Don Camillo

Amusing and nice farce freely based on the beloved novels of Giovanni Guareschi . It deals with earthy priest Don Camillo, Terence Hill , clashes repeatedly with his friendly enemy , the communist mayor , Colin Blakely , of a tiny Italian village . Along the way , our hero talks directly to God at a village where Catholicism and Communism fight each other . Don Camillo is determined to thwart Peppone's ambitions and while Camillo ignores the recomendaciones of the Lord , at times . As Don Camillo plays cards , football , makes tricks , uses his fists but all for God's glory .

Charming , good-natured version but inferior other renditions usually starred by Fernandel and Gino Cervi . It is the hilarious all new adventure of that imprudent , impish, impossible droll character well played by Terece Hill and including other characters so perfectly drawn , giving a very true-to-life picture of the social and political scene in Italy . What makes this unusual , though is that God talks to him telling him that this is not the way to resolve troubles . While this might seem a bit sacrilegious, it seems to be actually pretty benign and God did not come off as a result . This Don Camillo 1954 is an overlong recounting , dealing with various disjointed episodes about the unusual priest , his confrontation to Peppone with obstinate duels as political as personal and relying heavily on extended soccer play . Containing a deep and strong message , religious or no about honesty , comradeship , goodness , redemption and faith . Stars Terence Hill along with Colin Blakely , both of whom give sympathetic interpretations . They are well accompanied by a decent support cast , such as Mimsy Farmer , and two veterans actors of long careers : Cyril Cusack as a bishop and Lew Ayres as a doctor . And Ross Hill , Terence's son , who unfortunately died while shooting Lucky Luke in USA . The picture was middlingly produced and directed by Terence Hill.

There are other retellings based on the uproarious book-of-the-year best selling stories by Guareschi , such as : The Little World of Don Camillo 1951 Julian Duvivier with Fernandel, Gino Cervi and Orson Welles as God . The Return of Don Camillo 1953 by Julián Duvivier . Don Camillo Monsignore 1965 by Carmillo Gallone with Fernandel , Cervi , Andrea Checchi . Don Camilo and Honorable Peppone 1965 by Carmine Gallone . Don Camillo in Moscow 1965 with Fernandel, Cervi . And The little World of Don Camillo 1981 TV series with Mario Adorf , Brian Blessed , Cryl Cusack .

In my opinion, this is possibly the best movie of Terence Hill. It's funny (the kind of funny you don't laugh loudly but you smile very often) and it is also a warm-hearted comedy with human and credible characters. I think Hill is a very good director and I like the script and the way of describing Camilo and Pepone, both with virtues and shortcomings but above all human beings fighting from opposite sides (Church vs Communism) and at the same time trying to understand each other. I really think the comparison with the films of Fernandel is not necessary, this film is made in eighties and, as another reviewer comments, the times had changed. Nice score and nice (underrated) movie.

This movie lacks the charm and the warmth of the original stories by Guareschi. Transporting the context 30 years forward into present-day (that is: 1980s) Italy was probably the right thing to do, since the distance in time wasn't big enough to film this as a period piece, but turning Don Camillo into such a cool dude rips the heart out of these stories. Mario Girotti plays the character in Trinity style, aloof, quirky, dead-pan; but this Camillo is barely recognisable as the passionately caring priest of the books. I don't think the earlier Camillo incarnation by Fernandel was right either (e.g. Fernandel's Camillo was not physical enough), but at least it exuded the required warmth.

A cool Don Camillo creates another problem: what happens with his constant little battles with Peppone and his party? Peppone's communist shenanigans are similarly toned down and as a result the antagonism between the two sides does not ring true - at least not to the extent the stories require. Thus, this film version also lacks the tension, conflict and hatred between the two camps. Perhaps there was some sensitivity here towards the American market: no children's movies with real communists in them, please!

A few changes to cater for the international market are also embarrassing: the two soccer teams are called "Angels" and "Devils" (in English!) and a couple of the songs performed in Church are in English as well. This is situated in rural Italy!

Terence Hill does a surprisingly adept job of directing this film (according to IMDB, it was his first effort behind the camera), but there isn't much of a script to support him; most of the laughs are supposed to come from seeing a priest do such "outrageous" things as cheating at cards, roller-skating in his church and organizing amateur soccer games. The spirit of the film is just too gentle for a successful satire. At 120 minutes, it's also overlong - especially since the dramatic incidents don't build out of each other. It does have a beautiful score by Pino Donaggio. (**1/2)

This is quite an atypical vehicle for Hill. Though I've never read any of the original stories, apparently they are short stories. This may explain why there is no central plot here, and there being a mass collection of vignettes instead. It may also explain why the tone of the movie is so wildly inconsistant - sometimes it's melancholy, sometimes goofy, sometimes dead serious, sometimes of a (and quite violent at times) slapstick nature. I guess it's supposed to be a comedy at its heart, but I didn't really find that much humorous about it, though there are one or two smiles here and there.