Lights, Camera, Action - films for September

7 September
The Little World of Don Camillo
(Italy, 1952)
Directed by Julien Duvivier

A small rural village in Emilia-Romagna is the battleground where the Catholic priest and Communist mayor exchange insults, punches and gunfire in a series of amusing attempts to wrest influence over the locals.
In spite of its protagonists’ rivalry, the German Film Awards named it as an Outstanding Feature Film Promoting Democratic Values.

14 September
Big Deal on Madonna Street
(France 1958)
Director: Mario Monicelli
Starring Marcelle Mastroianni,
Renato Salvatori, Claudia Cardinale

A gang of petty criminals dare to plan a heist – but their toughest obstacle is their own insurmountable ineptitude, and they shine in this character-driven film where familiar faces of Italian cinema act against the slums of Rome and a jazz score. The plot parodies straight crime films like ‘Rififi’ and ‘The Asphalt Jungle’. The director was a beacon who brought ‘la commedia italiana’ to the big screen and insisted on mining desperation, tragedy and misery to find hope through laughter.

21 September
The Fireman’s Ball
(Czechoslovakia1967) Director : Milos Forman

An event held to honour a retiring fireman descends into utter chaos in this Czech New Wave masterwork, filmed in a Communist Palace of Culture in a mountain village, with an amateur cast populated entirely by the real inhabitants and volunteer firefighters. The authorities suspected it was straying too far into satire, and its national release was delayed until the Prague Spring, and afterwards was “banned forever” while the director faced criminal charges. He moved to the USA where he would make ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest’ and ‘Amadeus’

3rd July 2012