Give Us This Day

Give Us This Day presented a movie based on, but very different from the book Christ in Concrete. The focus shifted entirely from a boy and his struggles to provide for the family, to the father of the household and his story before the boy ever had to take over the family business. In my opinion this lost all the sentimentality and intensity of the novel. Geremio’s struggle in the film did not nearly seem as pressurized at that of his family in the book. He only has three children, becomes foreman, and only has to worry about his promise of buying his wife a home. Geremio’s character in the film is not nearly as likeable as his own wife is rather indifferent to his death, whereas in the novel her devastation from his death is heartbreaking.

I was curious as to why they would make such dramatic distinctions between these too. The story very obviously seemed to lie with Paul, even for the film. However, I think an important thing to remember is that a film must call for an audience. In 1949, much like the Man in the Grey Flannel Suit, a large audience was the workingman and the struggle to survive in an indifferent world. Three children appeals much more to the average American workingman than eight would. Furthermore the need of a mistress and the stresses between home and working life are highlighted because these are the stresses men of the time feel.

In the novel Pietro di Donato was simply trying to relate experiences he had as a boy and the culture and hardships he had to endure. The audience was not as obvious, save for those who experienced similar tragedies during the Depression. Yet films need to relate to something. In this case they chose the working class man. In such a way, the filmmakers needed to abandon Donato’s voice and experience in favor of relation to an audience.