Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!: The Garden of the Finzi-Continis/Il Giardino dei Finzi-Contini (1970) - An exquisite, painful De Sica WWII love drama

3/21/2021

The Garden of the Finzi-Continis/Il Giardino dei Finzi-Contini (1970) - An exquisite, painful De Sica WWII love drama

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A graphically recreated close-up of a young woman's beautiful face, encircled in autumn-colored leaves, makes up this striking poster for Vittorio De Sica's The Garden of the Finzi-Continis

In late-1930s Italy, while the fascists' power and madness escalates, life continues in Ferrara in Emilia-Romagna, where Jewish Giorgio is in love with his childhood friend Micòl from the wealthy, Jewish Finzi-Contini family.

The Garden of the Finzi-Continis is written by Ugo Pirro (Ogro (1979)) and Vittorio Bonicelli (Arabella (1980, miniseries)), adapting the same-titled 1962 novel by Giorgio Bassani (The Gold-rimmed Spectacles/Gli Occhiali d'Oro (1958)), and directed by Italian master filmmaker Vittorio De Sica (Rose Scarlatte (1940)), whose 25th feature it was. De Sica, Franco Brusati (Violent Life/Una Vita Violenta (1962)), Alain Katz (La Cosa Buffa (1972, second assistant director)), Tullio Pinelli (Flipper (1983, TV movie)), Cesare Zavattini (Lipstick/Il Rossetto (1960)) and Valerio Zurlini (Violent Summer/Estate Violenta (1959)) contributed uncredited screenplay work.

De Sica animates the fine, heart-rendering story with a familial tenderness, and the beautiful photography (by Ennio Guarnieri (Le Giraffe (2000))) and delectable costumes add much to this war-time drama/romance, which shows us the tragedy of WWII from a new angle: SPOILER Namely from the inside of two splendid Jewish families that are destroyed.

In this exquisite production the stars sparkle: Lino Capolicchio (An Impossible Crime/Un Delitto Impossibile (2001)) and Dominique Sanda (The Journey/El Viaje (1992)), along with Helmut Berger (Die Jäger (1982)) as the closeted homosexual and ill Alberto and Romolo Valli (Boom! (1968)) as Giorgio's proudly Italian father, whose patriotism is in vain. SPOILER Only the ending, in which the victims play tennis in slow-motion, is misbegotten.

Vittorio De Sica: A Farewell to Arms (1957) or, Love in Spite! (co-star)

Watch a 2-minute clip from the film here

Cost: Unknown

Box office: In excess of 596k $ (North America alone)

= Uncertain

[The Garden of the Finzi-Continis premiered 2 December (Jerusalem, Israel) and runs 94 minutes. Shooting took place in Ferrara, Emilia-Romagna, Italy. Bassani was upset with how the relationship between Malnate and Micòl was made explicit in the film and distanced himself from De Sica. The only gross number readily available online is the 596k $ North-American gross. The film was nominated for 2 Oscars: It won for Best Foreign Film and lost Adapted Screenplay to Ernest Tidyman for The French Connection. It also won 1/2 BAFTA nominations, the Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival, 1/2 David di Donatello nominations, was nominated for a Grammy, and won a National Board of Review award, among other honors. Roger Ebert gave the film a 4/4 star review, translating to a notch over this one. De Sica returned with an anthology segment, a TV-series episode and a TV documentary prior to his theatrical return with Lo Chiameremo Andrea (1972). Capolicchio returned in Le Tue Mani Sul Mio Corpo (1970); Sanda in Sans Mobile Apparent (1971); and Berger in Love Me Strangely/Un Beau Monstre (1971)). The Garden of the Finzi-Continis is fresh at 100 % with an 8.10/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

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William Friedkin has died

Born in Chicago, Friedkin accrued TV credits prior to his advance to the big screen as the director of Good TImes (1967), The Birthday Party (1968), The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968) and The Boys in the Band (1970) before his major breakthrough, The French Connection (1971), for which he won his only Oscar. He followed it up with the even bigger smash, The Exorcist (1973), arguably the best horror film of all time, for which he was Oscar-nominated. Later credits include Sorcerer (1977), Cruising (1980), To Live and Die in L.A. (1985), Rampage (1987), Rules of Engagement (2000), Killer Joe (2011) and The Devil and Father Amorth (2017, documentary). Friedkin passed away at age 87. R.I.P.

