It’s an especially fun movie from a director and cast who are clearly having a good time allowing themselves to let loose.

I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

What else would you expect from a director whose past had depth in documentary filmmaking? With that vast experience, Olmi creates a fine work of filmmaking that leaves the audience believing that they are watching a piece of reality. Olmi is the classic "observational" type director who is brave enough to use amateur actors (in this he used the local villages of a peasant town). If it was professional actors you would have called it an amazing ensemble cast, but alias it is a cast of unknowns who just simply entice you into their world of everyday living on a communal farmland where two-thirds of the produce goes to the landlord who just sits back and counts the bucks. At first you search for a story or some protagonist to hang onto for the journey of this movie, but with this ensemble piece, you just become the observer and watch how it all simply evolves over the course of an emotional year where each season brings on a challenge to these poor farmers.Olmi's earlier films were small in scale, and a little simpler, but yet effective. This film is his epic, a masterpiece of a different kind.

I'm Italian and I grown up with the charming stories of my grandparents, about the works in the countryside, the long walks for go to school and to the church, the frugal diet, the attempts of cheat to the bailiff (il fattore) and to the owner (il possidente), the killing of the pigs (la pista, that I saw more times in my childhood), the meeting between young men and women... this movie is a perfect reconstruction of their stories. I have some books too, written by old men and women of my region lived at the beginning of the century, and all the scenes in this masterpiece are written in these books. Some scenes could seems cruel to the eyes of a citizen, and the seven minutes where you can see the killing of the pig would be impossible to make in this century (the animalists would became crazy), but this is history, and make more sweet the history doesn't have sense. This is the history of Italy, history that you can find yet in some part of the peninsula, and watching "L'albero degli zoccoli" can help you in understanding better my country. It isn't an action movie, and if you are looking for sci-fi or action be aware that even a masterpiece like this one could be boring to wrong eyes.

Yeah, if it did not contain real killing of animals it would be my greatest film of all the times. Thus I give just two points to it. I'd rather give it ten points but I simply cannot.This film is real masterpiece of neorealism. The most exciting film I've ever seen. Minutious in every detail. Shows how tense and frustrating is the life of common man. How actually common people aren't but a livestock of the rich.The metaphor with wooden clogs is hits the point. I will always remember picture of child walking barefoot on muddy road. Some are born with power to castigate. Some are born without chance to change anything.

Yes, it lasts three hours. Yes, it is about a village community where nothing much happens. Not your typical man save-woman blow-up joint scenario, definitely. All this is said on the package, therefore I truly do not understand people who criticise this film for slowness. OF COURSE it is going to be slow, what do you expect? After this private note, some review. The film is excellent and highly recommendable for many reasons. First of all, the shooting: the use of non-professional actors,authentic settings and a real-life focus makes this film feel like a documentary, although it is set over a hundred years in the past. It therefore gives an unprecedented opportunity to peek into the life of rural Lombardy at the turn of the centuries. Secondly, the plot. Slow as it is, it sucks you in nonetheless, as you get emotionally involved with the beautifully depicted community of families. Full of small and big dramas, the film does not cease to surprise till the very end. Finally, perhaps the biggest asset of the movie is the loving, but realistic depiction of the times. There is dirt, hard work and cow dung, but there is also nature, family, and most importantly - love. If you speak some Italian, the additional perk is the beautiful dialect. Highly, highly recommend!