“Film: The Garden of the Finzi-Continis” (Yale Film Archive)

The Garden of the Finzi-Continis (Vittorio De Sica, 1970, 35mm, 94 mins)

 

Under golden autumn sunlight, the walled garden of a family of upper-class Jewish intellectuals offers a mirage of protection from the rise of Italian Fascism. De Sica’s Oscar-winning adaptation of Giorgio Bassani’s semi-autobiographical novel is “an achingly beautiful cautionary tale about the blindness of privilege” (Sean Burns) and “a masterpiece of 20th-century cinema” (Tullio Kezich). In Italian with English subtitles. 35mm print from the Yale Film Archive.

 

The Treasures from the Yale Film Archive series is presented with support from Paul L. Joskow ‘70 M.Phil., ‘72 Ph.D.

 

Yale Film Archive screenings are always free and open to the public. See the full film schedule here.