his own hands and – with the help of a bank loan – starts fishing alone. The venture is initially a success but an unexpected shipwreck means the family must soon fend for themselves.
La Terra Trema sees Visconti striving for realism at every turn. Shot over a lengthy and reportedly gruelling seven months on location, the director used locals in all acting roles and asked them to keep their dialects and accents intact to keep everything as authentic as possible. He occasionally used improvisation with these inexperienced actors too.
Whilst these ‘non-actors’ can come across a little stilted in places, particularly in more clearly scripted scenes, it is easy to believe they’re in that situation, and not only because they were likely in the same boat as their characters (if you’ll excuse the pun). Some of the cast, particularly Antonio Arcidiacono, have the look of a star, despite their differing background. Arcidiacono is suitably brooding and handsome. Agnese Giammona, as his sister Lucia, has the youthful beauty required for her character too. It’s certainly well cast.
The sound design is rich for the time and, once again, seemingly authentic. Visconti avoids using too much music, largely only introducing snippets of Willy Ferrero’s score in the second half. Instead, diegetic music from whistling and singing characters is used, alongside the natural ‘music’ of the wind, sea and town. It works a treat, sounding much more modern than most films of the 40s.
Whilst Visconti strives for realism throughout, he still creates some strikingly beautiful images through his mise-en-scene. Shots are artfully composed, and there are some lovely, long, slow tracking shots, often through crowds of people. These scenes, usually set at the docks, give the otherwise intimate film an epic feel in places.
This use of crowds, the large family at the film’s core and the fact that everyone is always working, breathes life intoLa Terra Trema and gives it a certain energy, despite the grim subject matter.
The gloomy, downward spiral of the story makes for a film that’s perhaps difficult to enjoy though. I found the latter portions of the film a little patience-testing for this reason. I found the voiceover annoying and unnecessary too. This was presumably either added to give the film more of a documentary feel or to help it make sense for Italians who didn’t understand the dialect being spoken.
The downbeat nature of the film and the mildly irritating voiceover are not strong enough reasons to downplay the quality of filmmaking here though. La Terra Trema is a powerful social drama that blends cinematic beauty with deeply grounded reality. Quite an achievement.
Film:
La Terra Trema is out on 23rd June on region B Blu-Ray, released by Radiance Films. The transfer is beautiful. It’s a clean and detailed image with a rich tonal range. I’ve used screengrabs throughout this review to give you an idea of how it looks. Audio is strong too, for a film of its age.
LIMITED EDITION BLU-RAY FEATURES
– 2K restoration of the film by Cineteca Nazionale
– Uncompressed mono PCM audio
– New interview with critic Christina Newland
– Interview with Italian politician and journalist Pietro Ingrao
– Interview with assistant director Francesco Rosi
– Interview with Turi Vasile
– Trailer
– Newly improved English subtitle translation
– Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Time Tomorrow
– Limited edition booklet featuring new and archival writing
– Limited edition of 3000 copies, presented in full-height Scanavo packaging with removable OBI strip, leaving packaging free of certificates and markings
Christina Newland discusses the film in an interview. It’s a relatively short piece, but she provides valuable background on the production before looking at what makes the film notable.
There’s an interview with Francesco Rosi on the disc too. He was an assistant director on the shoot, alongside Franco Zeffirelli, and Rosi describes the production process. It’s an enjoyable recollection that doesn’t shy away from some of the difficulties and disagreements the crew had with Visconti.
Turi Vasile is also interviewed. This is only brief, but he amusingly talks about how he had to translate the film on the fly, as most of the audience couldn’t understand the dialect and accents of the cast. He also describes a conversation he had at the premiere with the actor who played the Valastro family’s grandfather.
Finally, there’s an interview with Pietro Ingrao. He talks about his initial impression of Visconti and how that changed once the director helped him out, following Ingrao getting in trouble for anti-fascist activities. He talks generally about his politics at the time and how that fit with his work.
I didn’t receive a copy of the booklet to comment on that, unfortunately.
So, Radiance once again give an Italian classic a new lease of life, with a handsome transfer and valuable extras. As such, I give it a firm recommendation.
Disc/package:
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