The Little World of Don Camillo

A small town on the Po plain: Don Camillo the priest and Peppone the communist mayor are permanently at odds. The fight runs sometimes through words and sometimes through fists, but both belong to the same town and back each other when it matters. The film is not interested in political debate. It is interested in the fact that the two sides of postwar Italy had to live on the same street: church and party cannot be rid of each other here any more than they could in life. The scenes in which Don Camillo talks to the figure of Christ are the film's conscience mechanism; the figure keeps putting him in his place. The form is light and episodic, proceeding like a collection of stories, which is what the source is: the short stories of Giovannino Guareschi. Julien Duvivier directed. Fernandel plays Don Camillo and Gino Cervi plays Peppone, and the pairing was successful enough to turn into a series, with several sequels following. Who it is for: viewers who like fifties Italian popular comedy and double acts. Who it is not for: anyone expecting political edge. The film softens both sides and keeps the real tension of the period at the level of comedy.