My mind, it is now officially hopelessly corrupted by fandom

[tree_and_leaf]

I have been, while ineffectually trying to mend the lining of a pair of trousers (the seat has more or less given up the ghost), watching Don Camillo and Peppone, a charming 1952 film of the short stories about the hot-tempered village priest and the equally temperamental Communist mayor, former comrades in the partisans and current ideological enemies, checked only by the comments of Christ - and the fact that they both, deep down, know that they only want the best for their village.

Anyway: there's a scene fairly early on where a house catches fire. It's actually the site of a Communist arms cache, as both Peppone and Don Camillo know - Peppone because he put it there, and Don Camillo because he stumbled on it and laid the fire. However, they both want to go and look as if they're investigating, so that the village won't think that the Church/ the Party is represented by cowards, and they advance cautiously side by side towards the fire. Then, there is an explosion, and they leap round, take hands and run away. And I found myself thinking, if there was a Don Camillo fandom, there'd so be slash about that.

Later there's a scene where Don Camillo is persuaded to bless the new village centre, and has to stand and give his approval to a very Communist speech by Peppone. He's forced to say a few unwilling words so as not to lose face - and then Peppone seizes his hand, shakes it, and doesn't let go of it for something like two minutes. Also, there's a very odd fight scene - odd, because for some reason we aren't shown any of the actual fighting - where Peppone ends up flat on his back with one foot tied up in the salley of a bell, whereupon he decides to have his baby christened Liberia Camillo rather than Liberia Lenin (poor infant!)

I blame Doctor Who fandom and the whole hand-porn thing.† (Actually, the scene where they're running away from the fire looked rather like a scene from early Doctor Who, specifically Two and Jamie). I'm not going to go and write Don Camillo slash, because (a) I can't see it as more than very, very UST and (b) it would make me feel dirty, and not in a good way (fond memories of childhood reading, and also I'm not into adultery stories and don't like the Thornbirds motif...) - but I rarely see slash, even where other people are adamant about it, so this was a new and confusing experience.

Eta: † A technical term in Who-fandom, at least on LJ, and not as filthy as it sounds. See explanation in comments....

Comments

[carlanime.livejournal.com]

Hand porn?

[tree_and_leaf]

Haven't you come across those Doctor Who icons with a close up of a companion's hand in the Doctor's (it usually seems to be Rose, but I've seen one that appears to be a man's hand in black and white and appears to be Jamie's) with the caption "Hand Porn"?

Nothing really disturbing, honest!

[carlanime.livejournal.com]

*laughs* That's disturbing enough, really, but thankfully disturbing in a less lurid way than I'd been imagining.

[parrot-knight.livejournal.com]

I hadn't; but I am a fan of the old school often left bewildered by the modern world.

[tree_and_leaf]

Actually, that's more than half the case for me, too, but I think I may have seen more of the new fandom world than you have. I'm not sure if I'm glad of that, mind!

I love the icon, by the way. Is it stealable?

[parrot-knight.livejournal.com]

Go ahead - it's perhaps my favourite line from The Tomb of the Cybermen,

[jtree.livejournal.com]

Actually Troughton and Hines (Two & Jamie that is) had a somewhat dirty sense of humour as it was. Or as least surprisingly so, considering the oh-so-innocent context of the show at the time. And believe me, fandom has enough strangeness to rightly bewilder anyone.

(But yes, that's a lovely Troughton icon you got there.)


Oh my, Don Camillo.. I remember watching him years ago. I do wish they would show those again where I live. How strange that you would take note of such a thing. :)
Still, I must say I hadn't heard of the stories, oddly. That's interesting.

[parrot-knight.livejournal.com]

Having been reading interviews with Troughton and Hines for nearly thirty years, and seen Hines reminisce about his driving Troughton to see Troughton's several families, I'm aware of the 'dirty sense of humour' - "These are Miss Waterfield's [Watling's] - I'd know them anywhere!" and so on. Internet fandom has brought conceptual leaps which weren't made in the old male-dominated Who world of print fanzines and local groups where what DWM printed was law...

[fpb.livejournal.com]

I wish you hadn't written that, because I now worry how I will be looking at these stories in the future. Mind you, Guareschi was a very worldly guy with few illusions, and if he did not use homosexual characters, it was because he was not interested, but not because he was naive. At any rate, Don Camillo and Peppone are a big enough and old enough part of my life that I don't think the silly fantasies of a lot of teenage girls will affect them too much. Incidentally, if you are interested, I translated into English three previously unpublished DC stories on my blog.

[tree_and_leaf]

Sorry - I didn't mean to traumatise you. Though personally, I think that I have the stories so firmly in my head that an impression in the films won't affect them (I don't see it in the stories - it's how the actors are playing it)

I didn't know you'd made translations, I'd like to read them. Can I find them via tags, or could you give me a link?

[fpb.livejournal.com]

http://fpb.livejournal.com/11412.html
http://fpb.livejournal.com/209726.html
http://fpb.livejournal.com/274792.html

Actually, I should do more - there are literally hundreds of beautiful untranslated items - but I'm lazy.

