Lessons from Don Camillo

I rewatched a favorite movie recently.

The Little World of Don Camillo is an adaptation of a wonderful novel by Giovanino Guareschi. It tells the story of a traditional Italian country priest in the Po Valley and his rivalry with the town's Communist mayor, Pepone. The novel and the film aren't well-known un the English speaking world but they ought to be. They are beautifully acted and photographed and Guareschi's stories are wise and warm-hearted without ever becoming trite.

Don Camillo and Pepone's rivalry dominated the episodic stories. It would have been easy for this to be a one-sided thing with a heroic priest facing down the heartless Communist, or the heroic mayor standing up to the superstitious, out of touch, and reactionary cleric. But Guareschi has done something that is subtler, more honest, and ultimately more satisfying. He has made his characters human.

Don Camillo is a wise and compassionate man who is also opinionated and pig[headed with a terrible temper and an un-priestly fondness for fist-fights. Peppone is equally short tempered and pig-headed and is, if anything, more doctrinaire in his Communism than Camillo is in his Catholicism. Yet both men are united by the fact that they care deeply for their community, and each grudgingly respects the other for his compassion. Their ideas of how to help differ radically, but they are both driven by a desire to do good for the people. It makes for a toughing and sometimes hilarious relationship.

The minor characters are often so caught up in being "right" that they show neither kindness nor respect to those who differ from them. They are as opinionated and self-righteous as Camillo and Pepone at their worst, but lack their great-heartedness. Then there is the voice of Christ. Don Camillo often has private conversations with this voice.

Guareschi's Christ doesn't make ideological proclamations or encourage Camillo to smite the unrighteous. It is a non-judgmental voice that gently reminds the priest that he doesn't have all the answers. Through the conversations with Christ, Don Camillo (rather grudgingly) he becomes humbler, more forgiving, and more understanding of the people he disagrees with.

I really find the movie's use of these values as an answer to the bitter political, religious and economic divisions of post-war Italy both comforting and instructive. We live in an age of bitter debates. The lessons Don Camillo teaches about the values of humility, honesty, respect, and above all compassion are invaluable right now.