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BITTER RICE (Lux Film, 1949), Giuseppe De Santis' post-war depiction of female rice-field workers in Northern Italy's Po Valley, is a film classic that defies categorization. Part melodrama/film noir/allegory/documentary, it is probably most famous for launching the career of Silvana Mangano who, at 19, not only oozes with earthy sensuality, but also delivers a magnetically charged performance. Her character arcs from a self-assured, independent leader among her co-workers to a desperate, vulnerable and ultimately tragic woman. Mangano is also remembered by fantasy film buffs for co-starring with Kirk Douglas in ULYSSES (1954), in which she plays the dual roles of Ulysses' wife Penelope and Circe, the siren queen.The plot in BITTER RICE deals with the rice pickers' most beloved comrade (Mangano) who gets mixed up with a small-time criminal (Vittorio Gassman) and agrees to aid him in stealing the harvested crop. Meanwhile, the crook's girlfriend and accomplice (Doris Dowling) begins to reform upon meeting an army sergeant (Raf Vallone) stationed in the valley. What lies central in the film is the role reversal between the two main female characters and the moral conflicts that result.Director De Santis has this all play out within a neorealist style that also embraces familiar Hollywood trappings, making BITTER RICE the pulpy masterpiece it deservedly holds claim to being.Criterion's special edition - transferred off the original 35mm camera negative no less - is gorgeous, capturing all the richness of Otello Martelli's black and white cinematography. Bonus features include a 2008 documentary on director Giuseppe De Santis, a 2002 interview with screenwriter Carlo Lizzani and the original trailer.My highest recommendation.