The House by the Medlar Tree
The film begins on a day in a year at the start of the third millennium. ‘Ntoni Malavoglia witnesses the arrival of a boat full of illegal immigrants. Aboard the boat is Alef who, taking advantage of the confusion, manages to escape. ‘Ntoni helps him; he finds him a job in the greenhouses and a home in the lane in which he lives with his family. The Malavoglia are fishermen. They own a boat, the Provvidenza, and a house, which everyone calls “La casa del Nespolo” (“the medlar tree house”). The family is composed of granddad Padron ‘Ntoni, Bastianazzo, his wife Maruzza, and their children ‘Ntoni, Mena, Alessi and Lia. ‘Ntoni is twenty and the others are all younger. They are poor kids, like so many others in Sicily, and struggle to finish school. One night the “Providence” is wrecked and Bastianazzo dies. The family starts to fall apart: Maruzza goes crazy, „Ntoni hangs out at Uzzy‟s bar and together they write zany songs, Mena falls in love with Alfio and Lia secretly dates Michele, who seems to be a bad lot. Padron ‟Ntoni tries to keep his family together but the ship is wrecked again and debts eat up the “medlar‟s house”.
Eventually „Ntoni improves the family‟s fortunes by writing a song with his grandfather‟s sayings. With this song he wins a big prize and with the money buys back the “Medlar‟s house”, has the “Providence” repaired and goes back to his old job as fisherman together with his brother Alessi and Alfio who, in the meantime, has married Mena.