Documentary Film

[mdyer]

I'm curious about life as a contadino in southern Italy. Does anyone know of any documentary films worth checking out? Thanks!

[Tessa78]

While set in Bergamo (in the north) the film "The Tree of Wooden Clogs" depicts the life of Italian peasants in the late 19th Century... It is in Italian with English subtitles...

From a review:

Pros:Beautiful ethno-documentary style of cinematography, authentic performances
Cons:Three-hour time investment (though most will find that it passes quickly)
The Bottom Line: Uncommonly authentic and beautiful depiction of the life of Italian peasants of the late 19th century, both the joys and the hardships.

http://www.epinions.com/review/mvie_mu- ... 23140?sb=1

T.

[mdyer]

Thanks, Tessa. I've added that to my Netflix queue. I've seen the term "contadino" come up so often on vital records, so I'm curious about what that life was like.

[Tessa78]

You might want to google "contadini" --- there are some great images (photographic and other) depicting the life of the peasants.


T.

[mdyer]

Ah yes, Google - where would we be without it?! Quick search turned up some interesting photos - even a few specific to Boiano. Thanks, Tessa.

[Tessa78]

Prego!

T.

[Petrojo]

I recall watching an interview where Al Pacino says "The Tree of Wooden Clogs" was one of his favorites.

On Turner Classic Movies I've seen "Riso amaro" (1949) with Vittorio Gassman and Silvana Mangano. It was about women rice workers in Northern Italy (Vercelli,Piedmont). I really enjoyed it.

[mdyer]

Thanks for the recommendation of "Riso amaro" - I've saved it to the Netflix queue (apparently it's not currently available on DVD).

[PippoM]

While set in Bergamo (in the north) the film "The Tree of Wooden Clogs" depicts the life of Italian peasants in the late 19th Century... It is in Italian with English subtitles...


T.

Hi Tessa,
I just wanted to specify that it is not originally in Italian: it is in a dialect from Bergamo area, totally unintelligible by other Italians, and was then dubbed for Italian public

[Tessa78]

Thanks, Pippo

That is quite interesting!
Probably because the parts were played by real farmers and locals, rather than professional actors.


T.

[mdyer]

That's interesting about the dialect. Is there a way to determine what dialects were spoken in different parts of Italy? I suppose there's a website with this information? I'm thinking specifically of the comune where my family is from - Boiano, in the province of Campobasso.

[PippoM]

In the 1800's practically every village had its own "dialect", in the sense that they were able to tell people coming from village A from those coming from B; and there were words peculiar of certain places. Of course, they could understand each other wher coming from the same region, but even if Italian was their official language, I think a Sicilian fisherman had serious problems to have himself understood by a Lombard peasant.

[Jorikon]

Sì raffreddare film. Spesso lei guardarlo.Piace molto.

[Tessa78]

Sì raffreddare film. Spesso lei guardarlo.Piace molto.

Bene!

T.

[DCPandaFan]

You may wish to check out the CinecittaLuce channel on YouTube. They have a mix of things there.
Also many neorealist filmmakers filmed ordinary people in the late 1940s and 50s, and many of these ordinary people were simple contadini. Riso amare is an example.