There are many Neo-realist Italian films of the 40s and 50s that I really enjoy, so I really looked forward to watching this film. Unfortunately, it was so dull and kept going on and on and on. It was less a film and more a documentary with a movie spliced into it. The story is about some poorer than dirt fishermen and their families and their desire to get out from under crippling poverty. At first you find yourself rooting for them, but after a while their misery became less and less important to me,...I just became bored and wanted the story to end. This film, unlike great Neo-realistic films like Umberto D. or General Della Rovere, just wasn't involving. At the time it was made, the communists were making substantial in-roads in Italy and so the movie was quite timely then with its anti-capitalism message. But, now the acting doesn't seem all that great (even for this style film) and it just seems terribly dated.
Review of La Terra Trema
