''No Peace Under the Olive Tree'' () is a 1950 Italian neorealist

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

directed by

Giuseppe De Santis Giuseppe De Santis (11 February 1917 – 16 May 1997) was an Italian film director. One of the most idealistic neorealist filmmakers of the 1940s and 1950s, he wrote and directed films punctuated by ardent cries for social reform. He was ...

and starring

Raf Vallone Raffaele Vallone (17 February 1916 – 31 October 2002) was an Italian actor and footballer. One of the top male Italian stars of the 1950s and 1960s, he first became known for his association with the neorealist movement, and found success in ...

Lucia Bosé Lucia may refer to: Arts and culture * ''Lucía'', a 1968 Cuban film by Humberto Solás * ''Lucia'' (film), a 2013 Indian Kannada-language film ** ''Enakkul Oruvan'' (2015 film), its 2015 Tamil-language remake, also known as ''Lucia'' * '' L ...

and

Folco Lulli Folco Lulli (3 July 1912 – 23 May 1970) was an Italian partisan and film actor. He appeared in more than 100 films between 1946 and 1970. Life and career Born in Florence, the son of the baritone Gino Lulli and the elder brother of actor ...

. It was the director's follow-up to ''

Bitter Rice ''Bitter Rice'' ( ) is a 1949 Italian neorealist crime drama film directed and co-written by Giuseppe De Santis, produced by Dino De Laurentiis, and starring Vittorio Gassman, Doris Dowling, Silvana Mangano, and Raf Vallone. The story follows ...

'' (1949) which also starred Vallone. It was originally planned to partner him with

Silvana Mangano Silvana Mangano (; 21 April 1930 – 16 December 1989) was an Italian film actress. She was one of a generation of thespians who arose from the neorealist movement, and went on to become a major female star, regarded as a sex symbol for the 19 ...

again, but due to her pregnancy she was replaced by Lucia Bosé. Despite the commercial success of ''Bitter Rice'', the

Communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

De Santis had been stung by

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social ...

criticism due to American cultural elements included the film which he purposefully excluded from the follow-up. He also included characters who were less ambiguous and concluded with a

happy ending A happy ending is an ending of the plot of a work of fiction in which there is a positive outcome for the protagonist or protagonists, and in which this is to be considered a favourable outcome. In storylines where the protagonists are in phy ...

, similar to those of Socialist realism.Gundle p.287-88 The film's sets were designed by the

art director Art director is a title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, live-action and animated film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supe ...

Carlo Egidi Carlo Egidi (20 May 1918 – 2 February 1989) was an Italian art director. He worked on the set design of more than sixty films during his career. One of his earliest credits was the neorealist '' Bitter Rice'' (1949).Ben-Ghiat p.256 Selected fi ...

Location shooting Location shooting is the shooting of a film or television production in a real-world setting rather than a sound stage or backlot. The location may be interior or exterior. When filmmaking professionals refer to shooting "on location", they are ...

took place around

Fondi Fondi (; Southern Laziale: ''Fùnn'') is a city and ''comune'' in the province of Latina, Lazio, central Italy, halfway between Rome and Naples. As of 2017, the city had a population of 39,800. The city has experienced steady population growth si ...

Lazio Lazio ( , ; ) or Latium ( , ; from Latium, the original Latin name, ) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy, administrative regions of Italy. Situated in the Central Italy, central peninsular section of the country, it has 5,714,882 inhabitants an ...

, the hometown of director De Santis.

Synopsis

A young

shepherd A shepherd is a person who tends, herds, feeds, or guards flocks of sheep. Shepherding is one of the world's oldest occupations; it exists in many parts of the globe, and it is an important part of Pastoralism, pastoralist animal husbandry. ...

returns home after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

having been held in a

prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war for a ...

camp. He finds that the local landowner has stolen his

sheep Sheep (: sheep) or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are a domesticated, ruminant mammal typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus '' Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to d ...

and his girlfriend. When he also assaults and murders his sister, the shepherd takes revenge.

Cast

as Francesco Dominici *

as Lucia *

as Agostino Bonfiglio *

Maria Grazia Francia Maria Grazia Francia (17 September 1931 – 4 March 2021) was an Italian actress of classic cinema. Career Born in Florence, in the mid-1940s Francia moved to Rome to attend the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia. She eventually left the cou ...

as Maria Grazia *

Dante Maggio Dante Maggio (2 March 1909 – 3 March 1992) was an Italian film actor. He appeared in 115 films between 1940 and 1975. Born in Naples into a family of actors, Maggio had a turbulent adolescence that led his father to send him in an institute f ...

as Salvatore *

Michele Riccardini Michele Mario Alberto Riccardini (2 October 1910 – 24 July 1978) was an Italian film actor. He appeared in around fifty films during his career as well as several television episodes. In 1943 he played the role of Don Remigio in Luchino Viscont ...

as the

Maresciallo The Italian military rank of ''maresciallo'' (; marshal) is classified as a " sub-officer" and is the highest rank of non-commissioned officer in the Italian Armed Forces. It is higher than the rank of sergeant but lower than that of ensign/ sec ...

Vincenzo Talarico Vincenzo Talarico (28 April 1909 – 16 August 1972), was an Italian screenwriter and film actor. He wrote for 27 films between 1940 and 1966. He also appeared in 15 films between 1946 and 1964. He was born in Acri, Italy and died in Fiugg ...

as the lawyer *

Pietro Tordi Pietro Tordi (12 July 1906 – 14 December 1990) was an Italian film actor. He appeared in 100 films between 1942 and 1988. He was born in Florence, Italy. Selected filmography * '' Doctor Antonio'' (1937) - L'altro conspiratore * '' Don C ...

as Don Gaetano

References

Bibliography

* Gundle, Stephen. ''Fame Amid the Ruins: Italian Film Stardom in the Age of Neorealism''. Berghahn Books, 2019.

External links

* *

Adriano Aprà Adriano Aprà (18 November 1940 – 15 April 2024) was an Italian film critic, film historian, screenwriter, director, festival curator, academic and occasional actor. Life and career Born in Rome, Aprà graduated in law at Sapienza Universi ...

Under Close Watch: Under the Olive Tree
1950 films 1950s Italian-language films Italian neorealist films Films directed by Giuseppe De Santis 1950 drama films Italian drama films Films set in Lazio Films shot in Lazio Lux Film films Italian black-and-white films 1950s Italian films Italian-language drama films {{1950s-Italy-film-stub