This is a really beautiful film. I am neither Italian, nor Catholic (nor even religious at all in the usual sense) but found this to be wonderful and involving. (I know Italy, and love it, though.) Taking place in around the turn of the previous century, the simple life of farming tenants on a lord's estate is portrayed with great charm and simple respect. You get a fascinating look at what to us now of course seems a backward combination of ancient religious myths and medieval magic, all believed in the hope of a better life in what is a difficult existence. Yet there is a hint of the modern world to come in the distant shouts and arrests of political activists glimpsed to the side, who are advocating a more fair economy, and less dependence on outmoded beliefs. The warm and dignified life of the loving families is quite believable, and no need to judge the comforts they cling to. In terms of length an pacing, it takes its time, it is true, but it is really worth it. A sort of living demonstration of the enduring human spirit, and the passing of time and history---even as old ways are dimly remembered and treasured for their sentiment.
50 Reviews
Long but full of interesting cultural information
AlsExGal30 October 2016
I had seen Wooden Clogs about twenty years ago but could remember very little about the film other than it was about very poor Italian peasant farmers at the turn of the century and that 'wooden clogs' somehow figured into the film's plot.
It is one of those films that is seemingly about nothing, but could be about everything. i didn't find its 3 hour length to be a problem. It is almost like watching a documentary about peasant life right down to its hand held camera techniques. It is subtle though. Not the shaky-cam or vomit-cam stuff you see today.
The cast is entirely made up of non-actors. Real peasants. And apparently it was shot using its local dialect, Bergamasque which then had to be dubbed into Italian for the Italian market. Olmi explains in the DVD extras that all of the non-actors did their own dubbing which I have to say is quite a technical accomplishment for amateurs.
The film opens with a farmer chopping the head off of a goose. A little later on the controversial scene depicting the slaughter and butchering of a hog is played out in almost real time. It is very graphic and quite disturbing. But just when I thought you would never want your kids to see this, Olmi cuts to two three year-old peasant kids watching the hog die with unbothered fascination. This is real life on a real farm.
And you can tell that it is done by a proficient butcher and is not a gratuitous add-on for exploitation. It is just something that Olmi has selected to include in the film.
I'd suggest this one for a change of pace.
It is one of those films that is seemingly about nothing, but could be about everything. i didn't find its 3 hour length to be a problem. It is almost like watching a documentary about peasant life right down to its hand held camera techniques. It is subtle though. Not the shaky-cam or vomit-cam stuff you see today.
The cast is entirely made up of non-actors. Real peasants. And apparently it was shot using its local dialect, Bergamasque which then had to be dubbed into Italian for the Italian market. Olmi explains in the DVD extras that all of the non-actors did their own dubbing which I have to say is quite a technical accomplishment for amateurs.
The film opens with a farmer chopping the head off of a goose. A little later on the controversial scene depicting the slaughter and butchering of a hog is played out in almost real time. It is very graphic and quite disturbing. But just when I thought you would never want your kids to see this, Olmi cuts to two three year-old peasant kids watching the hog die with unbothered fascination. This is real life on a real farm.
And you can tell that it is done by a proficient butcher and is not a gratuitous add-on for exploitation. It is just something that Olmi has selected to include in the film.
I'd suggest this one for a change of pace.
Reminiscent of Italian neo-realism.
Amyth479 April 2019
My Rating : 9/10
One of Al Pacino's favorite movies of all time. That is enough reason to seek out this wee gem of Italian cinema.
If you've seen 'Bicycle Thieves' (which I think is one of the greatest movies ever made) you will certainly enjoy this movie - this is leisurely-paced with a 3 hr 6 min runtime, beautiful colours of the farm and everyday life of a poor Italian farmer community of 19th Century is exquisitely depicted with grace and nobility.
The film captures the essence of poverty - with such poignancy and beauty that it enriches the viewer's intellect - this is what it means to be meaningful art/cinema. All the actors are not professionals and most of the production duties are handled by the director himself which adds to the beauty of this little gem.
I loved this movie and hope you will too. Happy viewing!
One of Al Pacino's favorite movies of all time. That is enough reason to seek out this wee gem of Italian cinema.
If you've seen 'Bicycle Thieves' (which I think is one of the greatest movies ever made) you will certainly enjoy this movie - this is leisurely-paced with a 3 hr 6 min runtime, beautiful colours of the farm and everyday life of a poor Italian farmer community of 19th Century is exquisitely depicted with grace and nobility.
The film captures the essence of poverty - with such poignancy and beauty that it enriches the viewer's intellect - this is what it means to be meaningful art/cinema. All the actors are not professionals and most of the production duties are handled by the director himself which adds to the beauty of this little gem.
