Stellead Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful

Contentar Best movie of this year hands down!

Fairaher The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

Suman Roberson It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

dlee2012 Don Camillo is, quite simply, one of the most heart-warming films ever made. Fernandel is perfectly cast in the title role, bringing Giovannino Guareschi's gentle short stories to life.The gentle humour and warm tone of the film allows it to convey its morals with nary a hint of didacticism.The comic potential of the ideological (and physical!) clashes between the fiery but lovable priest and his nemesis, the Communist mayor of the village, is fully exploited. Fernandel's facial expressions and timing are superb, as is the warmth he conveys.For those unfamiliar with the Don Camillo tales, Jesus (in the form of a crucifix on the church wall) guides (and frequently rebukes) Don Camillo, for his imperialistic attempts to try to win the hearts and minds of the villagers away from the Communist Party.Jesus literally functions as the moral adjudicator of the ideological war between the priest and the mayor, finding both equally guilty of empire-building. He frequently reminds Don Camillo of his duty to show compassion and love to his flock when Camillo becomes more interested in scoring points against the communists. It is Jesus who understands the peasants and has faith that everything will be fine in the end. Jesus understand the villagers more than they understand themselves, and shows empathy for them even when the priest feels they are insulting Him.Although ostensibly Roman Catholic, Christians of all other denominations will gain an enormous amount from watching this film. With its light touch, perfect casting and warmth, this is the perfect comedy. Very faithful to the original books, this film is highly recommended to young and old.

MartinHafer By the way, the version I watched was not dubbed but subtitled. I mention this because one of the reviewers talked about seeing a dubbed version but this was not available on the DVD I watched. And, if it had been, I would have chosen the captions regardless.I did an odd thing. I accidentally put the second Don Camillo film ahead of the first one on my Netflix queue. So I saw the second one first. This is not that bad a thing, however, as the second film recapped what happened in the first film when it began. But, because I loved the second film so much, I couldn't wait to see the first.This movie begins with the town in an uproar. It's a heavily divided town and the Communists have just won the election for mayor. The old guard is quite unhappy and the unhappiest is the town's priest, Don Camillo (Fernandel). And, through most of the film, he and the Mayor butt heads and fight like dogs. It's all quite silly but enjoyable.An odd thing about the film, just as in the second, is that Don Camillo talks to Jesus--and Jesus talks back to him through the crucifix in the church! Some might find it a bit sacrilegious, but it seemed to be handled well. Also, the town's struggles is a good microcosm of post-war Italy, as the country was strongly divided between Communists and those who wanted a right-wing republic--a problem which didn't really get resolved until the 1980s.All in all, a very good film that I enjoyed. However, please watch the next one--it gets even better.

Nicholas Rhodes I have thoroughly enjoyed all of the films I have seen made by Julien Duvivier and this one is no exception. It concerns the rivalry between the parish priest and the communist mayor of a small village somewhere in Italy. When the priest is annoyed about something, he has a verbal go at Christ on the cross in his church and, would you believe, the voice of God actually replies - or this can be interpreted as his own conscience depending on your beliefs. I did not know that the film had been made in English and learns this on reading these boards. In fact, the logical language for the film is Italian as all the action takes place in Italy so it's a bit strange to hear them all speaking in French or English. The problem is that whilst nearly all the actors in the film are Italian, the priest, Don Camillo, is played by French actor Fernandel. I think there are five or six films in the series but numbers 1 and 2 are purported to be the best. They were issued a year or so ago on DVD in a special edition which has the original Italian version with French subtitles, or the French version with a choice of English or Spanish subtitles. There are also a lot of bonuses on the DVD which teach us a lot about Italy, Gino Cervi and Fernandel. Some of the most delicious moments in the film occur when Don Camillo is complaining to God who answers him and tries to temper his anger. Fernandel had a very expressive face and was ideally suited to this character. Indeed, long after his death, the personnage of Don Camillo has even appeared on adverts for Panzani pasta and with an actor sporting a face almost identical to that of Fernandel. It appears to me that the latter was a much loved actor in France many years ago and I do admit to finding his equine countenance most endearing. The film is therefore a minor masterpiece for all those viewers sensitive to this type of character study.

cajaroso I think this is a very funny movie, Despite the fact it is a white&black film and you really can tell that it is placed on a certain time frame (end of 1940's - early 1950's), the plot is fun and universal. It gives you a glimpse of the life on a small Italian town, where simple things turns into hilarious situations, thanks to the strange relationship of friendship/rivalry between Don Camillo and Mayor Peppone. I was lucky to see the original french version (subtitled, of course) which is always better than hearing a translated version. I think that original voices -even if you do not understand the language- reveal the character's feelings, and give credibility to actor's performances. After the film, you get the impression that life is somewhat easier to cope with...