The Small Miracle

The setting is a small Italian village - the story is of a small boy and his sick donkey. The boy believes that God can make his donkey well again and tries to take his donkey into the local church. When the priest refuses permission, the boy hitch-hikes to Rome and finally gains admission to the Vatican where a "higher authority" irons out his problems and sends a message to the priest that the donkey be allowed a brief interlude in the Church. A delightful story, beautifully enacted, and should be re-released to enable today's children to enjoy it too.

I mean no disrespect, but my summary really is true. I am not a Catholic and didn't get a lot out of this film. However, perhaps Catholics will enjoy it far more. Keep this in mind when you watch the film.

The actor/director Vittorio De Sica stars in this film as a nice old priest who has spent his entire life in Assisi, Italy. He always seems to be annoying his very short-tempered superior (Raf Vallone). This irritation gets a lot worse when a boy named Pepino (Marco Della Cava) takes the priest's words very literally and takes an animal into the crypt of St. Francis to pray for its life. This is because St. Francis was legendary for his bond with animals and stories abound of him preaching to the animals. And, to me, taking the mouse there seems pretty reasonable. But Vallone is NOT happy and instructs Pepino never to do this again. But, when Pepino's donkey appears to be dying, he begs to get permission to bring it to the crypt. Naturally he's told no, and so he goes on a pilgrimage to Rome--to get the Pope himself to grant permission.

The problem I had with this film was not the plot. It was slight but moderately enjoyable. BUT, my problem was with Maro Della Cava. The child simply was annoying and I got very sick of hearing him yell and nag--he was VERY annoying and a terrible child actor. Fortunately, small miracles DO exist, as this was the only film appearance for this annoying brat.

But if you like religious propaganda and whiny androgynous children who couldn't act to save their Christian souls, you might just rate this a 7.8!

I saw this wonderful movie on television many years ago. I now teach Religious Education (part-time) at a State School and would dearly like to obtain a copy on video for use in the classroom. Can anyone suggest how I might do this? Thank you.