Impossible to convey in a blurb the appeal of The Tree of Wooden Clogs

It's impossible to convey in a blurb or a summary how interesting and compelling this movie actually is: the 1978 film Ermanno Olmi, The Tree of Wooden Clogs (even the title is a bit off-putting). The film is "about" a year in the life of a peasant village in rural Italy (Lombardy) circa 1910, and over the course of the film will follow three peasant families that share an apartment-like dwelling on a stretch of farmland; 2/3rds of the profits from the labors in the fields goes to the landlord. Sounds pretty dull, but I can only say that from start to finish this 3+-hour film is captivating and informative in every frame. It feels like a documentary about life in that time and place but of course it's a beautiful re-creation of a lost way of life. We see inside the rustic housing of these people, the difficult farming with handheld and horse-drawn equipment, the clothing, the meals, the entertainment - in some of the most beautiful scenes the families gather at night around a communal fire for singing and story-telling. We also see the home of the wealthy landowner, and the comforts of the parish church. Most of all we get a sense of how hard life was for these people: the birth of a child, the sickness of a cow, the slightest turn of events could put any of the families on the verge of ruin - and of course there were no social services whatsoever (and the church blithely turns its back on a family in true need) - though there are many references to and glimpses of social radicals pushing for a democracy and, I think, a united Italy. Like all great films, this one presents what feels like a whole world - and in this case a world unfamiliar to us. There re so many great moments in this film, including the town festival, the slaughter of a pig, newlyweds leaving for a honeymoon in Milan, and the sad story of the little schoolboy - sent to school at great family expense (the father can't understand why his son needs an education) who has to trudge home through mud and sleet and do his homework by candle-light. The film's almost flawless, but sharp-eyed M did pick out in one shot (at the 2-hour mark) a car passing in the far background. Even a "flaw" like this makes the movie seem more "real," as we recognize that it's filmed not in a studio but in a small farming village that stands today (or did in the 1970s).