1949 · drama · neorealism

Bitter Rice

Directed by Giuseppe De Santis · 1h 49m · 1949

Francesca and Walter are two-bit criminals in Northern Italy, and, in an effort to avoid the police, Francesca joins a group of women rice workers. She meets the voluptuous peasant rice worker, Silvana, and the soon-to-be-discharged soldier, Marco. Walter follows her to the rice fields, and the four characters become involved in a complex plot involving robbery, love, and murder.

Our read: Bitter Rice (1949) reads as a sombre, kinetic, grounded drama · neorealism entry — measured in intensity, mid-stakes in scope, measured in temperature, nihilistic in outlook.