I loved this movie and hope you will too. Happy viewing!
How to film an epic.
anna-k-29 May 2006
Yes, it lasts three hours. Yes, it is about a village community where nothing much happens. Not your typical man save-woman blow-up joint scenario, definitely. All this is said on the package, therefore I truly do not understand people who criticise this film for slowness. OF COURSE it is going to be slow, what do you expect? After this private note, some review. The film is excellent and highly recommendable for many reasons. First of all, the shooting: the use of non-professional actors,authentic settings and a real-life focus makes this film feel like a documentary, although it is set over a hundred years in the past. It therefore gives an unprecedented opportunity to peek into the life of rural Lombardy at the turn of the centuries. Secondly, the plot. Slow as it is, it sucks you in nonetheless, as you get emotionally involved with the beautifully depicted community of families. Full of small and big dramas, the film does not cease to surprise till the very end. Finally, perhaps the biggest asset of the movie is the loving, but realistic depiction of the times. There is dirt, hard work and cow dung, but there is also nature, family, and most importantly - love. If you speak some Italian, the additional perk is the beautiful dialect. Highly, highly recommend!
One of the Greats
Jean-724 January 2001
Very rarely, films transcend their medium and break through into some other dimension. These are not merely technically superb films with fine cinematography and wonderful performances. Rather, something else has been addressed; at the risk of seeming pompous, I'd call it "what it means to be human." Maybe some of you know what I'm talking about. After the film is over, you walk out into the world and your life has changed in some fundamental way. You actually experience colors and shapes and smells afresh, as though you've re-emerged into a different universe.
I can think of several films that have had that effect on me. Eric Rohmer's "Summer (Le Rayon Vert)" and Kieslowski's "Decalogue" spring to mind. But "Tree of Wooden Clogs" approached the core. I'm not Catholic, would pronounce myself an atheist if that didn't suggest the arrogance of certainty, but this movie comes as close to touching the soul as any I've ever seen. It is one of the most shattering, delightful, and profound works of art ever created. After first seeing it, I sat in my car, clutched the steering wheel, and sobbed for half an hour.
Since that day, many years ago, moments from it continue to haunt me. I'll be walking down a street lined with trees and remember the boy walking home from school. Out of the blue, the looks on the faces of the just-married young couple as they adopt a child will come to me. And, of course, the image of the villagers watching the lone wagon disappear into the darkness is one which will live with me until I die.
In short, as I stumble my own way through life, this film is one of the touchstones that reminds me why I'm here.
I can think of several films that have had that effect on me. Eric Rohmer's "Summer (Le Rayon Vert)" and Kieslowski's "Decalogue" spring to mind. But "Tree of Wooden Clogs" approached the core. I'm not Catholic, would pronounce myself an atheist if that didn't suggest the arrogance of certainty, but this movie comes as close to touching the soul as any I've ever seen. It is one of the most shattering, delightful, and profound works of art ever created. After first seeing it, I sat in my car, clutched the steering wheel, and sobbed for half an hour.
Since that day, many years ago, moments from it continue to haunt me. I'll be walking down a street lined with trees and remember the boy walking home from school. Out of the blue, the looks on the faces of the just-married young couple as they adopt a child will come to me. And, of course, the image of the villagers watching the lone wagon disappear into the darkness is one which will live with me until I die.
In short, as I stumble my own way through life, this film is one of the touchstones that reminds me why I'm here.
Sacramental epic.
ItalianGerry4 December 2001
If there were any reason for dropping out of normal life and dedicating oneself entirely to watching Italian films, this might be it! The majestic simplicity and dignity of this film make even the best contemporary films seem trivial and stillborn by comparison. Loved by sensitive audiences and critics alike, Ermanno Olmi's movie describes incidents in the lives of four families sharecropping in Lombardy at the coming of the twentieth century. Olmi's extraordinary command of imagery, movement, rhythm, and lighting conveys a potent nostalgia for Earth and the family of man. There is a scene in which images of a father carving clogs for his shoeless boy are intercut with the lives of the farm families. The music accompanying that scene is a Bach organ chorale. The effect is almost sacramental and entirely overwhelming and may be one of my favorite scenes in all cinema. That scene alone is worth more than all the digitalized special effects, car crashes, ocean liner sinkings, and the deafening Dolby vapidity of so much of the inane junk embraced undiscriminatingly by so many. If they only had the eyes to see, ears to hear, and the soul to love this wondrous work of art.
The most authentic version on this film has the original Bergamasco dialect track. The newer DVDs from Italy have the option of choosing this soundtrack.
