NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Flicker Alley Blu-ray (February 2024): Flicker Alley transferred Fernando Ayala's The Bitter Stems to Blu-ray. It is cited that "a gorgeous new print of The Bitter Stems (Los tallos amargos) was created, by the UCLA Film & Television Archive, from the reconditioned original negative". Much of the image quality is impressive - kudos to Ricardo Younis' shadow-infused cinematography - although there are inconsistencies - strangely, fames at the end of scenes are inordinately soft, heavy speckles and frame-specific damage marks (see samples below) are visible. I imagine that the restoration was at the mercy of the surviving elements but I am highly pleased with the film, its grain support and imperfect HD presentation.  

NOTE: We have added 70 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, Flicker Alley use a DTS-HD Master mono track (24-bit) in the original Spanish language. The Bitter Stems has some aggression that is mostly cloaked by the wonderful score by Astor Piazzolla (Happy Together, Le pont du Nord), fusing jazz and classical music - sounding slightly compromised - the soundtrack remained lost so the restoration utilized the track from the director's 16mm print. Flicker Alley offer optional English subtitles on their Region FREE Blu-ray.

The Flicker Alley Blu-ray offers a new commentary by one of our favorites - film historian Imogen Sara Smith (author of In Lonely Places: Film Noir Beyond the City.) She talks about how the film was almost completely unknown in the US and most other parts of the world. The Bitter Stems was almost lost and is a treasure that has been rescued from oblivion. Imogen observes many details and noir tropes within this exceptionally darkly themed film. It's another strong commentary from one of the best. Flicker Alley include another introduction by author, film historian, and “noirchaelogist” Eddie Muller plus there is a dozen-minute recorded conversation with Argentine film archivist and historian Fernando Martín Peña plus a 17-minuite profile (The Bitter Ecstasy of Astor Piazzolla) of legendary composer, bandoneon player, Astor Piazzolla by author and film historian Steven C. Smith (A Heart at Fire's Center: The Life and Music of Bernard Herrmann.) The package has a souvenir booklet featuring rare photos, posters, etc., with an essay by María Elena de las Carreras (Hollywood Goes Latin: Spanish-Language Cinema in Los Angeles.) The package has a second disc DVD of the feature an extras.

Fernando Ayala's The Bitter Stems is  a brilliant noir. American Cinematographer magazine named it one of the “50 Best Photographed Films of All-Time” and it was voted as one of "The 100 Greatest Films of Argentine Cinema". So a 35mm negative of The Bitter Stems was rediscovered (it turned up in a private collection in 2014) and a big thank you to Flicker Alley and the diligent efforts of the Film Noir Foundation for bringing it to Blu-ray. It has deception, murder, guilt, jealousy, tortured psychology, morality and one of the cooler facets of the film is a shadowy dream sequence of money + World War II nightmares - with artsy elements of delightful German expressionism. I think this is in the top 10 of film noirs released outside of USA - which is saying a lot. Plus, if you require more, it has a commentary by Noir-Queen Imogen Sara Smith, souvenir booklet and more! Our highest recommendation.

Gary Tooze