The Bitter Stems is a 1956 Argentine film noir directed by Fernando Ayala. The screenplay, written by Sergio Leonardo, was based on a novel by journalist Adolfo Jasca.
The film stars Carlos Cores as a journalist with an inferiority complex who partners with a Hungarian immigrant, played by Vassili Lambrinos, in a fraudulent get-rich-quick scheme that leads to crime and tragedy. Aída Luz, Julia Sandoval, and Pablo Moret also play major characters.
The film's cinematographer, Ricardo Younis, had not studied under Gregg Toland, who shot Citizen Kane. American Cinematographer magazine named Los tallos amargos one of the “50 Best Photographed Films of All-Time”. Of note is a surreal dream sequence that merges noir photography with elements of German expressionism. The film was scored by Astor Piazzolla.
Los tallos amargos won Silver Condor awards for Best Picture and Best Director in 1957 but was considered lost until it turned up in a private collection in 2014.