The Mill on the Po

Il Mulino del Po was based on a novel by Riccardo Baccheli. Essentially an elaborate retelling of the old story about a pair of young lovers kept separated by family rivalries, the film is distinguished by its evocative location photography and tight, mathematically precise editing. Director Alberto Lattuada also manages to insert what one historian has labelled his "progressive ideology" into the proceedings. The romantic plotline is placed in context within the events leading up to the famous Po Valley farmers' strike of 1876; characteristically, Lattuada offers a topical political slant to the facts at hand. As in his other neorealist exercises, Lattuada manages to bridge the gap between "art" and box-office appeal in Il Mulino del Po.