THE GARDEN OF THE FINZI-CONTINIS (1970)

In this episode we discuss the penultimate film of Vittorio De Sica, one of the giants of Italian cinema. 'The Garden of the Finzi-Continis' (1970) is based closely on the 1962 semi-autobiographical novel by Georgio Bassani andtells the story of a group of people, mostly in the Jewish community in Ferrara, as racial laws are introduced in fascist Italy in 1938 and the aftermath in 1940s. We discuss similarlities and differences between the novel and the film, the period cinematography, role of the music by De Sica's son Manuela, the acting and more. Anotehr holocast film but from a very different perspective to and less contravertial than 'The Night Porter'.

Participants:

Russ Kilbourn, Professor of Literature and Film, Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, Ontario (Canada) http://rjakilbourn.com/

Ken Barrett, UK based visual artist, writer, podcaster and short film producer http://www.kenbarrettstudio.co.uk/

The novel: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Garden_of_the_Finzi-Continis

The film: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0065777/

Theme music: Tarantella composed by Stephen Brown.

Portrait print by KB.

A Brainland Collective production.

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