The Little World of Don Camillo

[ChiO]

THE LITTLE WORLD OF DON CAMILLO (Julien Duvivier, 1952) is set in a fictional post-WWII village in northern Italy where the local Communists have just won the local election. The primary story revolves around the parish priest, Don Camillo, and the newly elected mayor, Peppone, who represent the status quo and change, respectively. Although they are ideologically opposed and in constant conflict, their relationship is longstanding and they have no hatred toward each other. Their reality is that each is incomplete and needs the other in order to be happy. The film is full of such relationships. Rather than relationships being a triad as in POIL DE CAROTTE, PANIQUE, and portions of TALES OF MANHATTAN, all are pairs: Camillo and Peppone, Camillo and Christ, the two lovers, the grandfathers of the two lovers, the retired school teacher and Peppone. And in each case the need for each other outweighs the bickering and opposition. One of the many charms of the movie is that, each time that Duvivier (also a co-writer) brings the movie's conflicts to a point where a lapse into sentimentality appears to be inevitable, he pulls back and allows the characters to have the space to remain three-dimensional.

Ideologically, the film is conservative -- whenever a conflict reaches the boiling point, the Church or other established institution wins. The "win", however, is not by greater physical might, but by the representatives of change conceding the point because of a deeply held love and respect for (or, perhaps, just a level of comfort with) those institutions. A fine film, based on what started out looking like a tired, mundane premise.

[klondike]

Duvivier is such a master of this kind of juxtaposing of character within a simple, but always shifting framework; I've only had the pleasure of seeing Don Camillo once, but its "touch" (and this is a film of great palpability) is warmly indented upon a worn & gessoed wall within my memory.
Perhaps Duvivier's greatest skill herein, or at least the one most intuitively appreciated, is his ability to bring to fruition such deep passion from such simple characters who strive to navigate past powerful forces that arise from the paths of their lives - lives at once ambitious & tired, which, although molded & altered by "modern" events, still yearn for the days of their grandparents' youth, a time more readily dictated by season & trade & family, giving this entire work, and in particular the second half, a wistful, almost melancholy feel; it's a refreshing poignancy though, sort of chianti & daisies, instead of wine & roses.
So I urge everyone, as soon as possible, to visit this "Little World"; the only passport you'll need is a quiet heart & a keen ear.