Mill on the Po

Mill on the Po could have been an excellent dramatization of the conflicts between Italian landlords and tenant farmers at the end of the nineteenth century. Recalling the first formulation of agricultural unions in the Po valley, it is a sharp, artistic portrait of the worker and his overlord. Each wrestles with the other to retain his inherited rights; yet it is clear that both are being beaten by rapid industrialization which forces everyone to abandon the traditional methods in order to survive. For two thirds of the movie each faction moves nearer and nearer to the inevitable clash. But, unaccountably, just at the point of pitched battle the cameras leave their social drama in the dust of a town square and turn their lens on a tragic but relatively uninteresting love story.

Actually, this sub-plot moves throughout the picture. In the context of the larger plot, however, the lives of the two young people reflect the forces moving in their immediate environment and intimately clarify the effects of the struggle. But without this context, the romance loses all significance, seems out of place, and only succeeds in marring the film's many excellent aspects.

Aldo Tonti's camera work is especially impressive. Besides selecting the most scenic views of the river and fields, Tonti worked very closely with director Alebrto Latuado, reporting the mood of the action in the composition and contrast of each shot. His delicate photographs of the lined, emotive peasant faces make effective close-ups.

Mill on the Po can also boast the intelligent, graceful performances of Carla del Poggio and Jacques Sernas who play the couple. They are the victims of the class war. Sernas, an intelligent youth, wants to accept the new conditions and learn to manipulate the new machines, but cannot do so without opposing his family and friends who cling stubbornly to tradition. In his failure to arrange a compromise we see the meaning of the film--the defeat of both sides to the new age.

One bad mistake the producers of this film made was printing too many subtitles. Especially in scenes of mob violence, shouts and oaths need no explanation. Many translations are mere banalities.