The most authentic version on this film has the original Bergamasco dialect track. The newer DVDs from Italy have the option of choosing this soundtrack.
Sweeping piece of art
el_master7 November 2004
The last time I felt swept and moved by a movie with so much depth was when I saw "Andrei Rublev" and "Eternity and a Day", and this movie is such like them when it fails to become a movie and becomes a modern piece of art.
It was like if someone would've been reading me a poem whilst watching such beautiful landscapes. And all through that, you feel in your own skin the love for their own soil. it seems as if they had been rooted to the grounds.
Certainly it is not for everyone's tastes but it is truly a moving experience.
Axel.
It was like if someone would've been reading me a poem whilst watching such beautiful landscapes. And all through that, you feel in your own skin the love for their own soil. it seems as if they had been rooted to the grounds.
Certainly it is not for everyone's tastes but it is truly a moving experience.
Axel.
The film will be with me for a long time.
new1sapi7 May 1999
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.
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.
Inspiring?
gavin694224 May 2016
The life inside a farm in Italy at the beginning of the century. Many poor country families live there, and the owner pays them by their productivity. One of the families has a very clever child. They decide to send him to school instead of make him help them, although this represents a great sacrifice.
Mike Leigh pays tribute to the film's humanity, realism, and vast scale. He called the film "extraordinary on a number of levels", before concluding "this guy is a genius, and that's all there is to it". Leigh has described Olmi's epic of peasant life in Lombardy as the ultimate location film: " Directly, objectively, yet compassionately, it puts on the screen the great, hard, real adventure of living and surviving from day to day, and from year to year, the experience of ordinary people everywhere...the camera is always in exactly the right place...but the big question, arising out of these truthful and utterly convincing performances achieved by non-actors, always remains: how does he really do it?" Mike Leigh is hit and miss as a director, but he is someone who is passionate about film, especially little-known and independent films. His support of this film makes it all the more worth seeing. Already it is a good tale, an epic tale, and outside the box of what you expect from Italian cinema. Olmi is not a giant in the cinema world, but maybe that is a mistake -- if you can be a "giant" with one or two great films, surely Olmi should be considered?
Mike Leigh pays tribute to the film's humanity, realism, and vast scale. He called the film "extraordinary on a number of levels", before concluding "this guy is a genius, and that's all there is to it". Leigh has described Olmi's epic of peasant life in Lombardy as the ultimate location film: " Directly, objectively, yet compassionately, it puts on the screen the great, hard, real adventure of living and surviving from day to day, and from year to year, the experience of ordinary people everywhere...the camera is always in exactly the right place...but the big question, arising out of these truthful and utterly convincing performances achieved by non-actors, always remains: how does he really do it?" Mike Leigh is hit and miss as a director, but he is someone who is passionate about film, especially little-known and independent films. His support of this film makes it all the more worth seeing. Already it is a good tale, an epic tale, and outside the box of what you expect from Italian cinema. Olmi is not a giant in the cinema world, but maybe that is a mistake -- if you can be a "giant" with one or two great films, surely Olmi should be considered?
A sublime hypnotic narrative.
Rigor9 May 1999
This film really surprises. It is long and detailed, yet, it is amazingly suspenseful. The quiet sturdy look at rural life in Italy manages to accomplish the amazing feet of truly "being" a film of "the oppressed" rather than a mere analysis of "the wretched of the earth". Olmi's direction of the non-professional cast is superb and the film is beautifully shot and edited.
Don't be afraid of this film. It does not actually seem long, nor does it seem aimless or plotless. While one may say that "the whole pesant community" is the real protagonist there are clearly defined characters in the film whose narratives we follow. In fact, the films strategy is one of integration of these narrative strands in a seemingly coherent and logical way. A wonderful, very emotionally moving experience with a clear, sharp, political analysis.
Don't be afraid of this film. It does not actually seem long, nor does it seem aimless or plotless. While one may say that "the whole pesant community" is the real protagonist there are clearly defined characters in the film whose narratives we follow. In fact, the films strategy is one of integration of these narrative strands in a seemingly coherent and logical way. A wonderful, very emotionally moving experience with a clear, sharp, political analysis.
Has it's virtues, but not for 3 hours worth...
lefaikone27 April 2009
L'albero degli zoccoli definitely has it's virtues. Acting, especially when taking to consideration that the actors are all amateurs, is superb, just as the cinematography. The script has it's moments, but overall, it's way too slack to hold up the whole 3 hours.
