1949’s Bitter Rice is a provocative pulp disguised as a crime drama through an Italian neorealism lens.
1949’s Bitter Rice is a provocative pulp disguised as a crime drama through an Italian neorealism lens. Infused specifically American pulp and light noir, it still feels dangerous, lurid, gritty, and socially aware within all its sexy, delectable charms.
The film was helmed by Giuseppe De Santis, who had been an Italian film journalist who began collaborating with fellow neorealist of his ilk and turned into quite a director himself. With Bitter Rice, it’s that romanticized normalcy that Santis sets the stage for a working class drama to unfold in Northern Italy’s Po Valley.
A couple (Vittorio Gassman as Walter & Doris Dowling as Francesca) play a somewhat in love criminals narrowly evading police capture just long enough to hop a train before they’re caught with the valuable necklace they snatched just prior. Using a marvelous long tracking shot to catch workers in transit, De Santis and cinematographer Otello Martelli capture passengers waking from their sleepy train, eagerly peering out their windows, a bickering couple, a man shaving, and everyone grinding through the hustle and bustle of their beginning day. They come upon voluptuous, lighthearted Silvana (Silvana Mangano) who is a young rice harvester who catches the eye of thieving Walter who sees an opportunity to evade police capture while continuously ignoring his accomplice when it’s convenient. While learning about the annual pilgrimage these women take every year to endure backbreaking labor, Francesca pretends to be just another menial rice laborer while Walter promises to meet up with her later for their loot and to maybe run away together. The increasingly maligned Francesca hopes so anyway.
Eventually we learn a bit more about Silvana with her dancing, “boogie woogie” enticing ways. She seems to evoke the longing of every man she encounters and teases them thoroughly. She likes to chew gum and listen to records. Silvana being young and breathtaking is a bit of a mirror for western with a good amount of naiveté thrown in for good measure. Silvana especially attracts the eyes of Marco (Raf Vallone) who is a lost, soon-to-be-discharged soldier looking for someone to share his life with. Marco seems like a perfect fit for Silvana but she can’t quite find the spark she so desires with him. This collision of sensibilities is competently woven by De Santis with smooth style to accentuate the brazen personalities to follow in this fast caper. It’s an intimate take of what could be considered a typical Hollywood fare. Mangano is unequivocally the star here in her first movie role at only nineteen. She pulsates and dominates the screen with absolute captivation.
Criterion brings Bitter Rice to the collection featuring a new high-definition digital restoration and uncompressed monaural soundtrack. This is however a lighter release from Criterion as the only supplemental material is a one hour TV documentary on De Salvis and his career, a trailer for Bitter Rice, new English subtitles, and an interview with screenwriter Carlo Lizzani from 2003. While this is a much lighter release (cheaper as well) on the supplements, the artwork is gorgeous and does feature a great essay by critic Pasquale Iannone. This will surely tide you over until Bicycle Thieves finally makes its way to Blu-Ray later this year.
Bitter Rice is a film that’s often cited as De Santis’ masterpiece and it would be hard to argue otherwise. The film is socially engaging, sensual, and has aged surprisingly well for something framed so formulaic as Bitter Rice’s story can be. The understated soul of the film does not solely rely on the drama but rather the floundering lower class characters themselves. The characters are bitterly defined by their stations in life. De Santis’ also provides the details of what a working class life is like by passing them off as valuable, informative minutiae. De Santis’ Italian contemporaries such as Rossellini, Visconti, and Vittorio De Sica often overshadowed him despite Bitter Rice’s immediate impact and success. The overt sex appeal probably had a lot to do with the film garnering attention in America to land an Oscar win for what was then called “Best Story.” (Today’s equivalent of “Best Original Screenplay”) So while Bitter Rice isn’t the be-all in Italian neorealism, it’s a small masterpiece that holds up tremendously.
Bitter Rice
1949
Giuseppe De Santis
Spine #792
Available On DVD & Blu-Ray
