A Tragic Hunt (aka The Tragic Pursuit)

After working with Visconti on Ossessione, for his debut De Santis focused on the countryside as centre of the social struggle. A gang steals the state subsidy for an agricultural cooperative and the community decides to hunt them down, in this lyrical portrait of rural culture influenced by American and Soviet cinema. Look out for the memorable scene with people dancing to the music of Glen Miller on a train speeding through the fields.

35mm courtesy of Cinecittà.