Don Camillo

I have recently watched so many American gangster and noir films that I felt I needed something different for a change. What better than a French-Italian co-production from the immediate post-war period? It got to be 'The Little World of Don Camillo'. Fernandel plays the eponymous priest of a small town in Northern Italy who is the friend and enemy of the newly elected communist mayor 'Peppone' Bottazzi (Gino Cervi with a moustache that makes him look like Stalin). The film, set in 1946, concerns Camillo and Peppone's friendly quarrels about how best to serve their little town (the 'little world' of the title): they want the same things but differ about the best ways to get them. Director Julien Duvivier has adapted episodes from Guareschi's novel and cleverly intervove them so that they make up a charming and amusing whole: a film that's heartwarming and funny, though there are no moments when you laugh out loud. Fernandel is outstanding and Cervi does very well as his frenemy. The picture is interesting non the least because it offers a glimpse of life in post-war Italy and an insight into the political and social atmosphere of the time. Highly recommended!