The Tree of the Wooden Clogs (1978)

Italian filmmaker Ermanno Olmi's Tree of the Wooden Clogs covers a period of twelve months, dividing its time between three peasant families, all of whom work on the estate of an all-but-absentee landlord. Special emphasis is given the interrelationships between the various family members and their neighbors. Tree of the Wooden Clogs was honored with the Golden Palm award at the Cannes Film Festival. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Running Time: 177 mins

Way too long of film! But it does end in a fairly sad story. The father finally gets caught for trying to make a shoe for his young son. {Actually this is a perfect example of tragedy of the commons and how it is avoided by strong social rules. These types of forces is basically what Elinor Ostrom discusses in her research. The father tries to cover up the fact that he cut down one of the trees along the stream and somehow one of the men discover that he did it. The father also went to great lengths to get his tomatoes to grow earlier in the season including placing his plants under his bed to keep them warm, and chicken manure around the plants to keep them warm.}

But it did give a nice feeling movie that showed a lot of a lifestyle that we seldom see now days.

I am rating this movie as 2 since it took too long to long to get to a simple plot and story.