The Good Earth - 1937

The Good Earth (1937) is a film about Chinese farmers who struggle to survive. It was adapted by Talbot Jennings, Tess Slesinger, and Claudine West from the play by Donald Davis and Owen Davis, which was in itself based on the 1931 novel of the same name by Nobel Prize-winning author Pearl S. Buck The film was directed by Sidney Franklin, Victor Fleming (uncredited) and Gustav Machaty (uncredited).

The film starred Paul Muni as Wang Lung. For her role as his wife O-Lan, Luise Rainer won an Academy Award for Best Actress. The film also won the Academy Award for Best Cinematography for Karl Freund. It was nominated for Best Director, Best Film Editing and Best Picture. Its world premiere was at the elegant Carthay Circle Theatre in Los Angeles.

Farmer Wang Lung (Paul Muni) marries O-Lan (Luise Rainer), a lowly servant at the Great House, the residence of the most powerful family in their village. O-Lan proves to be an excellent wife, hard working and uncomplaining. Wang Lung prospers. He buys more land, and O-Lan gives birth to two sons and a daughter. Meanwhile, the Great House begins to decline.

All is well until a drought and the resulting famine drive the family to the brink. Desperate, Wang Lung considers the advice of his pessimistic, worthless uncle (Walter Connolly) to sell his land for food, but O-Lan opposes it. Instead, they travel south to a city in search of work. The family survives by begging and stealing. When a revolutionary gives a speech to try to drum up support for the army approaching despite rain in the north, Wang Lung and O-Lan realize the drought is over. They long to return to their farm, but they have no money for an ox, seed, and food. The city changes hands and O-Lan joins a mob looting a mansion. However, she is knocked down and trampled upon. When she comes to, she finds a bag of jewels overlooked in the confusion. This windfall allows the family to go home and prosper once more. O-Lan asks only to keep two pearls for herself.

Years pass...

The Color Purple - 1985

The Color Purple is a 1985 American period drama film directed by Steven Spielberg, based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name by Alice Walker. It was Spielberg's eighth film as a director (not including the 1971 television film Duel), and was a change from the summer blockbusters for which he had become famous. Filmed in Anson and Union counties in North Carolina, the film tells the story of a young African American girl named Celie and shows the problems African American women faced during the early 1900s, including poverty, racism, and sexism. Celie is transformed as she finds her self-worth through the help of two strong female companions.

Vento di Terra - 2004 (Italian)

Good luck locating a copy of this film with English subtitles. I was lucky enough to see it at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2004. It's a great Italian story about life in and around Naples, Italy. It really captures the 'real insides of Italy'.   If you can ever see this story I would highly recommend it.  I am sure if one does an internet search they can find a way to stream view this classic.

Vento Di Terra (wind of the earth) is an Italian film about an 18 year old boy (Vicenzo Pacilli) from a poor suburb of Napoli, Italy who finds himself burdened by expectations of supporting his mother after his father dies from an unexpected heart attack. Working in a blue-collar factory job, Vince soon finds that he does not have enough money to support himself, let alone his frail recently widowed mother. His sister departs to Cassano to finally end her employment drought by getting a job in the local FIAT factory. Vince is left alone to support his mother.

He gets involved in a heist, and then out of guilt confesses his sin to a close family friend, who suggests he joins the Italian army. In the army Vince meets a new found friend through his training period, and they are soon deployed together to the war torn state of Kosovo in the Former Yugoslavia, where he is exposed to the brutality of war.

This film is gripping, even though it has a sad storyline. It does have an abrupt ending but the story in and of itself is so very well done. Some things remain unresolved but--like most movies--one has to leave filling in the blanks and using ones own imagination. Think of this one as a 'slice of Italian life'.

Where the Lilies Bloom - 1975

I was 9 when this film came out and I still remember the first time I went to the movies to watch it. Growing up without money I could relate to the way these kids lived. It wasn't until I got older and seen it again that I understood what these kids were really surviving.

A sincere and unglamourized look at the backwoods Appalachians has four children left parentless when their father dies. They refuse to let his death be known to the proper authorities for fear of being separated and placed in an orphanage. Mary Call ( Julie Gholson), though not the eldest of the brood, takes on the parent-figure role, protecting the kids from the frightful world of adults, especially landlord Kiser Pease (Harry Dean Stanton). Pacing and plot development are very slow but effectively detail the changes the children undergo as they grow and learn to accept Stanton as a friend. The latter gives a strong performance as a crusty gent who is really pretty cool.

Based on the novel written by Bill and Vera Cleaver (Nominee, 1970 National Book Award for Children's Literature; Notable Children's Books of 1969 (ALA); Best Books of 1969 (SLJ); Outstanding Children's Books of 1969 (NYT)).