Terraferma: a film without smell After Respiro and Golden Door, Crialese is back to tell Sicily on the screen. He chooses a fascinating point of view: the relationship between migrants and fishermen. The first shots show all the beauty of a wild and unspoiled landscape. The destiny of the film’s main characters is determined by the sea, therefore water is the dominant image of the story. Although the director’s style is very mature, the film suffers from quite an approximate script which in the end results in a rather unconvincing work. The essay focuses on the characters of Ernest (Mimmo Cuticchio) and Sarah (Timnit T.), and on stereotyped depictions of the landing of migrants.