The Garden of the Finzi-Continis (1970)

The Garden of the Finzi-Continis (Il giardino del Finzi-Contini)
Directed by Vittorio de Sica
Written by Ugo Pirro and Vittorio Bonicelli from a novel by Giorgio Bassani
1970/Italy
IMDb page
Repeat viewing/YouTube
One of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

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.

A beautiful, sad film about being young at the end of an era.

The setting is Ferrara, Italy in the 1930’s.  The wealthy Jewish Finzi-Contini family live on a grand estate.  Their children are all beautiful and athletic.  An invitation to the house or tennis court is esteemed a great honor.  Middle-class Giorgio (Lino Cappolicchio) is trying his damndest to woo Micol Finzi-Contini (Dominique Sanda).

During the long lazy afternoons we spend with the family we hear rumblings as the rights of Jews are gradually stripped away.  Can love triumph over politics?  With Helmut Berger as Alberto Finzi-Contini.

I didn’t find this a powerful film but it is a very beautiful one.  A lush dream-like atmosphere envelopes the elegant world of the Finzi-Continis making it even more tragic when reality hits.

The Garden of the Finzi-Continis won the Oscar for Best Foreign-Language Film.  It was nominated for Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium.