Riso Amaro is one of those atypical movies that is not only multi-layered and realistic, but also difficult to categorize. And it has Mangano. Silvana Mangano, age nineteen, is simply stunning in every way one can visualize. Can a man take his eyes away from her? And her two dances … what an electrifying screen presence! Prettier than Drago, Loren, and Cardinale, she was a natural actress in the right setting. She may not have had the drive of many of Italy's breathtaking actresses, but she certainly lit up a screen. And this movie was made in a situation that did not demand flamboyant make-up, fancy hairstyles, and fine clothing. Even her underarms were unshaven (not unusual in Europe for the time; see a few French or German movies). No, this is what Italian neo-realism is all about, unlike the French new wave, with professional actresses all puffed up with baroque makeup and without a hair being out of place, and always looking prim! So much differently, Mangano is "earthy" and sensual! And she was not the only lovely "peasant girl" in the motion picture!

Ah yes, the movie. The beginning presents a newscaster on location in northeastern Italy who reports that the world's major rice-producing regions are China, India, and northern Italy. He comments on the hundreds of women arriving in the area for the 40-day rice-harvesting season. Only women have the nimble hands and feet to do the backbreaking work in low-level water. They welcome the task, for it provides the recently war-torn citizens a chance to earn some precious money. Mixing among the group is a wanted thief, slippery stiletto-wielding Walter (Vittorio Gassmann) and an attractive female accomplice, Francesca (American Doris Dowling). Sergeant Marco (Raf Vallone),a ten-year veteran of the Italian army, is about to be discharged. We have the makings of a movie centering on the working classes, doomed love, abuse of women, robbery, illegal immigrants, and bravery. The focus is on the toil of the proletariat, the obvious tension between union and nonunion labor. But the parallel story is on a heist that will thwart all the wearisome work of the ladies. There will be a shootout, and our gorgeous Italian girl will climb a long ladder to her destiny.

Superb camera-work (long/wide vantage points),nice character-development, singing, and on-location shooting are big pluses of this fine, largely unknown, melodrama. Worth seeing.

For the first 75% of this film, I wasn't particularly interested in the film. Most of the reason was that I found the female leads to be so stupid, as they debased themselves repeatedly to gain the favor of a horrid petty crook. I guess this realistic, as some women do this, but I felt no connection to the characters, so my attention waned.

Fortunately, I did continue watching, because as the film developed further, so did the characters. And, this was all capped off by a dandy ending that I WON'T elaborate on because this would ruin the film.

This film is a Neo-Realistic Italian film, in that most of the actors were apparently not professionals and the subject matter was rather mundane (this is not meant to be an insult--just a comment about the style of film). While I didn't like it nearly as much as De Sica's films of that era, it was well worth watching and better than many other Neo-Realistic films.

FYI--parents should know that although this is an older film, there is some nudity. It's not super explicit, but does occur in the film.

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.

In the film, the character Silvana represents enchantment with behavior modeled in American films, such as chewing gum and boogie-woogie dancing. Her downfall shows director Giuseppe De Santis'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 Italian neorealism.

I do find the symbolism interesting, especially because (as noted) the neorealist films of the era (which have been getting a major re-evaluation as of late) really are pretty straight-forward, very Italian, and often dealing with post-war themes. There is some of that post-war feeling here, but we see less of the "city as a character" and more individuals.

On a personal note, I like that this film is an early entry in the DeLaurentiis dynasty. Dino DeLaurentiis produced, and his wife is the star. This is 1949 (just after World War II),and the family is still an important part of Italian and American culture today (2016).