Review by clanciai

I had heard very much about this film and particularly about Silvana Mangano's very sexy presence before finally seeing it, and was rather disappointed. Silvana is like a young Ingrid Bergman but already fallen in advance in the trap of Italian neorealistic temptation to vulgarity - she is outrageously vulgar, although innocent, while the other actress, Doris Dowling's acting, is so much better. Vittorio Gassman is very young here and gives a virtuoso performance as the villain, while Raf Vallone, vying with him in villainy, turns out ultimately sympathetic after all. The strength of the film is in its dramatic quality, the drama is almost operatic in constantly more striking effects, and all the scenes in the rice magazine are a joy to behold for the cineast. The film is slightly outdated today, the working conditions and routines of the rice field workers are a bit obsolete in their leftist proletarian tendencies, but it's a great drama and film. Silvana Mangano was only 19 at the time, this film made her a star forever, but with time it becomes more obvious that it is Doris Dowling's film more than hers.