La Terra Trema

La Terra Trema (1947) starring a non-professional cast. Tired of being exploited by wholesalers, a poor Italian family of fishermen tries to mortgage their house to buy a boat and go it alone. But when they lose everything in a storm, they must find work to pay their debts. I wasn't expecting to get absorbed in this movie, made in Italy, in 1947, about fishermen -- but I did. My only complaint is that it is relentlessly downbeat, and certainly can't be accused of having a happy ending. (In Italian and Sicilian dialect, with English subtitles.) Grade: B+