Alltough it's fiction, it still feels more like an over-sized historical document. There's like an hour worth of unneeded material, which do not bring practically anything crucial to the movie. Most important of all, the characters do not develop during the whole time in any direction. It just jams on and on, without bringing any new aspects to the characters. It has some fantastic scenes, but in the end, they drown in to it's enormous amount of material.
So why the seven stars? Well, like I said, the acting is superb, not to mention the filming. With a lot harsher touch on the cuttingboard, it would have been worth 8, or even 9 in my books.
Alltough it's fiction, it still feels more like an over-sized historical document. There's like an hour worth of unneeded material, which do not bring practically anything crucial to the movie. Most important of all, the characters do not develop during the whole time in any direction. It just jams on and on, without bringing any new aspects to the characters. It has some fantastic scenes, but in the end, they drown in to it's enormous amount of material.
So why the seven stars? Well, like I said, the acting is superb, not to mention the filming. With a lot harsher touch on the cuttingboard, it would have been worth 8, or even 9 in my books.
jump in
RanchoTuVu29 August 2005
A mosaic of peasant life in Lombardy at the turn of the twentieth century that slowly moves along for three hours but never comes close to losing interest thanks to the wealth of details and (though amateur) moving performances. In the title lies the heartwrenching conclusion abruptly reached after the meandering and soulful journey that is taken into the lives of a group of peasant families, with the butchering of a goose and later a pig, a marriage, a boatride to Milan, and a dinner amongst the sisters of a convent while the stirrings of political change and repression stay mainly in the background but are there to see. While the focus is on the peasants, the world that the movie creates is more like being there than any other film around.
Animal cruelty sealed its doom for me
Atreyu_II27 February 2011
Warning: Spoilers
This starts off as a well made, nice Italian film. But shortly after its first 20 minutes, there is this scene of a pig getting mutilated ALIVE. That is something I can't stand watching. As if it wasn't enough what they do to these and other poor animals in real life, they also did it in the name of a film? And knowing that the animal was gutted for real makes me cringe even more. So much cruelty on the animals, makes me wanna cry and feel ashamed of being human and eating meat.
This horrible part with the pig nearly made me stop watching the movie right there, but I still managed to watch the rest of the thing. After this awful scene, the movie improves a lot and becomes generally good but later it gets somewhat boring and dull. Besides, it's very long (3 hours). Even if the whole movie was good or even excellent, the pig scene alone prevents me from liking it or recommend it.
This film has still some clues from the popular Italian neorealism: it's a take on the life of the poor ones and the cast consists in real farmers and locals instead of actors.
Apparently this is Al Pacino's favorite film. He didn't directly say it was his favorite, however when questioned what was his favorite film, he revealed that he «always liked 'The Tree Of Wooden Clogs'».
This horrible part with the pig nearly made me stop watching the movie right there, but I still managed to watch the rest of the thing. After this awful scene, the movie improves a lot and becomes generally good but later it gets somewhat boring and dull. Besides, it's very long (3 hours). Even if the whole movie was good or even excellent, the pig scene alone prevents me from liking it or recommend it.
This film has still some clues from the popular Italian neorealism: it's a take on the life of the poor ones and the cast consists in real farmers and locals instead of actors.
Apparently this is Al Pacino's favorite film. He didn't directly say it was his favorite, however when questioned what was his favorite film, he revealed that he «always liked 'The Tree Of Wooden Clogs'».
Dreary style, no substance
Zoomorph1 June 2018
This film is a long, slow glimpse at the lives of a group of 19th century Italian peasants. Unfortunately it is very superficial and too dreary. Despite its length, we get to know surprisingly little about the characters because the film meanders and jumps around between too many characters without getting close to any of them. The plot is extremely thin, with the story of the boy and his clogs barely being covered. From a historical perspective, the film is lacking in detail and too dreary. Even poor peasants have sources of happiness and positivity in their lives, which are not featured here. After the first hour, when the novelty of watching the peasants way of life wears off, the film gets boring and drags on for two more hours, ultimately leaving the viewer wishing they hadn't wasted their time.
Speaks to the soul in a voice of simple beauty that declares that money is not the ultimate key to survival.
cnault17 November 1999
The "Tree of Wooden Clogs", set at the turn of the last century, is the perfect film to watch as we approach the year 2000. The institutions of religion, marriage, and family have been (sometimes rightfully so) scrutinized and criticized over the last 100 years. However, the "Tree of Wooden Clogs" aptly celebrates these institutions as engines of survival. The slow pace of the film may not be for everyone but the serene simplicity of this film sparks more beauty than most of the high-tech films of today.
