Bitter Rice

Riso amaro
Theatrical poster
Directed by	Giuseppe De Santis
Produced by	Dino De Laurentiis
Written by	Giuseppe De Santis Carlo Lizzani Gianni Puccini
Starring	Vittorio Gassman Doris Dowling Silvana Mangano Raf Vallone Checco Rissone Carlo Mazzarella
Music by	Goffredo Petrassi
Cinematography	Otello Martelli
Edited by	Gabriele Varriale
Distributed by	Lux Film Distributing Corporation
Release date	1949 (1949)
Running time	108 minutes
Country	Italy
Language	Italian

Bitter Rice (Italian: Riso Amaro [ˈriːzo aˈmaːro; ˈriːso]) is a 1949 Italian film made by Lux Film, written and directed by Giuseppe De Santis. Produced by Dino De Laurentiis, starring Silvana Mangano, Raf Vallone, Doris Dowling and Vittorio Gassman, Bitter Rice was a commercial success in Europe and the United States. It was a product of the Italian neorealism style. The Italian title of the film is based on a pun; since the Italian word can mean either "rice" or "laughter", riso amaro can be taken to mean either "bitter laughter" or "bitter rice".

Although Bitter Rice did not win any awards, it was nominated for the 1950 Academy Award for Best Story and entered into the 1949 Cannes Film Festival.

The film begins at the start of the rice-planting season in northern Italy. In an effort to escape the law, two small-time thieves, Francesca (Doris Dowling) and Walter (Vittorio Gassman), hide amongst the crowds of female workers heading to the rice fields of the Po Valley. While attempting to board the train for the fields, the pair runs into Silvana (Silvana Mangano), a peasant rice worker. Francesca boards the train with Silvana, who introduces her to the planter's way of life. Francesca does not have a work permit, and struggles with the other "illegals" to find a place on the rice fields. After initial resistance from documented workers and bosses, the scabs are allowed a place in the fields. At the fields, Silvana and Francesca meet a soon-to-be-discharged soldier, Marco (Raf Vallone), who unsuccessfully tries to attract Silvana's interest.