13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
My childhood favorite, November 28, 2003
Even as a child I loved the sometimes outrageously funny, sometimes deeply moving tales of Italian village priest Don Camillo and his (seemingly) fiercely atheistic counterpart, communist mayor Peppone. Don Camillo's unorthodox approach to religion includes frequent arguing with Jesus, who does not always approve of Don Camillo's unusual ways to convince his stubborn parishioners. French actor Fernandel was, in my eyes, a perfect Don Camillo with his punishing fists and boat sized feet that could silence opposition with just one step.
Since in my native country all movies are dubbed I do not share the purist opinion that foreign movies should only be seen with subtitles. Wenn there is a more complicated dialogue subtitles do not cover the contents of what is being said. And many people shy away from the strenuous task of having to divide their attention between pictures and subtitles, probably one of the reasons why average Americans do not seem to be much interested in seeing foreign movies...
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14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Wonderful movie - but dubbed..., October 22, 2003
Don Camillo movies were my favourites, when I was a child and as an adult I've found new things to love. Fernandel's is the classic clown's face, strecthing from comical to deeply human, scarred with compassion and sadness. I cannot imagine anyone else to carry Don Camillo's robes, he had the physical appearance and the right kind of personality. It's been odd to see him in different movies since then - but always a pleasure.
Gino Cervi, the mayor Peppone is also great, his physique is stiffer, bulkier, his face is also stiffer - a perfect communist-mechanic, earnest and passionate but slow, Don Camillo's opponent, on the surface thoroughly different but inside very much like him. An explosive pair, that also gets things done in the little town by the river Po, where summers are so hot, that people's brains get heated up from time to time, as Guareschi often says in his books, which are the basis for these movies. There are at least five of them altogether, though Amazon now has only one. In one of them Don Camillo disguises himself as a communist and travels to Soviet Union with Peppone's group. Books can be found on Zshops, get some and have fun.
Movies are based on Guareschi's short stories, so they usually don't have a very consistent story (except the one, where they travel to Soviet Union), but they are very well put together, with a clever narration leading the story. And the action is delicious: from little things action builds up and suddenly the whole town is on the move, everyone fighting everyone and Don Camillo and Peppone in the middle leading their troups and in the quiet moments continuing the argument by themselves. This is the priest, who sounds his church bells, when communists are having speeches on the town square, and who asks Jesus for a permission to hit the communist mayor, who is kneeling down to a prayer in front of him. And when Jesus reminds, that his hands are meant for blessing, he realizes: "But my feet aren't!" And with His permission he kicks. And this is the mayor, who wants his baby baptized as Lenin and in the dark of the night attacks the priest and paints his behind red... (read the books!)
I also love the black and white pictures in these movies, they are so 50's and very Italian. And though Orson Welles is wonderful, I almost dropped my stars from five to three. I missed the original narrator's and the actors' voices and the fluent, energetic, passionate, fast Italian, that really creates the feeling of these movies. But I couldn't do it to Fernandel and Cervi, four stars is bad enough. But I'm hoping that Amazon gets more Don Camillo movies - with subtitles! Maybe some day they are finally relesed on DVD's...
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Movies from the past, May 6, 2007
This is a delightful gem of delicate humour. The acting is excellent. It depicts a backstage view of wartime in a small Italian village. Two camps have emerged - the church and its followers, the Communists and its followers. Each group has its strong leaders, who are both friends and rivals. They disagree constantly but their friendship is deeper than politics.
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