A nice historical portrait but I am warning you that it is a bit long and dull.
planktonrules3 August 2011
I have a bit of warning for the tender-hearted. This is a realistic portrait of peasant life and as such you'll see a couple animals butchered on-screen. A pig and goose are killed and some might find this pretty disturbing...but it is realistic and is an important part of peasant life.
This film is sort of a more modern Neo-realist sort of film because like the Neo-realist films of the 1940s and early 1950s, it is an Italian film that consists of non-professional actors in natural settings. However, the reason why this was done is quite different. During the time of WWII and post-war Italy, sets and actors were hard to come by and directors (such as De Sica and Rossellini) had no choice but to make these sorts of films. However, in 1978 the film was made this way for entirely different reasons--to heighten the sense of realism as the film was about simple folks and having professionals playing these roles might have detracted from this realism.
The film is set on a farming collective owned by a landlord. Five families work the land and share a large compound broken down into separate apartments and stables. The life is pretty simple and rather grim and the film does a very good job of portraying this life. And this is much of the problem with this film for the average viewer. While history teachers like me might find it all pretty fascinating and like how accurately this is all portrayed, will the average viewer? Probably not. That's because not all that actually happens in the film---and it lasts about three hours. As a result, the film does drag and I even found myself feeling sleepy as I watched. It's exceptionally well crafted but also a bit of a chore to view.
"Tree of Wooden Clogs" is a film that film critics will adore but the average person will probably hate...and many folks will feel guilty because they didn't 'get' the movie and think they should have.
This film is sort of a more modern Neo-realist sort of film because like the Neo-realist films of the 1940s and early 1950s, it is an Italian film that consists of non-professional actors in natural settings. However, the reason why this was done is quite different. During the time of WWII and post-war Italy, sets and actors were hard to come by and directors (such as De Sica and Rossellini) had no choice but to make these sorts of films. However, in 1978 the film was made this way for entirely different reasons--to heighten the sense of realism as the film was about simple folks and having professionals playing these roles might have detracted from this realism.
The film is set on a farming collective owned by a landlord. Five families work the land and share a large compound broken down into separate apartments and stables. The life is pretty simple and rather grim and the film does a very good job of portraying this life. And this is much of the problem with this film for the average viewer. While history teachers like me might find it all pretty fascinating and like how accurately this is all portrayed, will the average viewer? Probably not. That's because not all that actually happens in the film---and it lasts about three hours. As a result, the film does drag and I even found myself feeling sleepy as I watched. It's exceptionally well crafted but also a bit of a chore to view.
"Tree of Wooden Clogs" is a film that film critics will adore but the average person will probably hate...and many folks will feel guilty because they didn't 'get' the movie and think they should have.
The real Italy one century ago
Mauro_P6 October 2013
I'm Italian and I grown up with the charming stories of my grandparents, about the works in the countryside, the long walks for go to school and to the church, the frugal diet, the attempts of cheat to the bailiff (il fattore) and to the owner (il possidente), the killing of the pigs (la pista, that I saw more times in my childhood), the meeting between young men and women... this movie is a perfect reconstruction of their stories. I have some books too, written by old men and women of my region lived at the beginning of the century, and all the scenes in this masterpiece are written in these books. Some scenes could seems cruel to the eyes of a citizen, and the seven minutes where you can see the killing of the pig would be impossible to make in this century (the animalists would became crazy), but this is history, and make more sweet the history doesn't have sense. This is the history of Italy, history that you can find yet in some part of the peninsula, and watching "L'albero degli zoccoli" can help you in understanding better my country. It isn't an action movie, and if you are looking for sci-fi or action be aware that even a masterpiece like this one could be boring to wrong eyes.
An excellent portrayal of Italian peasant life
mctheimer4 April 2000
This movie could have been made any time after the development of color film. Unless you look at the tape jacket, you wouldn't know what year it had been filmed. It is timeless.
"Tree" follows the lives of three peasant families in the Lombardy (northern) region of Italy. The historical accuracy appears to be quite high. You'll learn how things were done before electricity, the automobile, etc. Watching this film reminded me of visiting Bali or Morocco; I felt immersed in another culture in another time.
The downside is that, of course, peasants don't live terribly exciting lives, and this is a long movie. There isn't really a plot driving the film. What I considered to be the action scenes are grisly; livestock is slaughtered on camera, and it's clear that you are watching the real thing. (I almost started crying while watching a pig as it is was slaughtered; it was squealing loudly as it was literally eviscerated while it was still alive.)
This is a contemplative film. The film which I think would be an interesting companion piece would be "The Scent of Green Papaya," a Vietnamese film with about the same pace and purpose.
