"Nostalgia is self destruction." – Adrienne Rich <br /><br />One of the greatest Holocaust films ever made, "The Garden of the Finzi-Continis" takes place, not in Nazi Germany, but fascist Italy during the reign of Mussolini. World War 2 is on the horizon and already racial laws are being implemented. Italian Jews are forbidden from using servants, are banned from marrying non Jews, are removed from public schools, have no phone listings, no library privileges, no obituaries, and are subject to strict curfews. Gradually the rights of Jews are eradicated, even the wealthiest Jewish families reduced to third class citizens.<br /><br />Against this landscape is told the story of two Jewish families, the affluent and aristocratic Finzi-Contini family and the middle class Bassani family. The Finzi-Continis live a cloistered existence within the walls of their palatial estate. Surrounded by tall walls and a vast garden, the family lives in a dream world, believing that fascism will leave their lavish lives untouched. Director Vittorio de Sica uses overexposed images and white clothing to suggest that these wealthy Jews are magnificent angels, dancing in luxury, bicycling through their estate like gliding deities. When the family hosts tennis games for friends and family, de Sica shoots them like innocent forest nymphs, playing in their idyllic Eden.<br /><br />Of course, outside the stone walls of the Finzi-Contini estate, trouble brews. The Bassani family adjusts to Mussolini's racist laws with success at first, their father stating that despite their new limitations they can still live a reasonably secure existence. Their daughter will simply have to be home schooled, their maid will have to be smuggled in and their son, Giorgio, will simply have to use the private libraries of friends. No big deal. They can adjust.<br /><br />So already we see how complacent everyone is. It's not just a question of non-Jews ignoring these racist laws, but of Jews accepting these laws outright for fear of rocking the boat. The Bassani's submit and the Finzi-Contini's ignore. But even if they wanted to challenge Mussolini's racist segregation policies, how would they go about doing so? During one scene, in which Giorgio is kicked out of a public library, de Sica makes it clear that when the world begins to collapse, it's never anyone's fault. Power is fragmented and everyone is fearfully following orders, obeying rules that somebody else devised. The system runs because everything is compartmentalised, everyone is in charge of their own section of the pie. To fight an organised system would take organisation and rebellion on a fast array of fronts.<br /><br />And so Jews and Gentiles submit to the racist laws. The war will be over soon, they hope, and Italy and Germany will soon emerge victorious. Just abide and hope that things change. Big mistake.<br /><br />The later half of the film focuses on the romance between Giorgio Bassani and Micol Finzi-Contini. Despite Micol's wealth and beauty, Giorgio loves her primarily for the sense of tranquillity she represents. He knew her during her childhood, and so begins to see her as a nostalgic symbol. She represents a snapshot in time, a personification of Europe before things went bad. Many have complained that Micol is a cipher in the film. That she prowls her estate like a zombie and that she never gives a reason for rejecting Giorgio's advances. But this is the very point. Micol is an idealized vision of the world, simultaneously deluding herself and representative of mass denial. She is a ghost of the past, and Giorgio cannot attain her because she has long turned her back to the living world. <br /><br />The romance thus abstracts many of the themes that take place in the film. Firstly, it illustrates the false belief held by both Gentiles and Jews that if they isolate themselves and mind their own business, they may be spared the horrors of this hostile political climate. Secondly, it shows that no amount of wealth, prestige and education can defend you against mindless, irrational bigotry. Finally, it highlights the dangers of Jewish ethnocentricity. Judaism can accurately be described as a cultural fortresses that keeps outsiders out and insiders in (the degree to which Jewish communities are isolated from their host cultures is even reflected at the genetic level). Of course, one should not have to assimilate to avoid persecution, but this ethnocentricity is largely the reason that their entire history is one of spectacular success and growth followed by persecution and slaughter. A cycle which plays out repeatedly from the Egyptian Exodus to the Holocaust. <br /><br />9/10 – Quieter Holocaust pictures like "The Garden of the Finzi-Continis", "Seven Beauties", "The Boat is Full" and "The Shop On Main Street" are important in countering the myths of the Holocaust. Hollywood film's like "Schindler's List" have colonised our minds with a very "American view" of the Holocaust. They present us with false iconography, rich with their own set of visual signifiers. But the Holocaust was not a horror movie. It did not happen in black and white and with shaky documentary footage. It unfolded with the banality of everyday life, in bright colours, ordinary day to day activities rarely upset. There was nothing alien about the Holocaust. The world didn't break down or erupt into violence. Instead it stood back with a serene, far more chilling acceptance. Perhaps this is why, today, documentary footage of Hitler relaxing with his family in the Bavarian Alps is far more horrific than any of his loud mouthed speeches.<br /><br />Worth two viewings.