''Bitter Rice'' ( it, Riso Amaro ) is a 1949 Italian film made by

Lux Film Lux Film was an Italian film distribution (and later production) company founded by Riccardo Gualino in 1934. Gualino was an anti-fascist businessman who had clashed with the regime of Mussolini in 1931 and had been forced into internal exile on ...

, written and directed by

Giuseppe De Santis Giuseppe De Santis (11 February 1917 – 16 May 1997) was an Italian film director. One of the most idealistic Neorealism (art), neorealist filmmakers of the 1940s and 1950s, he wrote and directed films punctuated by ardent cries for social ...

. Produced by

Dino De Laurentiis Agostino "Dino" De Laurentiis (; 8 August 1919 – 10 November 2010) was an Italian-American film producer. Along with Carlo Ponti, he was one of the producers who brought Italian cinema to the international scene at the end of World War II. He ...

, starring

Silvana Mangano Silvana Mangano (; 21 April 1930 – 16 December 1989) was an Italian film actress. She was one of a generation of thespians who arose from the neorealist movement, and went on to become a major female star, regarded as a sex symbol for the 19 ...

Raf Vallone The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's Air force, air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal ...

Doris Dowling Doris Dowling (May 15, 1923 – June 18, 2004) was an American actress of film, stage and television. Best known for the films ''The Crimson Key'' (1946) and ''Bitter Rice'' (1949). Also known for playing Irene Adams on ''My Living Doll'' (196 ...

and

Vittorio Gassman Vittorio Gassman (; born Gassmann; 1 September 1922 – 29 June 2000), popularly known as , was an Italian actor, director and screenwriter. He is considered one of the greatest Italian actors, whose career includes both important productions ...

, ''Bitter Rice'' was a commercial success in Europe and the United States. It was a product of the

Italian neorealism Italian neorealism ( it, Neorealismo), also known as the Golden Age, is a national film movement characterized by stories set amongst the poor and the working class. They are filmed on location, frequently with non-professional actors. They pri ...

style. The Italian title of the film is based on a

pun A pun, also known as paronomasia, is a form of word play that exploits multiple meanings of a term, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. These ambiguities can arise from the intentional use of homophoni ...

; since the Italian word '' riso'' can mean either "rice" or "laughter", can be taken to mean either "bitter laughter" or "bitter rice". Although ''Bitter Rice'' did not win any awards, it was nominated for the 1950

Academy Award for Best Story The Academy Award for Best Story was an Academy Award given from the beginning of the Academy Awards until 1956. This award can be a source of confusion for modern audiences, given its co-existence with the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenpl ...

and entered into the

1949 Cannes Film Festival The 3rd Cannes Film Festival was held from 2 to 17 September 1949. The previous year, no festival had been held because of financial problems. Like in 1947, the entire jury for this festival was made up of French persons, with historian Georges ...

Production

The film was shot on location in the countryside of Vercellese. The main locations are Tenuta Selve in Salasco and Cascina Veneria in Lignana. The film's sets were designed by the art director

Carlo Egidi Carlo Egidi (20 May 1918 – 2 February 1989) was an Italian art director. He worked on the set design of more than sixty films during his career. One of his earliest credits was the neorealist ''Bitter Rice'' (1949).Ben-Ghiat p.256 Selected fi ...

Plot

The film begins at the start of the rice-planting season in northern Italy. In an effort to escape the law, two small-time thieves, Francesca (

) and Walter (

), hide among the crowds of female workers heading to the rice paddies in the Province of

Vercelli Vercelli (; pms, Vërsèj ), is a city and ''comune'' of 46,552 inhabitants (January 1, 2017) in the Province of Vercelli, Piedmont, northern Italy. One of the oldest urban sites in northern Italy, it was founded, according to most historians, ...

in the upper reaches of Piedmont in the Po Valley. While attempting to board the train for the fields, the pair runs into Silvana (

), a peasant rice worker. Francesca boards the train with Silvana, who introduces her to the planters' way of life. Francesca does not have a work permit, and struggles with the other "illegals" to find a place on the rice fields. After initial resistance from documented workers and bosses, the illegals are allowed a place in the fields. At work in the fields, Silvana and Francesca meet a soon-to-be-discharged soldier, Marco (

), who unsuccessfully tries to attract Silvana's interest. Toward the end of the working season, Walter arrives at the rice farm and becomes involved in a plot to steal a large quantity of rice. Excited by his criminal lifestyle, Silvana becomes attracted to Walter. She causes a diversion to help him carry out the heist, but Francesca and Marco manage to stop Walter and his accomplices. Francesca and Silvana face each other, armed with hand-guns. Francesca confronts Silvana and explains that she has been heartlessly manipulated by Walter. In response, Silvana turns her gun on Walter and kills him. Soon afterwards, her guilt leads her to commit suicide. As the other rice workers depart, they pay tribute to her by sprinkling rice upon her body.

