Bitter Rice

Considered the first major box office success of Italian Neorealism, Riso amaro arrived in Portugal shrouded in controversy and was banned just two weeks after its premiere. The film, starring Silvana Mangano and marked by eroticism, follows Francesca and Walter, two fugitives who mingle among the rice harvesters in northern Italy — where they meet the naive Silvana. While Francesca learns the trade, Silvana allows herself to be seduced by Walter, until a robbery changes the course of the three. Nominated for the Palme d'Or at Cannes, this drama is seen as De Santis' masterpiece and a milestone in Italian cinema.