Al Pacino is one of the most successful and respected actors in Hollywood. He’s had many remarkable moments in his career, most notably, his role as Michael Corleone in The Godfather and its sequel, when he played Tony Montana in Brian De Palma’s Scarface or Frank Serpico in Sidney Lumet’s 1973 biopic. Pacino is also the owner of two Tony Awards and an Academy Award, and therefore heavily admired from a critical perspective.
So much so, that many of the New York City-born actor’s iconic roles have topped audience members’ listings, but what about his own favourite films?
But when Pacino was asked by AFI about his favourite films, he took a moment to ponder over the answer.
“My favourite movie of all time?” he said. “Oh, I have about five or six – not any I’ve done – but I have five or six movies that I really think are the greatest. I’d have to think about them; they’re varied.”
Pacino then let slip one of his all-time top choices, noting: “I know I really liked The Tree of Wooden Cloggs, but they’re all different kinds of films.” =
The 1978 Italian film directed by Ermanno Olmi won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival.
The film’s synopsis reads: “On a northern Italian farm in the late 19th century, a group of sharecroppers eke out a threadbare existence. A priest advises Batisti (Luigi Ornaghi) and his wife, Batistina (Francesca Moriggi), that their young son, Minec (Omar Brignoli), should be formally educated, so they sacrifice his help in the fields and send him to school. When Minec’s wooden shoe breaks one day, Batisti–in an act of desperation–puts the family’s future at risk to replace the clog.”
Olmi’s film has various similarities with some works of the early Italian neorealist movement in its depiction of the lives of the poor, by using real-life locals and farmers rather than actors.
Just as Pacino was being ushered away to speak to another reporter, he shouted out a second choice. “Singin’ in the Rain is good, yeah”, he said. Far more recognisable than his first choice, Singin’ in the Rain was directed by Gene Kelly and is a musical romantic comedy that remains one of the most iconic movies of all time.
The Tree of Wooden Clogs is available to stream on Netflix and Singin’ in the Rain in available on NOW TV.