Ermanno Olmi's penultimate feature film, _Il villaggio di cartone_ encapsulates much of the essence of the message the director embraces from the Catholic religion. A message of brotherly love, of hope, of civilisation that we have come to know in most of his works. The story that follows the thread of this film is potentially very good. A story of redemption and rebirth, in a context where the values so dear to a good part of Italy of the first Republic creak in the face of modern challenges. Unfortunately, however, the message is embedded in a too dark and chaotic context, the end result of which does not do justice to Olmi's height. All this leaving aside the questionable choice of having the protagonist, an Italian priest, played by the Parisian Michael Lonsdale.