There are a couple of scenes in the first Don Camillo that make me cry all the times, be it from laughter or emotion. In one, Don Camillo is summoned by the Bishop for having taken part to a fight. He allegedly threw a big table into a bunch of ‘red’ civilians who were making fun of him, knocking all fifteen of them out barehanded. More incredulous than irate at the Reverend’s misconduct, the Bishop asks him to lift his desk to prove that what they say is true and that he acted alone. Almost effortlessly, Don Camillo grabs the bulky piece of furniture and raises it above his head. ‘Now throw it!’ Says the Bishop amazed. Don Camillo hesitates, then obeys. The desk crashes on the floor noisily, making a huge painting fall from the wall. A couple of assistants rush alarmed into room to check that His Excellency hasn’t been hurt. ‘Nothing happened, it was me,’ says candidly the old Bishop. ‘Don Camillo made me angry and I temporary lost my temper.’
Later in the film, the old teacher is on her deathbed. Knowing to have reached the end of her days, she has called Peppone and Don Camillo to make arrangements for her funeral. She has taught to everybody in the village and deserves a particular regard. On her coffin, she would like to have the Italian flag. Not the current republican one, but that of the recently deposed king. Confident she will have her final wish granted, she passes. The following day, the matter is discussed by the municipality. Most of the councillors are firmly against it. ‘As mayor,’ says Peppone, ‘I completely support your position. But in this town,’ he continues, ‘the communists rule, not the council, and as a communist I say that this dead is worth more than all of you alive. She will have the flag that she wanted.’ Then he turns towards Don Camillo, who’s silently enjoying the moment. ‘Unless the reverend has anything to add.’ ‘I will go with whatever the mayor decides!’
It might not be flawless from a strictly cinematographic point of view, but if there’s a film that more than others made me fall in love with cinema, it is right Don Camillo. Guareschi’s dissecting eye is so sharp and accurate to make the famed transpositions to his work resonate today as they did then.
Here is one of the few perks of having grown up in a remote time before streaming existed.
As an aside, I had never noticed that Don Camillo wears a pair of Doc Martens just like mine. Ante and post litteram skinheads, say.
