The Tree of Wooden Clogs (1978)

Original title

L'albero degli zoccoli

Directed by

Ermanno Olmi

Genre

drama film

Country

Italy

Runtime

3h 06m

Rated

NR

Rating

7.6 of 10 from 239 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

This film follows the daily lives of poor peasant families living together on a farm in late 19th century Lombardy, Italy. It shows their work, struggles, and small joys using actual local farmers as actors.

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What happens

The Tree of Wooden Clogs (Italian: L'albero degli zoccoli) is a 1978 Italian film written and directed by Ermanno Olmi. The film depicts the life of Lombard peasants in a cascina (farmhouse) during the late 19th century. It shares similarities with the earlier Italian neorealist movement, focusing on the lives of the poor and casting actual farmers and locals instead of professional actors. The Tree of Wooden Clogs received critical acclaim, winning fourteen awards, including the Palme d'Or at Cannes and the César Award for Best Foreign Film. The original version of the movie is spoken in Lombard (the Bergamasque variety, an Eastern Lombard dialect). In 2008, the film was included in the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage's 100 Italian Films to be Saved, recognising it as one of the films that "have changed the collective memory of the country between 1942 and 1978." (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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