Alok writes about Luchino Visconti’s La Terra Trema (The Earth Trembles), a classic of Italian neo-realist cinema:

It was shot on real location, in a sea-side fishermen community of Sicily. The title sequence proudly announces that the actors are fishermen of Sicily themselves….The language of the film is not Italian but rather a Sicilian dialect because as the narrator says, “Italian is not the language of the poor.” Visconti actually went to the location to make a documentary about the lives of the fishermen but then decided to dramatize and make a feature film instead.

He also talks of Ray’s comments on the film saying that the reason why Ray disliked the film – “a monumental confusion of styles” – is exactly why he liked it.

The discussion between Alok and Puccinio in the comments section – partly in answer to my question: how can a film be both boring and great? – is as interesting.