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both sides of the totalitarian fence. I find that the labels “Fascist” and “Communist” are bandied about somewhat freely when the film is the subject of conversation. Yet it has tried, in a bitter and cynical manner it is true, to expose the fate of the average “little man” in the street when he tries to live his life peacefully in a land which is regimented by dictators. It spares no jibe at the expense of the Mussolini regime in Italy, but what it has to say can be applied, with appropriate changes of scenery and accent, to many other European, Asiatic or American countries.
The little man is a municipal clerk who, to keep his job, agrees to join “The Party” and take part in the various, faintly ridiculous, militaryexercises. His wife and daughter are enthusiastic supporters of the regime but his soldier son is not so keen, especially as his duties take him to Ethiopia and through the Italian military adventures into Russia. He is shot as the Germans are preparing to evacuate Sicily. When the Americans take over, the Mayor, as a sign of his sympathy with the democratic way of
Umberto Spadaro as Aldo Piscitello
life, dismisses the little man on the grounds that lie was a Party member. With his son dead, his job gone, his family' dispersed, his erstwhile bosses now loyal supporters of the Americans, he feels he has paid a heavy price for “freedom”. The sad thing is to reflect on the many similar victims who will fall in the wake of the eventual liberation of the totalitarian countries ; for the opportunist politician, like the poor, is always with us.
The film is extremely' well made and acted. The director has managed once again to present us with real people in real places ; not a series of puppets in a synthetic studio set. Umberto Spadaro, as the little man, is both comic and tragic ; a Chaplinesque figure of infinite pathos. He is ably supported by a team of first-class players.
One may be allowed to register a slight protest at the implication suggested by the laudatory discourse given by the parish priest at the wedding of the little man’s son. Though it is true that priests were accorded a measure of. respect under the Mussolini regime which was not the case under other, earlier governments, it is also true that, but for the firm stand made by Pius XI against the encroachments on personal and religious liberty' made by the Duce, the situation of the majority of Italians .would have been far worse than it was.
Here, then, is a film to see and enjoy and talk about. But like most other films, it is one that should not be taken without its proper pinch of salt.
V.
IL CAMMINO DELLA SPERANZA (The Road to Hope)
Starring: Raf Vallone, Elena Varzi, Saro Urzi, Franco Navarra and Liliana Lattanzi. Director: Pietro Germi. Distributors: Archway Films. Certificate : A.
Category-. B. Running time: 105 minutes.
The outburst of cinematic virtuosity which heralded the post-war Italian