<jats:p>This article reassesses the politics of Ermanno Olmi’s 1978 Palme d’Or winner, The Tree of Wooden Clogs. It specifically addresses charges made against the film by the novelist and critic, Alberto Moravia. The Marxist writer asserted that the film promotes the life and ideology of the farmers featured in the work. By looking closely at the film, I demonstrate how the formal strategies utilized by Olmi negate Moravia’s assessment and controvertibly position spectators to re-evaluate their political relationships to those in their range of influence.</jats:p>