The Coast Guard is after him, but Squarciò (Yves Montand) is playing it cool. He just threw a stick of dynamite in the ocean so he and his sons could collect the dead fish that come floating to the surface belly-up. Times are tough for Italian fishermen, and Squarciò's only hope is to fish with explosives. The other fishermen don't approve of this unethical practice, and the new chief of the coast guard is determined to bust him.

At first glance, "The Wide Blue Road" looks like another film where kind-hearted and honest Europeans find themselves in severe financial distress and sit around the fire to strum mournful songs on their rusty guitars. They make love in the sand, they boss their wives around, and they cheer and make toasts when the new motor arrives. They name their boats "Hope," but of course the pervasive atmosphere is despair.

Visually, "The Wide Blue Road" keeps what the title promises. Scattered islands jut out into the ocean, scraggly trees overlook the barren rocks, but mainly the screen stays a bright Mediterranean blue. Just as rugged as the landscape is Yves Montand's face, furrowed with worry. For all the water and blue skies, he owns the movie with his brazen swagger and patented European cool.

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What makes "The Wide Blue Road" unique is Yves Montand's undeniable star quality, and the moral twists of his character. His story resembles that warhorse of Italian Neo-Realism, "The Bicycle Thief," but unlike Vittorio De Sica's goody-two-shoes hero Antonio Ricci, Squarciò is morally ambiguous. He brushes aside his fellow fishermen who want him to join their co-op, he ignores his wife's warnings, and he alienates his proud sons. Like a darker European version of Humphrey Bogart, he keeps only his own counsel and does what, apparently, he has to do.

Directed by Gillo Pontecorvo, famous for "The Battle of Algiers," in 1957, "The Wide Blue Road" finally sees American distribution thanks to the efforts of Jonathan Demme and Dustin Hoffman, who profess to be "madly in love" with the movie. "The Wide Blue Road" is showing at the Film Forum in New York from June 6 to June 19.

THE WIDE BLUE ROAD. Directed by Gillo Pontecorvo. Presented by Jonathan Demme and Dustin Hoffman. Italy, 1957. 99 Minutes. Milestone Films. Showing at the Film Forum, New York, June 6 - June 19.