BITTER RICE / THIEVES' HIGHWAY

ABOUT THE EVENT:

7:30pm | Introduction

7:40pm | BITTER RICE

9:30pm | Intermission

9:40pm | THIEVES’ HIGHWAY

Start times are approximate.

ABOUT THE FILMS: 

BITTER RICE, Dir. Giuseppe De Santis, 108 Min, Cristaldi Film, Italy

Originally released September 7, 1949

In Italian with English subtitles. 

BITTER RICE transposes the noir tale of a sleazy homme fatale, and the two women he enlists in his criminal schemes, onto a neorealist portrait of the mondina, female migrant workers who harvest and plant rice in the Po Valley. A quartet of fabulously attractive leads flesh out a steamy melodrama of desire, shame, rivalry, and redemption; it made a star of earthy Silvana Mangano, and gave American Doris Dowling her finest role. A sensuous blend of social critique and pulpy thrills, BITTER RICE is above all a tribute to women’s labor, community, and solidarity.

FORMAT: DCP

THIEVES’ HIGHWAY, Dir. Jules Dassin, 94 Min, Disney, USA

Originally released October 10, 1949

The agra-noir of 1949 continues! When a returning GI (Richard Conte) suspects his trucker father has been cheated and maimed by a corrupt produce broker, he scrapes up a load of apples in the Central Valley and hits the roads for revenge. Can he survive a long night of duplicity and betrayal in San Francisco? A vivid adaptation of A.I. Bezzerides novel, shot on location in San Francisco’s now-vanished produce district, featuring memorable performances from Lee J. Cobb, Valentina Cortesa, Millard Mitchell, Hope Emerson, and Joe Pevney.

FORMAT: DCP