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A family struggles to hold their lives together in the wake of a tragedy in this drama from director Pasquale Scimeca. The Malavoglia Family lives in a fishing village on the coast of Sicily, and for generations they've depended on the sea for their livelihood. Bastianazzo, the man of the house, lives with his father Padron 'Ntoni, his wife Maruzza, and their children 'Ntoni, Mena, Alessi and Lia. The Malavoglias are far from wealthy, but they're decent, hard working and compassionate, and when "Ntoni sees a boatload of illegal immigrants scurrying to the shore, he helps one of them, Alef, find his into town and allows him to stay with the family. However, the family's precarious circumstances are put to the test when Bastianazzo's fishing boat is caught in a powerful storm and he loses his life. Grief and stress drive Maruzza to madness, and the children must learn to care for one another and their grandfather on their own. Malavoglia was adapted from Giovanni Verga's classic novel The House by the Medlar Tree, which was earlier brought to the screen by Luchino Visconti as La Terra Trema.