[tree_and_leaf]

Thank you! Will have a look when I've done a bit more work...

[helflaed.livejournal.com]

Thank you- they are wonderful translations, and I particularly enjoyed the third one.

[carlanime.livejournal.com]

And I've meant to thank you for that, actually--I'd never have heard of these, if it weren't for you.

Sorry about the threadjumping, tree_and_leaf.

[tree_and_leaf]

No worries - politeness is always welcome round here!

The stories are brilliant; I grew up on them, though it did have the slightly worrying consequence that for years that was my picture of modern Italy....

[dreamer-marie.livejournal.com]

Ah, Don Camillo... That takes me back to my childhood all right...

[tree_and_leaf]

They never made it over to Britain, so this is the first time I've seen them - but I read the stories growing up and adored them.

[helflaed.livejournal.com]

Did you like the radio 4 series?

[tree_and_leaf]

There was a R4 series? How did I miss that?

[helflaed.livejournal.com]

I don't think it is on listen again at the moent , as this http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/littleworldofdoncamillo/pip/1yqsz/ is all I was able to find, but it is very well made and acted. Radio 4 had the inspired idea of casting actors with Yorkshire accents, which seems to work very well.

[tree_and_leaf]

That sounds good! (Did Christ have a Yorkshire accent, too? if they made him middle class, I shall be most disappointed).

[helflaed.livejournal.com]

No- it wasn't regional, but wasn't exactly middle class either.

[wuglet.livejournal.com]

That is the first Doctor Who reference I understood without having to look it up. I'm a tiny bit proud, although I probably should be worried. ;)

I've only ever seen the Don Camillo and Peppone films, they are so great! Definitely a major part of my childhood as well.

[tree_and_leaf]

The stories are charming too - I didn't actually know the films existed until a friend lent them me a few weeks ago.

That is the first Doctor Who reference I understood without having to look it up. I'm a tiny bit proud, although I probably should be worried. ;)

I think I'm worried that that's the first one you understood on your behalf, yes. Oh, modern fandom ;)

[wuglet.livejournal.com]

"I think I'm worried that that's the first one you understood on your behalf, yes. Oh, modern fandom ;)"

Well, I simply didn't watch Doctor Who before I came to England. I think the older series wasn't even shown in Germany, and the modern one just about started.
I do realise though I have a lot to catch up. ;)

[overconvergent.livejournal.com]

I am now slightly broken by the concept of handpr0n; thanks, I think.

[tree_and_leaf]

Sorry. And that wasn't the bit that I was conscious might be disturbing....

[themolesmother.livejournal.com]

Oh Don Camillo! I loved those books. My mother had a couple in her collection and I tracked the rest down in the library. I've never seen the films. Are they any good?

MM

[fpb.livejournal.com]

They are excellent. Visually they are fabulous, all in black and white with the photographic magic that people knew how to evoke in those days, the scripts are funny, and the actors - Fernandel as Don Camillo and Gino Cervi as Peppone - are the best France and Italy could produce at the time. Guareschi himself said that although he could never have envisaged Fernandel as his creation before the movies, as soon as he saw him in action he could not imagine anyone else.

[tree_and_leaf]

Fernandel doesn't look the way I would have expected Don Camillo to look either - but he's very good in the role.

[helflaed.livejournal.com]

I am ashamed to say that I pinched may parents' copies...

I think I have all the ones translated into English, but my husband has some different ones which have been translated into german.

[grondfic.livejournal.com]

There was a tv series once too. I can't remember who played Camillo, but Peppone was Brian Blessed.

I'm sorry you reminded me of these! Now I shall be thinking plotbunnies and trying desperately to get hold of the books again.

[tree_and_leaf]

You know, now you mention that, I knew that. Though I've never seen it, but one of the books my parents had was a tie-in edition, with Peppone and Camillo arm-wrestling on the back.

[wellinghall.livejournal.com]

If you are a Don Camillo fan, you ought to talk to camillofan

[nineveh-uk.livejournal.com]

I'm afraid that the first time I heard of Don Camillo was a week or so ago in the Guardian TRavel section...

[helflaed.livejournal.com]

Ooooooh - read some!

[nineveh-uk.livejournal.com]

I'm certainly tempted.

[helflaed.livejournal.com]

Give in to the temptation- you won't regret it.

[tree_and_leaf]

Seconded!

[fpb.livejournal.com]

Listen. In this very thread you have the links to three Don Camillo stories translated by me, free of charge. Don't stop worrying if you can afford it or find it, just go, read, and tell me if they aren't good.

[fpb.livejournal.com]

(Sorry. I tried to delete this damn response as should be possible, but the computer simply did nothing. So I am editing it to apologize for being there when it should not be.)

[rivrea.livejournal.com]

I'm not going to go and write Don Camillo slash...

Isn't your birthday coming up soon? I could some as a present for you! Nah, just kidding, don't worry. I don't know the canon nearly well enough (although I do remember enjoying the movies quite a lot as a child), and I certainly wouldn't wish to traumatize you. However, this post made my "Feierabend" a lot funnier, and you know that this comment of yours has probably jinxed some Camillo/Peppone slash into existence, don't you? :)