The “extraordinary” 1978 film Al Pacino and Mike Leigh both agree is the most underrated movie ever made
Ermanno Olmi’s 1978 film *The Tree of Wooden Clogs* depicts four farming families living and working on an isolated estate in late nineteenth-century Italy. The article argues that its unadorned subject becomes a profound portrait of human life, and notes that filmmaker Mike Leigh and actor Al Pacino have both praised it.
Olmi wrote, directed and edited the film, using non-professional performers descended from the people it portrays. Leigh admires its lifelike characters and its attention to place, seasons, class, religion, love and hardship; Pacino has called it a personal favourite. Its restrained style, the article says, turns everyday rural life into an expressive work of art.
- Olmi’s 1978 film portrays farming families in nineteenth-century Italy.
- Mike Leigh praises its humanity and lifelike performances.
- Al Pacino has named it a personal favourite.
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The Tree of Wooden Clogs is an Italian film set in the late 1800s, when many people worked as farm labourers on large estates. It follows four families who live and work on one such estate, showing how their daily lives are shaped by the seasons, poverty, religion and relationships.
Ermanno Olmi wrote, directed and edited the film, casting non-professional actors whose families had roots in the community it depicts. Its quiet, lifelike style has drawn praise from filmmakers and actors including Mike Leigh and Al Pacino. The film offers a view of rural working life in Italy at a time when landowners held much of the power and farm families depended on the land for their livelihood.