Cast

as Walter *

as Francesca (Italian voice:

Andreina Pagnani Andreina Pagnani (born Andreina Gentili; 24 November 1906 – 22 November 1981) was an Italian actress and voice actress. Biography Born in Rome and the daughter of a dresser, at a young age Pagnani studied the harp and the piano, then she devo ...

) *

as Silvana (Italian voice:

Lydia Simoneschi Lydia Simoneschi (4 April 1908 – 5 September 1981) was an Italian actress and voice actress. During her career, she gave her voice to actresses mainly during the Golden Ages. Biography Born in Rome and the daughter of silent film actor and dir ...

; English dubbing: Bettina Dickson) *

as Marco * Checco Rissone as Aristide *

Nico Pepe Nico Pepe (19 January 1917 – 13 August 1987) was an Italian film actor. He appeared in more than 80 films between 1936 and 1981. Selected filmography * '' The Two Sergeants'' (1936) * ''The Cavalier from Kruja'' (1940) * '' Captain Fraca ...

as Beppe * Adriana Sivieri as Celeste * Lia Corelli as Amelia * Maria Grazia Francia as Gabriella * Dedi Ristori as Anna *

Anna Maestri Anna Maestri (7 January 1924 – 4 March 1988) was an Italian stage, film and television actress. Life and career Maestri was born in Mantua, the daughter of two stage actors. She formed at the Silvio d’Amico Academy of Dramatic Arts in Rome ...

as Irene * Mariemma Bardi as Gianna * Maria Capuzzo as Giulia * Isabella Zennaro as Rosa *

Carlo Mazzarella Carlo Mazzarella (30 July 1919 – 7 March 1993) was an Italian actor and journalist. Life and career Born in Genoa, Mazzarella enrolled in the Silvio d’Amico Academy of Dramatic Arts, graduating in 1942. Almost immediately he debuted on s ...

as Gianetto

Themes

In the film, the character Silvana represents the allure of behavior modeled in American films, such as chewing gum and

boogie-woogie Boogie-woogie is a genre of blues music that became popular during the late 1920s, developed in African-American communities since 1870s.Paul, Elliot, ''That Crazy American Music'' (1957), Chapter 10, p. 229. It was eventually extended from pi ...

dancing. Her downfall illustrates director

's condemnation of these products of American capitalism. In addition, Silvana was considered by many audiences to be overly sexualized. This sexualization and the melodramatic presence of death and suicide in the film cause it to diverge from typical

Awards and honors

''Bitter Rice'' was entered into the

. The film was nominated for Best Story in the 1950 Academy Awards. The film was also selected as one of

100 Italian films to be saved The list of the ''100 Italian films to be saved'' ( it, 100 film italiani da salvare) was created with the aim to report "100 films that have changed the collective memory of the country between 1942 and 1978". History The project was established ...

, a collection of films that "changed the collective memory of the country between 1942 and 1978". The collection was established by the

Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival h ...

in collaboration with

Cinecittà Cinecittà Studios (; Italian for Cinema City Studios), is a large film studio in Rome, Italy. With an area of 400,000 square metres (99 acres), it is the largest film studio in Europe, and is considered the hub of Italian cinema. The studios we ...

and curated by Fabio Ferzetti, with input from

Gianni Amelio Gianni Amelio (born 20 January 1945) is an Italian film director. Early life Amelio was born in San Pietro di Magisano, province of Catanzaro, Calabria. His father moved to Argentina soon after his birth. He spent his youth and adolescence with h ...

and other Italian film critics. Many of the films selected represent the "Golden Age" of Italian cinema, which was manifested in the neorealist movement.

References

Bibliography

* *

External links

* * *
''Bitter Rice: A Field in Italy''
an essay by Pasquale Iannone at the Criterion Collection {{Authority control 1949 films 1949 drama films 1940s Italian-language films Italian black-and-white films Italian neorealist films Italian drama films Films about agriculture Films about the labor movement Films produced by Dino De Laurentiis Films directed by Giuseppe De Santis Films set in Piedmont Films set in 1948 Lux Film films 1940s Italian films