"Tree" follows the lives of three peasant families in the Lombardy (northern) region of Italy. The historical accuracy appears to be quite high. You'll learn how things were done before electricity, the automobile, etc. Watching this film reminded me of visiting Bali or Morocco; I felt immersed in another culture in another time.
The downside is that, of course, peasants don't live terribly exciting lives, and this is a long movie. There isn't really a plot driving the film. What I considered to be the action scenes are grisly; livestock is slaughtered on camera, and it's clear that you are watching the real thing. (I almost started crying while watching a pig as it is was slaughtered; it was squealing loudly as it was literally eviscerated while it was still alive.)
This is a contemplative film. The film which I think would be an interesting companion piece would be "The Scent of Green Papaya," a Vietnamese film with about the same pace and purpose.
The Grand Stage of Life.
Chandan_Rawal24 January 2021
Beautifully placed village drama....full of life and love....the life of people and the times we can't even think of...what more is to be said to verify that 'Cinema is no less than a Magic' ?
This film resembled to me a big grand version of Satyajit Ray's Pather Panchali (1955), which makes this film even more interesting to watch. A must for all those art house cinema fans.
This film resembled to me a big grand version of Satyajit Ray's Pather Panchali (1955), which makes this film even more interesting to watch. A must for all those art house cinema fans.
Heart-rending epic masterpiece
shahriman_ams15 December 2010
Director Ermanno Olmi's ambition is colossal, and he will settle for nothing less than an epic about the whole spectrum of human existence. The film is unusual in the sense that it rarely focuses on a character or a plot. Yet Olmi threads a unity with mastery unmatched by anything else I've seen before. Also, the background score provides a nice touch. But this is where the good things end for me.
The film suffers from an abundance of religious propaganda. The scene where a terminally ill animal recovers miraculously after drinking some sort of holy water really disgusted me. Also, I felt like the film idealizes peasant life to some extent - especially the women. It seems like the only thing the women do is pray. (Of course, the director may have a point here.)
I think the lack of a dedicated cinematographer shows. The focus is off in a number of shots, exposure within a scene is not always consistent. There are interior scenes where you can see two or three overlapping shadows of the same person cast by different sources - supposed to be candles. But candles don't cast that kind of hard-edged opaque shadow. I am not sure if it's just me, but the lighting seems really amateur.
While the film is beautiful, a work of genius and is a must see for anyone interested in serious filmmaking, beware of the religious stuffs, if you are not into that kind of things.
The film suffers from an abundance of religious propaganda. The scene where a terminally ill animal recovers miraculously after drinking some sort of holy water really disgusted me. Also, I felt like the film idealizes peasant life to some extent - especially the women. It seems like the only thing the women do is pray. (Of course, the director may have a point here.)
I think the lack of a dedicated cinematographer shows. The focus is off in a number of shots, exposure within a scene is not always consistent. There are interior scenes where you can see two or three overlapping shadows of the same person cast by different sources - supposed to be candles. But candles don't cast that kind of hard-edged opaque shadow. I am not sure if it's just me, but the lighting seems really amateur.
While the film is beautiful, a work of genius and is a must see for anyone interested in serious filmmaking, beware of the religious stuffs, if you are not into that kind of things.
Breathtaking
Turk-318 February 2001
This is one of the most beautiful films ever made. Almost any shot could be taken as a still and hung in a gallery or on your walls. And, as with many '70s/early '80s Italian films with heart there is the resonance of the great neorealist films two to three decades before. This is a must see film for those who cherish the fusion of images and ideas.
Slow but interesting.
LW-0885427 December 2023
The film is in colour with a nice restored picture, a fine layer of grain, a 4:3 aspect ratio, the acting all feels very natural, there's lots of non professional actors here just inhabiting the lives of simple peasants in late 19th century northern Italy. The language is not actually Italian though if you understand Italian you'll be able to understand some of it without subtitles. The film features crushing poverty, this is not a warm sunny little world where peasants sit around all day evening in the evening sun, smoking and playing with straw between their teeth. Their lives are repetitive, full of a daily grind, struggling to produce their crops and without any real prospect of getting their lives improved in any way. One farmer plans to send his boy to school but it's a 4 mile walk each way. The families rent their homes from the landowner and he even gets 2/3s of the profit from the harvest. It starts very slowly, just lulling you into the rhythm of their lives. The children are sweet and have to be content with simple pleasures.
