The Garden of the Finzi-Continis

Vittorio De Sica directs the lyrical war drama Il Giardino dei Finzi-Contini (The Garden of the Finzi-Continis), based on a book by Giorgio Bassani. In Ferrara, Italy, at the beginning of WWII, anti-Semitism is spreading. Mussolini has passed several laws that forbid Jews from going to public ...more

Il Giardino dei Finzi-Contini is a work of amazing beauty, a lyrical and poetic film set during one of history's most terrible eras. For all its beauty, the film also uncovers great sadness. The wealthy and privileged Finzi-Continis believe that, it they don't allow themselves to see the ugliness around them, they will somehow be protected from it. While they watch their rights, and the rights of other Jews, be gradually taken away by the Fascists, their own inaction and self-chosen isolation ...more