SO FAR, we have ignored a vitally important aspect of Mangano’s career as a screen star: Her marriage in 1949, at age 19, to one of Europe’s greatest film producers (or one of the greatest film producers ever to exist), Dino de Laurentiis. It was de Laurentiis — a multi-millionaire who rose from poverty by making his own spaghetti in Naples to eventually become one of Italy’s richest industrialists — who bank-rolled or produced Mangano’s first great film, ‘BITTER RICE’ in 1949, and many more.

Benevolent producer
The unsung hero (or heroine) behind the existence of countless films is the producer, without whose interest, dedication, and money no film-script, adapted novel, no director, cast and crew could realise a cinematic project, get paid, break even, and even make a profit.
At the same time, the producer obviously has to be educated, highly literate and cultured enough to comprehend and appreciate the value of an artistic project presented. He or she has to accept the often different logic proven by what artists offer, and resist the temptation to demand, support or propagate only views he is already acquainted with.
De Laurentiis proved himself to be an adventurous, outstanding, and highly successful film producer who kept many challenging artists — Italian and foreign —  alive with his money, and gave the world a succession of unforgettable films of the highest quality, right up to 1997’s ‘BREAKDOWN’, directed by Jonathan Mostow.

The independent producer
The self-reliant film producer, by being independent of institutions, academies, universities, Foundations and the State, whether in publishing, art administration, etc, is also professionally independent of vested interests, where the arts can be judged and accepted only as appendages or supplements to devised a priori official directions and policies.
Such a situation is comparable to a barometer gauging a nation and society’s democratic freedom. If such artists are not allowed to function through the promotion of independent producers, that signals a blockade to artistic and intellectual freedom.

Mangano’s artistic freedom
Mangano’s appearance in several films with an obvious indifference to commercialized ‘entertainment’ can be attributed to the fact that they were produced by her husband, de Laurentiis. But unlike the mere glamour often implied by such a personal relationship, Mangano’s film roles were serious and sheltered by freedom to act without pandering to  pressures and demands other than artistic ones, the result of her husband’s equally un-commercialized production money.
In this context then, the free enterprise system, whether in Italy or America, proved it can lead to the production of thoughtful, high-quality social films, not just box-office popcorn-swilling fantasy rubbish; yet it has been noted that de Laurentiis never ended up with a film that failed to enter the black, despite its unconventionality.
One such film of quality was the double-titled ‘THIS ANGRY AGE’ or ‘THE SEAWALL’ of 1958, rarely seen today, but a gem. It was taken from a ‘New Novel’ by IndoChina-born writer, Marguerite Duras, who, in fact, had more than once written this semi-autobiographical story of a French Indo-Chinese mother, her son and lover (Mangano) trying to survive the destruction of their rice fields from encroaching flood.
Duras’ sharp advanced writing, descriptive and cinematic, goes beyond literature as transcribed speech; her carefully written words convey what is not said, and her writing evaporates into visual thoughts.
The film, directed by the poetic Rene Clement, was shot in Thailand, where Mangano joined her co-star, Anthony Perkins. It was the type of film which continued the relevance of her earlier ‘Bitter Rice’ to faraway tropical nations, and it is significant that Perkins, after completing ‘This Angry Age/The Seawall’, flew to the jungles of British Guiana and the remote river town of Bartica to start filming ‘GREEN MANSIONS’, which, for the first time, showed the famous Kaiteur Falls in glorious Technicolor to the world’s film fans.
Mangano’s subtle use of her film roles to project the human spirit beyond her specific nationality, like a parallel identity, was strengthened by her love for contemporary art, such as the renowned modern sculptor, Brancusi, who drew on the most rustic folk and ‘primitive’ art forms to manifest the evolution of contemporary social values.