Some of the landscapes are quite beautiful in a rugged way but this is not a glamorous film. It's more about muddy fields, puddles, weather beaten old parents struggling to raise their children and earn a livelihood. Even horses often misbehave. There's some quite graphic scenes of farm animals being killed. They look very real to me. This is also a film about the seasons, our connection to the land and the births and deaths which occur. There's plenty of social commentary too, the rich landowners word never really touches with the peasants who rent his land to live on. The film finds clever ways to visually convey the gulf between them, from the physical barriers that separate them down to the clothing and the social expectations. The peasants also love their saints and religious festivals. Travelling salesman offer a rare dose of excitement and change for them but a socialist excitedly urging people to unite and embrace socialism is unable to get through to them. It's another simple but effective scene, the peasant is distracted during the speech by a coin he spots on the floor. Money and material gain will also be higher on his list of priorities than lofty ideas it seems. The film really does labour the point and lay it on thick, they live an almost medieval style existence despite it being the 1890s, still using candles for light at night and living alongside their animals in the dirt. Right at the end of the film things finally open up where a couple on their honeymoon trip take a barge to Milan. The huge city full of fashionable people finally feels odd and scary seen through their eyes. It's also a city on edge with police and soldiers on prowling the streets. You actually quite like this devout simple couple.
Some of the landscapes are quite beautiful in a rugged way but this is not a glamorous film. It's more about muddy fields, puddles, weather beaten old parents struggling to raise their children and earn a livelihood. Even horses often misbehave. There's some quite graphic scenes of farm animals being killed. They look very real to me. This is also a film about the seasons, our connection to the land and the births and deaths which occur. There's plenty of social commentary too, the rich landowners word never really touches with the peasants who rent his land to live on. The film finds clever ways to visually convey the gulf between them, from the physical barriers that separate them down to the clothing and the social expectations. The peasants also love their saints and religious festivals. Travelling salesman offer a rare dose of excitement and change for them but a socialist excitedly urging people to unite and embrace socialism is unable to get through to them. It's another simple but effective scene, the peasant is distracted during the speech by a coin he spots on the floor. Money and material gain will also be higher on his list of priorities than lofty ideas it seems. The film really does labour the point and lay it on thick, they live an almost medieval style existence despite it being the 1890s, still using candles for light at night and living alongside their animals in the dirt. Right at the end of the film things finally open up where a couple on their honeymoon trip take a barge to Milan. The huge city full of fashionable people finally feels odd and scary seen through their eyes. It's also a city on edge with police and soldiers on prowling the streets. You actually quite like this devout simple couple.
Pasolini's children
Mr_Hulot26 August 2002
Warning: Spoilers
Spoilers ahead.
An unusual film and a definite change of pace from the rapid-fire filmmaking that Americans are used to. This film follows a year in the life of rural Italian peasants living at the turn of the century. There is a central plotline, a family who wants their son to know a better life then they have tries to send him to school. However the clogs that carry him on the long and hard journey to school are broken, making the path impossible. The central message of the film is that God will provide. It is a sermon on the virtues of simple faith.
However, this central plot, very similar to a fairy tale is only a device to allow the film to devote three and a half hours to showing in great detail the lives of the Italian peasantry during this period, the way they worked, loved and lived. It's a slice of life film like Fellini's Roma, or Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing, but it's much less frenzied and sensationalistic then those works. Like most Italian cinema that I have seen it is more focused around intense images then around plot of dialogue, I will never forget the shots of the landscape, or the scene of the peasants preparing a pig for eating. Central to the film is the beautiful sermon that we hear the village priest offer.
Interestingly, the film focuses on the lives of those people that Pasolini glorified in his films and novels. Pasolini died a few years before the film was released, during most of his life he considered the values of the peasants to be sacred, an antidote to the fierce and brutal ethic of the modern world. By the end of his life, he had given up hope in the peasants, believing that the mass media had exterminated their native culture and way of life. It would be economically and culturally impossible to revive in the modern world the system of living that the peasants shared.
The Tree of Wooden Clogs is a requiem for a dead way of life, released at precisely the time that that culture was drawing its last breath. Watching it is a beautiful and melancholy experience. It's a wonderful film, but one cannot escape a feeling of irrevocable loss.
An unusual film and a definite change of pace from the rapid-fire filmmaking that Americans are used to. This film follows a year in the life of rural Italian peasants living at the turn of the century. There is a central plotline, a family who wants their son to know a better life then they have tries to send him to school. However the clogs that carry him on the long and hard journey to school are broken, making the path impossible. The central message of the film is that God will provide. It is a sermon on the virtues of simple faith.
