Terraferma (2011)

Directed by: Emanuele Crialese | 88 minutes | drama | Actors: Filippo Pucillo, Donatella Finocchiaro, Beppe Fiorello, Mimmo Cuticchio, Martina Codecasa, Tiziana Lodato, Claudio Santamaria, Filippo Scarafia, Timnit T., Pierpaolo Spollon, Rubel Tsegay Abraha, Francesco Casisa

The Italian film ‘Terraferma’ is set on a tiny island near Sicily. Life on this island revolves around only two things: fishing and tourism. This also applies to main character Filippo (Filippo Pucillo). Filippo is an ordinary boy in his twenties, raised in an average family that has to make a living from fishing. His father died at sea three years ago and it is his grandfather, who is struggling with health problems, who has to make a living. In order to earn some extra money, Filippo’s mother, Giulietta (Donatella Finocchiaro), decides to rent out their house to tourists in the summer. When Filippo finds a group of African refugees in the sea during a fishing trip with his grandfather, they decide, completely against the law, to save the drowning people. When one of the drowning people also turns out to be a heavily pregnant woman, Felippo’s family takes care of the woman and the baby, with all the consequences that entails.

‘Terraferma’ has some trouble getting going in the beginning. The first scenes are, despite the beautiful underwater shots (which you will see more often during the film), a bit sluggish and the pace of the film is on the slow side. Yet this is not disturbing. The film takes the time to properly convey the atmosphere on the quiet, somewhat sleepy island where the story takes place. It is such a typical island where time seems to have always stood still and people still live according to the old norms and values. The music, which is mainly supportive, also fits well into the image of the film and certainly contributes to the atmosphere at certain moments.

But, despite the well-hit atmosphere, it is mainly the further story and especially the dilemma that Filippo and his family face when the African refugee is hiding with them that makes ‘Terraferma’ really interesting. Because can you just leave the refugee and her baby to their fate? As a viewer, the film knows how to make you think about this and also beautifully captures the tense atmosphere between the refugee and Filippo’s family. For example, there are a number of interesting confrontations between Giulietta, who as a woman of the house has taken on the care of the refugee, and the refugee in hiding who is grateful to Giulietta for her help, while Giulietta does not want to be thanked and the refugee in hiding rather as sees a burden. It’s these scenes where the viewer gets a good picture of both sides of the story that make ‘Terraferma’ really interesting. Especially when you get more information about the (tragic) background of the refugee later in the story, it is difficult not to get any sympathy for her. But the other storyline of ‘Terraferma’, namely that of Filippo and the personal development he is going through, is also a fascinating one. You can clearly see him struggling with himself; on the one hand, he wants nothing more than to be independent, have a girlfriend and live a happy life, but at the same time, like the average Italian, he has great difficulty letting go of his family.

It is not the first time that director Emanuele Crialese goes back to his roots in Sicily to make a film. With the film ‘Nuovomondo’ (2006), he previously delivered a film set around this Italian island. With ‘Terraferma’ he manages to give a very good representation of the current political situation with regard to the refugee problem. The film reflects both the dilemma of the local population and also the hopelessness of the situation of the refugees themselves. The film gives you as a viewer food for thought and is worth watching for that alone. The fact that it is more than a political message and also has a number of extra storylines, which are well developed, makes ‘Terraferma’ a film that deserves to be seen.