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by Barbara Penny & Manos Angelakis
A Centennial Celebration for Giovannino Guareschi.
New York University’s Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimò, in conjunction with the Italian Government Tourist Board of North America and the Province of Reggio Emilia, Emilia Romagna, launched the Centennial celebration of the birth of writer, journalist, caricaturist, artist, and astute judge of human nature, Giovanni Guareschi. Screenings of films of his best-known characters Don Camillo and Peppone, receptions, and a dinner at the restaurant Colors, highlighting the province’s foods and wines, were part of the celebration.
For those of you not already familiar with Guareschi’s literary alter-ego, the irascible, contrary, and all too human parish priest Don Camillo, permit me to introduce him to you. Akin to the all-to-familiar characters of warm hearted, lovable ladies of the evening spouting the wisdom of Solomon that fills books and films, Don Camillo is the archetype of a gruff, rough and tumble man of the cloth, dispensing good deeds not with words but with actions. In matter of fact, his tongue is biting, sarcastic, and filled with irony, and his fists are always at the ready to punish the assorted miscreants. But, his heart is overflowing with compassion and understanding for his flock of mostly farm families that were born, lived their lives, and died, in a small unnamed village in Northern Italy, between the Po River and the Apennines.
 Guareschi was a student of his times. His ability to chronicle the dark passage of political confrontation in Italy post WWII between the Catholics and Stalinist-style Communists, with humor and wisdom, in the guise of Don Camillo and his antagonist Peppone, is a feat that has endeared him not only to Italians, but also to people all over the world who have endured living through “interesting times”. The Don Camillo series of books, as well as the films dating from 1951 through 1965, have been translated into numerous languages and distributed worldwide making the real village of Brescello, used in the films as Don Camillo’s parish, a well-known tourist destination.
Equally confident sparing with his adversary Peppone, the town’s Communist Mayor and his coterie of henchmen; or conversing with His Lord, who from his position on the crucifix in the village Church is the witness/conscience to the “world” of Don Camillo, the priest walks a tight rope between confrontation and contrition. Giovanni Guareschi gave us two unforgettable characters that are born of the land and whose affections run deeper then either politics or religion, but that nevertheless feel compelled to bate and taunt each other mercilessly. Politics not withstanding, Christ is the arbiter of conscience for Don Camillo and the hidden solace for Peppone and his “reds” when life intervenes with the faith-less Party Line. The books are actually a series of short vignettes of the two protagonists endlessly butting heads. Don Camillo finds a way out of each absurd conflict with the help of his Christ (or sometimes his Tommy Gun, or other armaments he has kept from his time as a partisan on the mountains during the war) mostly leaving body and spirit still intact in each man. That is, with the exception of a few bumps on the head and the occasional blackened eye. Taken together the vignettes paint a picture of the village and its inhabitants that take on a life of their own until you feel you “really know” these people.
So for those LuxuryWeb readers who missed meeting Don Camillo and his cohorts till now, do try to beg, borrow or steal (of course with the intension of returning) the first in the series “The Little World of Don Camillo”. It is a small volume with a charming introduction by Giovanni Guareschi and his description of the characters in his book.
The film screening we saw, “Il ritorno de Don Camillo” (The Return of Don Camillo) directed by Julien Duvivier in black and white, with English subtitles, is typical foreign film genre dating from 1953. Its theme revolves around the annual spring flooding of the River Po and its impact on the village and its inhabitants. Peppone has first asked and then attempted to coerce one of the landowners to “donate” a segment of his land ostensibly to build a dam against the ravages of the river. But in truth, he wants to distribute the land to the poor people of the village in keeping with the Communist redistribution of wealth program. During the fracas, the Bishop bans Don Camillo to a mountain village and returns him only at the prompting of Peppone, who - though responsible for the earlier banning - now needs Don Camillo to settle the dispute with the landowner. Humorous, outrageous competitions between the two men and other silly goings-on set the stage for the tragic flooding, forcing the town’s evacuation. The film ends on a hopeful note with the good-natured cooperation of the two men for the survival of the town and its people. Several other films in the series were screened on subsequent nights and you would be well served to attempt to see any of them… if you can find them.
Dinner was held at Restaurant Colors, that has a history of its own. Located in NoHo (north of Houston) its birth was a direct result of the tragedy of 9/ll when many of the displaced chefs from the famous “Windows on the World” joined in a cooperative venture to create a restaurant featuring multi-national fare. So it was fitting that the regional foods and wines of Provincia di Reggio Emilia, Emilia Romagna were showcased here. The dinner was prepared and served by a chef specially brought to New York City to launch this anniversary celebration.
The menu consisted of an appetizer of Prosciutto di Parma, parmesan cheese dressed with balsamic vinegar and vegetable pie (sformatto). The primo piatto was plump green herb tortelli and meat lasagna. Secondo piatto was stuffed, rolled roast veal layered over a baked potato cut in half, and a slice of savory oven-roasted suckling pig, presented on a bed of sauerkraut. Separating the two meats was a flavorful serving of sweet/tart red cabbage. Maschio dei Cavalieri, Prosecco di Valdobbiadene was served with the appetizers and the first course. It is a soft, fresh and frothy, dry and well-balanced wine, with acacia, ripe citrus, and almond-blossom aromas. We like this wine very much, and use it as our house-prosecco this year. Unfortunately, we had to rush out to make the last train home and could not stay for desert.
© May 2007 LuxuryWeb Magazine. All rights reserved.
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