La Terra Trema

‘La Terra Trema’ (1948) is a devastatingly moving story focused on one fisherman's family, which reflects the tragedy of a time when Italy was destroyed by despair and poverty. The film, by Luchino Visconti is a perfect example of the post war cinematic Italian movement known as Neorealism. On-location shoots, non-professional actors, ‘La Terra Trema’ is beautiful because of its raw sincerity and its profound veracity. These are the particular traits of a cinema that was eager to show the real world rather than an idealised world of superficial aesthetics that had become so common with the fascist cinema.

The family is primordial in Italian culture, and it is also the case for this film; the family is not a group of people, instead it is depicted as one, each individual forming an essential element of that one shape, that one creature. The family almost kills the individual, yet without it, as ‘La Terra Trema’ teaches, tragedy ensues.

The family is shown as a strong group however, with an established hierarchy and a balance between the receivers (stereotypically represented by the women) and the providers (stereotypically represented by the men). The traditional role of each individual makes them work together in an efficient manner, that maybe fails to satisfy every member however, but enables them to survive together in a society which they may consider unjust. The structure of the family therefore allows the individuals to survive against society, exemplified by the Valestro's support of Ntonio (Antonio Arcidiacono) with his slightly egoistical and ambitious plans for them all.

As mentioned before, the men and women do live in a harmonious balance between receivers and providers. The women, however, are much more dependent on the men, as is emphasised when it is strongly suggested that the men have all drowned; the women, completely abandoned would have nowhere to go, and nothing to do but to sell their bodies. The devastatingly beautiful scene of the women watching the sea for their men emphasises this point completely and also reminds the spectator of the difficulty of their lives, and the simplicity of their actions.

In ‘La Terra Trema’ we are shown an almost complete representation of the traditional role of women within the family. There is the saintly figure of Mara (Nelluccia Giammona), the more superficial yet innocent child, Lucia (Agnese Giammona), and the strict and central figure of the silent mother. The women are completely dependent of the men and rely on them for food and money. This is conveyed when the men are thought to have drowned out in the sea during a storm; the women are filmed standing on the rocks, looking towards the sea at one with the sharp broken ragged rocks, their black rags flowing in the wind imitating the aggressive waves of the sea. Although it may seem obvious that they are worried for the safety of their brothers, it is possible that their anxieties essentially come from the fear that they no longer have anyone to provide for them. In this particular scene, the women are completely powerless to their fates, and can do nothing but wait. This also reflects the general situation the family find themselves in, their entire fortune lies in their dependant nature, and they are powerless.

Although on one hand, it is clear that the women need the men, in order for the family to remain together the women's role is essential not only to the family but to society in general consequently. In neorealist cinema, women are represented as central to the maintenance and integrity of the family. Without them the family would have no roots, as it is shown in the woman's role as a mother, sister, or daughter that she brings the family together. She represents the traditional role of the strong woman, responsible for the wellbeing of the home.

In contrast, the role of man in the family is very well established, however that of the head of the family is a little less. Although it is pretty clear Ntonio has taken the role of head of family since he is the oldest son and his father has died, the presence of the older grandfather is also an important one and represents the conflicting presence and reminder of the past. Even Cola (Giuseppe Arcidiacono), although younger, wants to have his say in the family. In effect, the different men of the family find it hard to find their roles within it and are unable to sustain it. There is a clear conflict between them, although they also care for and need each other. The need for one another in order to survive is the main thing that keeps the Valestro family together.

The responsibility and pressures introduced by the existence of the family is strongly felt in ‘La Terra Trema’ - 'Ntonio wants to change the way things are in the small society of his Sicilian village; Aci Trezza by transforming the power structure between the fishermen and the wholesalers. Yet the tragic and unjust situation of the village mirrors that of society in general and reminds the spectator of the universality of this harsh reality. The same goes within the family structure, its insecurities and fears are shared by the entire population, but as Ntonio says in the end of the film when he goes to see the boat that has belonged to his family for generations, "Those who could help are jealous of each other/ Yet they should understand what I did was for everyone's sake, not only mine." His family (and the example of their loss) are understood to have become a sacrificial victim for the good of the entire society rather than the individual.

The cyclical quality of the film, and the importance of time is emphasised by the presence of the old, tired and frustrated grandfather, who reminds the youth of the past, and represents the traditional values of the family. As well as the old man's presence are the constant and harrowing shots of the sad family portrait. Both the old man and the family portrait emphasise and remind us of the importance of the family's history, and how seemingly essential it is that the family should survive time. However, is it perhaps that the traditions of a time that no longer exists, except in the mind and soul of the senile old man has drowned them all in guilt and solitude? Possibly, but then again both these things show us how nothing really ever changes. Ntonio and Cola's frustrations are based in an endless trap of time and injustice, yet their youth and ambitions are very much what really motivate them. The importance of outlasting the passage of time, and the survival of the traditional family in a society where these values are becoming secondary, is in opposition to the evolution of society. Things must change, yet the risk of failure becomes too much for the family to bear. The house, which is the last of the Valestro's possessions, is a symbol for the family's presence in the village.

Ntonio sacrifices his family for what he believes is the best for everybody, yet one feels that the message of the film is to remain in the constraining traditions of family life. The symbolic representations of the house, the grandfather or the Valestro boat, depict a lasting and strong past that collapses: the house is taken away from them, the grandfather passes away and finally the boat is destroyed. The only object that does indeed remain there to remind them of their once possibly ideal life is the family portrait. This picture represents an integral if not happy family, all dressed up in an picture perfect but fleeting image that makes them seem stronger and more united than maybe they really ever were. The cinematic image of the family, mirroring that of the portrait reminds the spectator of the real fleetingness of these images. It is only when the Valestro's are able to become once again a balanced and structured unit, even if now poor with no possessions, that they are accepted by their peers and are able to work again - and therefore survive, although their reputation and integrity are now lost.

Although represented as an ideal structure for which to aim, and which helps people to come together, the family is also shown as an imprisonment of the individual, a system in which the individual has to prioritise the needs and ambitions of the group rather than of himself. In neorealist cinema the individual often searches to flee the family unit, only to go back to it in his or her realisation that for survival one needs to be part of not only the family structure, but of society in general. In ‘La Terra Trema’, Ntonio wants his family to be independent of the rest of society, but he himself also wants to be autonomous. He then realises that in order to achieve what he wanted, everybody had to "stick together like the five fingers of one hand". On the contrary, his brother Cola flees joining a group of communists, his sister Lucia succumbs to the advances of the flirtatious policeman and his family therefore becomes rejected by the other fishermen, its reputation being destroyed. Instead of attaining independence 'Ntonio's hard-headed ambitions to achieve success have resulted in the collapse of the family unit. On the other hand, if his family had been able to stay strong together, within society, then things may not have turned out so bad.

The theme of the family is used by the neorealist directors in order to convey ideas of anxiety and insecurities of a post war society that clings onto the traditional values of the past. After years of living under the dictatorship of fascism, society started to change quickly, following the modernization of technology and a change in the way of life. The individual had to try to find his own identity amongst this chaotic change and it projected itself onto the reconstruction of the family. Depending on the family, as it had always done in the past, however this time it had to construct its own identity rejecting the ideological conventions of the traditional family. The message conveyed throughout neorealist films is conflicting as it presents the fear of the decomposition of the family, and the dependence one must continue to have of it, whilst at the same time emphasising the importance of trying to construct one's own identity, separate from the structure of society and the family.

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Country: Italy
Budget:
Length: 160mins

Pub/2008

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