Il giardino dei Finzi Contini (1970)

Director:

Vittorio De Sica

Writers:

Giorgio Bassani (novel)
Vittorio Bonicelli (writer) ...

Release Date:

16 December 1971 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | History | War

Plot:

In the late 1930s, in Ferrara, Italy, the Finzi-Contini are one of the leading families, wealthy, aristocratic...

Plot Keywords:

Love | 1930s | Italy | Ferrara Italy | Garden

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 8 wins & 3 nominations

Cast

Lino Capolicchio	...	Giorgio
Dominique Sanda	...	Micòl Finzi Contini
Fabio Testi	...	Bruno Malnate
Romolo Valli	...	Giorgio's Father
Helmut Berger	...	Alberto
Camillo Cesarei	...	Micol's Father
Inna Alexeievna	...	Micol's Grandmother (as Inna Alexeieff)
Katina Morisani	...	Micol's Mother
Barbara Pilavin	...	Giorgio's Mother (as Barbara Leonard Pilavin)
Michael Berger
Ettore Geri
Raffaele Curi	...	Ernesto
Gianpaolo Duregon
Marcella Gentile
Cinzia Bruno	...	Young Micol

Also Known As:

The Garden of the Finzi-Continis (Canada: English title) (USA)
Der Garten der Finzi Contini (West Germany)

Runtime:

94 min

Country:

Italy | West Germany

Language:

Italian

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

France:Unrated | Australia:M | Argentina:13 | Chile:14 | Finland:S | Sweden:Btl | USA:R | West Germany:12 (w)

Filming Locations:

Ferrara, Ferrara, Emilia-Romagna, Italy

Company:

Documento Film

Quotes:

Micol Finzi-Contini: Children are always prisoners of grownups.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Yperoha plasmata: Tis Aristeras kai tis Proodou... (#1.18)" (2008)

Soundtrack:

Vivere

How Safe is Your World?

Chances are, if you are only casually aware of the world that you live in, your life imitates that of the Finzi-Continis, one of two families depicted in this film.

The beginning of de Sica's film follows the state of affairs in Italy shortly after the Fascist government of Mussolini has declared the ordinary tennis clubs off limits for Italian Jews-just the beginning for the Government's separatist stance. The Jews in town react in various ways: Giorgio, who is in love with the daughter of the Finzi-Continis, is enraged; his father his philosophical; Giorgio's brother is upset only after being sent to France to study, and later, finding out to his horror about the German concentration camps. To the Finzi-Continis, though, it doesn't really matter. They're different from the other Jews because wealth and privilege have bred them into a family as proud as it is vulnerable. They hardly seem to know, or even care, about the fact that their rights are slowly being taken away. It seems that years of prestige and social status have put them above the laws of the land.

The walled garden of the Finzi-Continis is a symbol for the false security that people retain, unaware that problems on the outside may force them into reality. The garden of the film seems to promise that nothing will change and that everything will remain the same. Interestingly, de Sica films the garden in a way that enforces this theme of false security. He never orients us visually with the rest of the city, so we can never tell how big or how small the garden is. Have you ever felt uneasy being somewhere not knowing the exact dimensions of your boundary? That's the feeling we get here with shots of the garden that seem to stretch on forever.

The Garden of the Finzi-Continis is a great film for many reasons, one of which is how it forces us to take a proactive stance regarding the world that we live in. There's nothing wrong with feeling secure but it's important to try to take an objective stance with reference to the world that we live in. And you certainly don't want to be on the outside looking in to those who have realized it already.