The Bitter Stems

An Argentinian film noir from 1956. Presented a couple of weeks ago as part of TCM's Noir Alley (& whose host Eddie Muller was one of the champions in saving the lost classic) which details a man's greed overwhelming his soul. Down Argentine way, a reporter, played by Carlos Cores, who's barely making ends meet runs into an opportunistic foreigner who works at a bar who sells him on a scheme to fleece readers of their money for a correspondence school scam but after a while the idea of having to separate the wad begins to weigh on Cores so one night he takes a hammer to his partner's head, burying him in his home's garden. As time passes & his partner's son shows up out of the blue (who also begins a romance w/his daughter), the tale takes a turn for the Hitchcockian (& even shades of Edgar Allan Poe as every time Cores looks out his window to his garden, there the dead body lies) w/great camera set-ups & cinematography (according to the notes I've read on the movie, this film's DP taught the peerless Gregg Toland back in the day) & an ending which would shame purported American noirs of the period (the Hays code demanded the bad guy get his). The title's translation is "The Bitter Stems" by the by.

"And we decided to celebrate our end like the doomed in the movies do."

I loved the look and feel of this Argentinian noir, with its flashbacks, surreal dream sequences, and segues into the inner thoughts of its main character. Instead of a femme fatale we get a tragic figure (Aída Luz), and instead of everything coming apart because of a con game, we get drama out of misunderstanding and paranoia. These are basically good people, driven to dark places by economic desperation, with the post-war conditions in Europe looming as a distant backdrop. I wasn't completely sure about the ending, as the digging wouldn't have to be too deep and the guy should have known it (being vague here on purpose), but I loved how brutally grim it was. Overall, a very satisfying film.

I am glad i found out about this movie. This is not a hidden gem but it's a good, maybe very good, crime/drama-film noir and every fan of this genre will probably like it. It doesn't even need to be a big fan of this genre, because all the elements of a good movie are here. Very good actors, a clever script, a very good director, nice cinematography and overall, an interesting-at least- movie.

I can't say i understood well the whole thing about this fraudulent operation of them. Maybe it was lost in translation. But the movie doesn't depend on this either way. Probably the biggest quality here is the script, this movie works better as a character study. The protagonist is a veey interesting character. And if you pay attention to his motives and his whole psyche, everything that he does is explainable. Not justified of course, but viewer can see the reasons.

It's getting gradually better and the last 20-30 minutes are the best part of this movie. I loved the fact that i couldn't see where it goes even though old movies are usually great but mostly predictable. The ending was very powerful if you catch the symbolisms. I didn't but i read some reviews and i understood this movie better.

The Argentinian movie Los tallos amargos (1956) was directed by Fernando Ayala. Carlos Cores portrays a journalist who forms an unlikely alliance with a Hungarian immigrant, played by Vassili Lambrinos. They open a fraudulent journalism correspondence school. All goes well until mistrust and jealousy intrude.

The acting in the movie is outstanding, and we are treated to a film score by the great Argentinian composer Astor Piazzolla.

We saw this movie at the wonderful Dryden Theatre at the George Eastman Museum in Rochester. Congratulations to the Dryden for screening this film in its original 35mm format. Los tallos amargos was considered lost until a 35mm negative was found and restored by the UCLA Film & Television Archive.

This movie might not be for everyone, but if you love film noir, this is the movie for you.

"Los tallos amargos" is a great example of film noir released out of USA. Following the tradition of classic Hollywood (the most brillant time in the history of cinema), this picture tell us the story of a poor journalist who, trying to make easy money, begins to work with an hungarian inmigrant. They start a fake journalism school and soon their pockets are full of dirty money. When the journalist begins to have suspects on your partner, the plot will become most than interesting. A perfect movie, a very good story. A picture that looks like any american film of that time. 9 out of 10.

EXTRA: When the A.F.I. chose the 100 bests cinematography of all time, this argentine movie was in the list among titles like "Citizen Kane" (!)