However, this central plot, very similar to a fairy tale is only a device to allow the film to devote three and a half hours to showing in great detail the lives of the Italian peasantry during this period, the way they worked, loved and lived. It's a slice of life film like Fellini's Roma, or Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing, but it's much less frenzied and sensationalistic then those works. Like most Italian cinema that I have seen it is more focused around intense images then around plot of dialogue, I will never forget the shots of the landscape, or the scene of the peasants preparing a pig for eating. Central to the film is the beautiful sermon that we hear the village priest offer.
Interestingly, the film focuses on the lives of those people that Pasolini glorified in his films and novels. Pasolini died a few years before the film was released, during most of his life he considered the values of the peasants to be sacred, an antidote to the fierce and brutal ethic of the modern world. By the end of his life, he had given up hope in the peasants, believing that the mass media had exterminated their native culture and way of life. It would be economically and culturally impossible to revive in the modern world the system of living that the peasants shared.
The Tree of Wooden Clogs is a requiem for a dead way of life, released at precisely the time that that culture was drawing its last breath. Watching it is a beautiful and melancholy experience. It's a wonderful film, but one cannot escape a feeling of irrevocable loss.
More animal slaughters in the name of art
rooprect4 September 2006
What is it about artsy directors that makes them love to slaughter live animals on camera? Is it not a "real" film unless you slit a pig's throat (as we see here), shoot a horse in the neck (a la Tarkovsky) or decapitate a water buffalo (Francis Ford Coppola)? I wouldn't mind so much if these films weren't pretentiously laced with "moral" messages and "spirituality". I feel like I'm being preached to by a 17th century Catholic priest. It's utterly sickening. Give me CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST over this hypocrisy any day. At least in CH, you know what you're going to get: animal snuff. Whereas this pretentious tosh is animal snuff packaged like a Buddhist sermon. Yeah, a Buddhist barbecue is more like it. Eat up, folks. The pigmeat is fresh.
A visual poem that leaves warm feelings glowing in the soul
khatcher-25 September 2001
Though by no means a believer I accept being called agnostic or atheist by anyone who is wont to label or categorize anybody into determined groups. However, I would like to consider myself and be considered a humanist, maybe a christian with a small `c'. This philosophy has allowed me to accept all kinds of religions, except when people start killing each other, and what for me is an undeniable fact: religious themes were the basis from which sprang most of today's cultures, whether music or paintings, or even on celluloid. Well-known non-believers have produced wondrous works of religiously-inspired art: Rachmaninov, Berlioz, Buñuel, among many others. Even Scorsese has touched on religious matters. It is most certainly not necessary to be a believer to see and capture the beauty of `L'Albero degli Zoccoli', Ermanno Olmi's delightful little masterpiece. It is not necessary to be Catholic, either: one only needs human feelings with a little historical memory. This is, above all, a human story, a story of peasants living their lives as best they can, fearful of their landowner and his foreman, fearful of their Lord. Or rather I should say it is a beautiful portrait of many stories intermingling, which is, really, the true story of life any where in the world: the old woman washing sheets down by the riverside; the young man courting his girl; sacrificing a pig or healing a sick cow; an itinerant peddlar; giving birth at home; planting tomatoes; home-cures with leaves and worms; high mass; the wedding; parentless children in a convent; - isolated scenes, but interwoven in sequences to give the idea of various scenes occurring at the same time, through which is threaded the main `story' of the small boy and his clogs to wear to school. An ethereal other-worldliness unfolds slowly, almost as if from photo to photo in a family album, around the half-ruined farm-yards and barns and cattle-folds, and life itself goes by, unfolds, at that timeless pace of yesteryear. Carefully photographed around Bergamo, indeed many scenes remind you of Renato Castellani's mini series `Verdi' (1982), and accompanied by pieces of Bach played by Fernando Germani, though I also recognised pieces of Mozart on the piano and Italian popular songs on an old gramophone, this film seems to seek keeping some of the past for posterity. With great success, it would seem: though I cannot ascertain to this in Italy, I can assure you that people here in Spain react as though seeing part of their own past history in the villages........ and some of the scenes appear to be almost replicas from `Requiem por un Campesino Español' (Ramón J. Sender) or even Melquiades the gypsy in Macondo from `Cien Años de Soledad', that timeless, magnificent classic by Gabriel García Márquez. `L'Albero degli Zoccoli' is a magnificent documentary, a beautiful portrait lovingly painted, through the joys and pains of its people, played by amateur actors, full of real human feelings, not forced superficiality. If you like this film I can recommend you also try `Las Ratas' (1998/II) or `Tasio' (1984), which though Spanish have certain parallels in being films set in rural landscapes and with a similar unfolding of scenes with very little story-line. Ermanno Olmi directed, wrote photographed and edited this great little masterpiece: a treasure.
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