The Garden of the Finzi-Continis (1970) Il giardino dei Finzi Contini (original title)

Director:

Vittorio De Sica

Writers:

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

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 | Friend | Class | Jewish | Ferrara Italy

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 9 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
Alessandro D'Alatri	...	Young Giorgio
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Camillo Angelini-Rota	...	Prof. Ermanno Finzi-Contini
Enzo Nigro	...	Agente OVRA
Eugene Pomeroy
Joshua Sinclair		(as Gianni Loffredo)
Katina Viglietti	...	Olga Finzi-Contini
Martin Bormann	...	Himself (behind Hitler on balcony) (uncredited) (archive footage) (unconfirmed)
Rudolf Hess	...	Himself - Hitler Is Germany Speech (archive footage) (uncredited)
Adolf Hitler	...	Himself - Acknowledges Hess (archive footage) (uncredited)
Benito Mussolini	...	Himself - Watches Parade (archive footage) (uncredited)
Julius Streicher	...	Himself - Sits Beside Hitler, Partially Visible (archive footage) (uncredited)

Directed by
Vittorio De Sica

Writing credits
Giorgio Bassani		(novel)
Vittorio Bonicelli		&
Ugo Pirro
Franco Brusati		uncredited &
Vittorio De Sica		uncredited &
Alain Katz		uncredited &
Tullio Pinelli		uncredited &
Cesare Zavattini		uncredited &
Valerio Zurlini		uncredited

Produced by
Artur Brauner	....	producer (as CCC FIlmkunst - Berlino)
Arthur Cohn	....	producer: Documento Film
Gianni Hecht Lucari	....	producer
Fausto Saraceni	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Manuel De Sica

Cinematography by
Ennio Guarnieri		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Adriana Novelli

Casting by
Jose Villaverde

Production Design by
Giancarlo Bartolini Salimbeni

Set Decoration by
Roberto Granieri

Costume Design by
Giancarlo Bartolini Salimbeni

Makeup Department
Anna Cristofani	....	hair stylist
Giulio Natalucci	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Romano Dandi	....	production manager
Enzo Nigro	....	production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Giorgio Treves	....	assistant director

Art Department
Franco D'Andria	....	set dresser

Sound Department
Franco Bassi	....	sound mixer
Max Galinsky	....	sound
Massimo Loffredi	....	sound

Special Effects by
Enrico Catalucci	....	special effects: S. P. E. S. (as E. Catalucci)

Camera and Electrical Department
Giancarlo Ferrando	....	camera operator
Michele Picciaredda	....	assistant camera
Giorgio Urbinelli	....	assistant camera

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Antonio Randaccio	....	costumer

Editorial Department
Eli Haviv	....	editor: english version
Marisa Letti	....	assistant editor
Carla Zamponi	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Carlo Savina	....	conductor

Other crew
Luisa Alessandri	....	assistant to director
Noelle Gillmor	....	subtitler: English
Franca Invernizzi	....	production secretary (as Franca Santi)
Mario Milani	....	script editor
Claudio Saraceni	....	production accountant
Roberto Del Giudice	....	voice dubbing: Helmut Berger (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Documento Film
• CCC-Filmkunst (as CCC Filmkunst - Berlino)

Distributors

• Titanus Distribuzione (1970) (Italy) (theatrical)
• Medusa Home Entertainment (2003) (Italy) (DVD)
• Cinema 5 Distributing (1971) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Planfilm (1971) (France) (theatrical)
• Sony Pictures Classics (1996) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Columbia TriStar Home Video (2001) (USA) (DVD)
• Concorde Home Entertainment (2003) (Germany) (DVD)
• Homescreen (2010) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Lorimar Home Video (1988) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Vidéo (2008) (France) (DVD)

Special Effects

• Sviluppo Pellicole e Stampa (SPES)

Other Companies

• Giulio Einaudi  book publisher
• Lucherini/Rossetti/Spinola/Scalera  publicity agency (as Rossetti Lucherini Spinola)
• Roma's Press Photo  still photography
• Fono Roma  dubbing
• C.V.D.  dubbing
• S.A.F.A.S.  costumes
• RCA  music edition
• Cine Audio Effects  sound effects and foley design

Also Known As:

"Il giardino dei Finzi Contini" - Italy (original title)

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 | Peru:14 | Argentina:13 | Chile:14 | Finland:S | Sweden:Btl | USA:R | West Germany:12 (w)

Filming Locations:

Ferrara, Ferrara, Emilia-Romagna, Italy

Company:

Documento Film

Trivia:

The film was a personal triumph for 'Vittorio de Sica', a director who had struggled to have a hit since Marriage Italian Style (1964).

Quotes:

Giorgio's Father:In life, in order to understand, to really understand the world, you must die at least once. So it's better to die young, when there's still time left to recover and live again.

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.