Bitter Rice - Vittorio Gassman, Doris Dowling, Silvana Mangano (Blu-ray - 01/12/2016) [The Criterion Collection/ Special Edition]

Originally released as Riso Amaro, Bitter Rice was one of the landmark films of the postwar Italian neorealist movement. Silvana Mangano portrays one of hundreds of women toiling slavishly in the Po Valley rice fields. She is courted by two men: respectable Raf Vallone and no-good fugitive from justice Vittorio Gassman. Mangano chooses Gassman, a decision which brings disaster not only to her but to her co-workers. The rice-field scenes are realistic enough to pass muster as documentary footage, though they tend to be undercut in the English-language version by the amateurish dubbing. Critics were unanimous in their praise for Bitter Rice; their words were, however, ignored by the male fans who came to see the film solely on the strength of the now-famous production still of the buxom Silvana Mangano standing in the rice field wearing tight shorts and torn black stockings.

Condition:NEW.

Product Details:
Actors: Vittorio Gassman, Doris Dowling, Silvana Mangano
Directors: Giuseppe De Santis
Format: Multiple Formats, Blu-ray, Full Screen, NTSC, Restored, Special Edition, Subtitled
Language: Italian
Subtitles: English
Number of discs: 1
Rated: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Criterion Collection (Direct)
DVD Release Date: January 12, 2016
Run Time: 109 minutes

Cast Summary:
Vittorio Gassman - Walter
Doris Dowling - Francesca
Silvana Mangano - Silvana
Raf Vallone - Marco
Checco Rissone - Aristide
Nico Pepe - Beppe
Adriana Sivieri - Celeste
Mariemma Bardi - Gianna
Lia Croelli - Amelia
Maria Grazia Francia - Gabriella

Crew Summary:
Giuseppe de Santis - Director
Carlo Lizzani - Writer
Gianni Puccini - Writer
Giuseppe de Santis - Writer
Dino de Laurentiis - Producer
Otello Martelli - Cinematographer