The earth trembles

Italian masterpiece and perhaps the film that took Neorealism's credo of reality anchoring to its utmost consequence: the film was shot entirely with non-actors (Sicilian fishermen) in the roles in a difficult to understand dialect, and the environmental description of the small fishing village of Aci Trezza is so central that the documentary qualities almost exceed the narrative ones. The film's bleak beauty and sorrow-heavy compositions, however, already testify here that a painter-inspired film-maker of unusual casting is at work, and the drama is both precise and poignant. A young fisherman is one of the few who have been outside the village and seen that not everywhere you are in the pocket of the fishmongers. Financed by both the Visconti family fortune and the Italian Communist Party, the film elegantly dissects the often hidden economics behind tragic events.

Director: Luchino Visconti
Starring: Antonio Arcidiacono, Giuseppe Arcidiacono, Venera Bonaccorso
Country/year: Italy, 1948
Running time: 160 min.
Formato: DCP
Language: English subtitles
Age limit: Allowed for children over 15 years old
Original title: La terra trema

Part of the series: Filmuniversitetet - morgen
In collaboration with Film and Media Studies at the University of Copenhagen, Cinemateket shows important film historical milestones. The films are shown on Tuesday mornings at 9.15am and always with a 15-minute introduction by the university's film history experts.