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The Tree of Wooden Clogs
The Tree of Wooden Clogs
8.7
/10
987 Ratings

THE TREE OF WOODEN CLOGS

L'albero degli zoccoli

Directed by Ermanno Olmi
Italy, 1978
Drama

Synopsis

On a northern Italian farm, Batistì and his wife decide to send their son Minec to school, sacrificing his help in the fields but hoping to break the cycle of poverty in the family. But when Minec’s shoe breaks while walking for miles, Batisti puts the family’s future at risk to replace the clog.

Synopsis

On a northern Italian farm, Batistì and his wife decide to send their son Minec to school, sacrificing his help in the fields but hoping to break the cycle of poverty in the family. But when Minec’s shoe breaks while walking for miles, Batisti puts the family’s future at risk to replace the clog.

Our take

One of the great masterpieces of world cinema, Ermanno Olmi’s sumptuous Palme d’Or winner is a richly observed, neorealist portrait of agrarian life in turn-of-the-century Bergamo. A web of family stories is poignantly woven against the stark beauty of the Italian countryside.