Le petit monde de Don Camillo (Don Camillo und Peppone)

One of the greatest successes of European cinema and one of its most beautiful popular classics. No other film has shaped the image of (rural) post-war Italy as much as this adaptation of Giovannino Guareschi's episodic books and their sequels. In a small town in the Po Valley, ideologically motivated confrontations take place between the Catholic priest Don Camillo (Fernandel in his signature role) and the communist mayor Peppone (Gino Cervi with a Stalin moustache). Despite all the fisticuffs, the lovable adversaries have to realize that they are more alike than they would like. Julien Duvivier, a French director with a wealth of experience, was brought in for the comedy co-production to avoid accusations of political bias: He enriches the enchanting and humorous portrait of a small world with subtle atmospheric painting. We are showing the French original, which was made in parallel to the Italian version, has some differences and served as a template for the German dubbed versions - today's digital versions, on the other hand, are based on the Italian version. A rare opportunity! (Christoph Huber)

Photo: Austrian Film Museum