The Garden of the Finzi-Continis is not just a physical safe space from the pressures and evils of a world about to be plunged into a second world war, but also a metaphysical memory of the mind, a last enduring remnant of the pre-war society where Jews were not third class citizens. De Sica obliges with his camera, never revealing it in its entirety, never connecting the endless towering walls of the estate to the rest of the town, or constraining its limits. It has a mystical quality that doesn't seem to be defined by logical or rational size limits. The lighting is over-exposed to create a dreamy, utopian aura like the characters are prancing about in the Garden of Eden. The camera steals peeks from behind trees and zooms in with a slight shakiness, as if we were voyeuristically intruding on this paradise.
And we have a reversal too, that certainly goes against the propaganda of the time and Hitler's wishes - the Jews aren't dishevelled caricatures but tall and beautiful with the blondest of locks. Micol is particularly graceful, and has caught the eye of a fellow Jewish boy, although they might be from different worlds altogether the way that this is portrayed. Their first meeting is, as convention goes, Micol peeking over the great big walls of her estate and conversing with the lowly Giorgio. This motif has been used to indicate distance before - think Romeo and Juliet - but here it is imbued with a greater purpose and sense of injustice because they are after all of the same Jewish descent. They prance about in their mansion as if not aware of this biological fact; flaunting their privilege and wealth - when Jews are barred from the local tennis club, they host their own because they of course have their own courts. And when Giorgio is barred from the local library, he consults their vast book stores.
De Sica establishes this all with a keen eye. His camera, long removed from his neorealist days, draws attention to itself and pieces of information that are vital. In a pivotal scene, Giorgio is so lovestruck that he climbs the cabana to spy on her private affairs. He is despondent to find the aftermath of a love affair between Micol and the tall, dark Bruno Malnate, who was presumably too frank in his political views to ever associate with her. And what does Micol do? Not hurriedly move to cover herself, but instead gazes right at Giorgio, as if to force him to confront the truth of her nature, and how it has been violated (but willingly of course, as Mussolini had done) by the fascist gentleman. That pretty idealist version of her is long gone in the past, made murky by the tendrils that would lead to the Holocaust.
The garden remains in Giorgio's mind, long after the Jews rights have been taken from them until not even his father can justify it. But it does not unfold like some nightmare that has been fetishsized for maximum horror and impact. When he is told that he cannot stay in the library, he asks why, and the security guard cannot give him an answer, only that he is following orders. And how many soldiers have testified to that claim? On the one hand, we have Schindler's List, and on the other we have this - a slow, systematic purge, that is continually justified until it can no longer be. The children cheer because they will miss school, never mind any real implications. The vile undertone of anti-Semitism lurks throughout, and Finzi-Contini's ignore it and ignore it and ignore it...until they no longer can, and the precedent that De Sica has set is torn down. That 500 year old estate has no bearing.
And we have a reversal too, that certainly goes against the propaganda of the time and Hitler's wishes - the Jews aren't dishevelled caricatures but tall and beautiful with the blondest of locks. Micol is particularly graceful, and has caught the eye of a fellow Jewish boy, although they might be from different worlds altogether the way that this is portrayed. Their first meeting is, as convention goes, Micol peeking over the great big walls of her estate and conversing with the lowly Giorgio. This motif has been used to indicate distance before - think Romeo and Juliet - but here it is imbued with a greater purpose and sense of injustice because they are after all of the same Jewish descent. They prance about in their mansion as if not aware of this biological fact; flaunting their privilege and wealth - when Jews are barred from the local tennis club, they host their own because they of course have their own courts. And when Giorgio is barred from the local library, he consults their vast book stores.
De Sica establishes this all with a keen eye. His camera, long removed from his neorealist days, draws attention to itself and pieces of information that are vital. In a pivotal scene, Giorgio is so lovestruck that he climbs the cabana to spy on her private affairs. He is despondent to find the aftermath of a love affair between Micol and the tall, dark Bruno Malnate, who was presumably too frank in his political views to ever associate with her. And what does Micol do? Not hurriedly move to cover herself, but instead gazes right at Giorgio, as if to force him to confront the truth of her nature, and how it has been violated (but willingly of course, as Mussolini had done) by the fascist gentleman. That pretty idealist version of her is long gone in the past, made murky by the tendrils that would lead to the Holocaust.
The garden remains in Giorgio's mind, long after the Jews rights have been taken from them until not even his father can justify it. But it does not unfold like some nightmare that has been fetishsized for maximum horror and impact. When he is told that he cannot stay in the library, he asks why, and the security guard cannot give him an answer, only that he is following orders. And how many soldiers have testified to that claim? On the one hand, we have Schindler's List, and on the other we have this - a slow, systematic purge, that is continually justified until it can no longer be. The children cheer because they will miss school, never mind any real implications. The vile undertone of anti-Semitism lurks throughout, and Finzi-Contini's ignore it and ignore it and ignore it...until they no longer can, and the precedent that De Sica has set is torn down. That 500 year old estate has no bearing.