Bitter Rice (1949) was a product of the Italian neorealism style. The Italian title of the film is based on a pun; since the Italian word riso can mean either "rice" or "laughter," riso amaro can be taken to mean either "bitter laughter" or "bitter rice."
Lucia Bosè was the director's first choice for the role of Silvana. It wasn't until he met Silvana Mangano by chance that he decided to cast her in the film. De Santis also wanted Mangano to appear in his next picture Under the Olive Tree (1950) but after she became pregnant, she was replaced by Bosé.
This film is part of the Criterion Collection, spine #792.
In Bitter Rice (1949), the character Silvana represents the allure of behavior modeled in American films, such as chewing gum and boogie-woogie dancing. Her downfall illustrates 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.
Although Bitter Rice (1949) did not win any awards, it was nominated for the 1950 Academy Award for Best Story and entered into the 1949 Cannes Film Festival. In 2008, the film was included on the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage's 100 Italian films to be saved, a list of 100 films that "have changed the collective memory of the country between 1942 and 1978."