The Bitter Stems

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The Bitter Stems
Theatrical release poster
Directed byFernando Ayala
Written bySergio Leonardo
Based onnovel by Adolfo Jasca
StarringCarlos Cores
Julia Sandoval
Gilda Lousek
Vassili Lambrinos
Pablo Moret
CinematographyRicardo Younis
Edited byGerardo Rinaldi
Antonio Ripoll
Music byAstor Piazzolla
Production
company
Artistas Argentinos Asociados
Release date
  • 1956 (1956)
Running time
88 minutes
CountryArgentina
LanguageSpanish

The Bitter Stems (Spanish language: Los Tallos Amargos) is a 1956 Argentine film noir directed by Fernando Ayala, one of the last films of the classical era of Argentine cinema. The screenplay, written by Sergio Leonardo, was based on a novel by journalist Adolfo Jasca.

The film stars Carlos Cores as a journalist with an inferiority complex who partners with a Hungarian immigrant, played by Vassili Lambrinos, in a fraudulent get-rich-quick scheme that leads to crime and tragedy. Aída Luz, Julia Sandoval, and Pablo Moret also play major characters.

The film's cinematographer,

German expressionism. The film was scored by Astor Piazzolla
.

Los tallos amargos won

Silver Condor awards for Best Picture and Best Director in 1957 but was considered lost until it turned up in a private collection in 2014. A 35mm version was subsequently restored by the UCLA Film & Television Archive, with funding provided by the Film Noir Foundation and Hollywood Foreign Press Association's Charitable Trust, and premiered in January 2016 at the Noir City Film Festival,[2] before playing February 2016 at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.[3]
When the film played at the TCM Classic Film Festival in Hollywood later that year, the presenter noted that while the 35mm negative was rediscovered, the soundtrack remained lost, so the restoration used the track from the director's 16mm print.

Flicker Alley released a blu-ray edition in 2021.[4]

In 2022, the film ranked 42nd in the list of The 100 Greatest Films of Argentine Cinema, a poll organized by the specialized magazines La vida útil, Taipei and La tierra quema, which was presented at the Mar del Plata International Film Festival.[5]

References

  1. ^ "Los tallos Amargos". TCM Classic Film Festival. Archived from the original on April 15, 2016. Retrieved 29 April 2016.
  2. ^ "Program for 2016 NOIR CITY Film Festival January 22-31, Pg 1". www.noircity.com. Archived from the original on 2024-04-12. Retrieved 2025-01-19.
  3. ^ "Los Tallos amargos (The Bitter Stems). 1956. Directed by Fernando Ayala". MoMA. Retrieved 29 April 2016.
  4. ^ "Los tallos Amargos". Flicker Alley. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
  5. ^ "Top 100" (in Spanish). Encuesta de cine argentino 2022. 11 November 2022. Retrieved 13 November 2022.


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