Louise Fletcher has passed away

Born in Alabama to deaf parents, Fletcher got her first credits in late-1950s TV-series.She took a 10 year-long sabbatical to devote her time to motherhood after the release of A Gathering of Eagles, but then came back and soon saw her career's most important part, as Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), for which she won her sole Oscar. Later credits include Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977), The Lucky Star (1980), Brainstorm (1983), Two Moon Junction (1988), Cruel Intentions (1999), A Perfect Man (2013) and many more. Fletcher passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Jean-Luc Godard has passed away

Born in Paris, France, Godard lived much of his life in Switzerland. He wrote for French film criticism magazine Cahiers du Cinema and became foundational for the New French Wave that inspired new waves in scores of other countries across the world with his Breathless (1960). Later credits include A Woman Is A Woman (1961), Vivre Sa Vie (1962), Le Petit Soldat (1962), Contempt (1963), Alphaville (1965), Pierrot le Fou (1965), 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her (1967), Weekend (1967), Every Man for Himself (1980), King Lear (1987), Century of Cinema (1995, documentary), Goodbye to Language (2014) and many more. Godard died of assisted suicide at age 91. R.I.P.

Wolfgang Petersen has died

James Caan has died

Caan was born the son of Jewish immigrants from Germany in New York. He got his start on TV in the early 1960s. His credits include El Dorado (1966), The Rain People (1969), Brian's Song (1971, TV movie), The Godfather (1972), - for which he earned his only Oscar nomination, - Slither (1973), The Gambler (1974), Funny Lady (1975), Rollerball (1975), Silent Movie (1976), Hide in Plain Sight (1980), - the only film he also directed, - Thief (1981), Misery (1990), Honeymoon in Vegas (1992), Bottle Rocket (1996), Eraser (1996), Dogville (2003), Elf (2003), Las Vegas (2003-07), Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009) and many more. Caan passed away at age 82. R.I.P.

Jean-Louis Trintignant has died

Born in Vaucluse, France, Trintignant's theatrical debut as an actor was in If All the Guys in the World... (1955). Later credits include ...And God Created Woman (1956), The Seven Deadly Sins (1961), Inferno (1964), A Man and A Woman (1966), My Love, My Love (1967), A Man to Kill (1967), The Great Silence (1968), Z (1969), The Assassination (1972), Three Colors: Red (1994), Amour (2012), Happy End (2017) and many more. He also wrote and directed two films in the 1970s. Trintignant passed away at age 91. R.I.P.

Ray Liotta has died

Adopted from an orphenage at a young age, Liotta got hooked on acting in high school. He had various TV credits in the late 1970s and early 80s, with his film debut in The Lonely Lady (1983). Later credits include Something Wild (1986), Field of Dreams (1989), Goodfellas (1990), Cop Land (1997), Hannibal (2001), Blow (2001), Narc (2002), John Q (2002), Identity (2003), Observe and Report (2009), Youth in Revolt (2009), The Details (2011), Killing THem Softly (2012), The Place Beyond the Pines (2012), Shades of Blue (2016-18), The Simpsons (2018, TV-series), Marriage Story (2019), The Many Saints of Newark (2021), Black Bird (2022, TV-series) and many more. Liotta passed away at age 67 in his sleep while on production in the Dominican Republic. R.I.P.

Philip Baker Hall has died

Born in Ohio, Hall didn't start acting until he was 30. His long list of credits include Zabriskie Point (1970), Miami Vice (1987, TV-series), Midnight Run (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Cheers (1993, TV-series), Hard Eight (1996), The Rock (1996), Air Force One (1997), Boogie Nights (1997), Seinfeld (1991-98), Rush Hour (1998), The Insider (1999), Magnolia (1999), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), Bruce Almighty (2003), Dogville (2003), The Zodiac (2005), Zodiac (2007), Curb Your Enthusiasm (2004-09), Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011), Modern Family (2011-12) and many more. Hall passed away at age 90. R.I.P.

William Hurt has passed away

Born in Washington D.C., Hurt's first film role was the lead in Altered States (1980). Later credits include Body Heat (1981), The Big Chill (1983), Gorky Park (1983), Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985), for which he earned his only Oscar as Best Actor; Chilrdren of a Lesser God (1986), for which he was also Oscar-nominated; Broadcast News (1987), for which he was again Oscar-nominated; Smoke (1995), A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001), A History of Violence (2005), for which he was again Oscar-nominated; The Good Shepherd (2006), Into the Wild (2007), Robin Hood (2010) and many more. Hurt passed away at age 71. R.I.P.

Ivan Reitman has passed away

Born in Chechoslovakia, now Slovakia, Reitman's family fled the Soviet regime to Austria, then Toronto, when he was 4 years old. Reitman broke into movies as a director with Foxy Lady (1971). Later credits include Cannibal Girls (1973), Meatballs (1979), Stripes (1981), Ghostbusters (1984), Twins (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Kindergarten Cop (1990), Junior (1994), Father's Day (1997), Evolution (1998), No Strings Attached (2011), Draft Day (2014) and more. Reitman's son Jason Reitman is also a great filmmaker. Reitman passed away at age 75. R.I.P.

Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!

Eagerly anticipating this week ... (6-24)

3/21/2021

The Garden of the Finzi-Continis/Il Giardino dei Finzi-Contini (1970) - An exquisite, painful De Sica WWII love drama

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