nostalgia be self destruction . adrienne rich one of the great holocaust film ever make and the garden of the finzi continis take place and not in nazi germany and but fascist italy during the reign of mussolini . world war 2 be on the horizon and already racial law be be implement . italian jew be forbid from use servant and be ban from marry non jew and be remove from public school and have no phone listing and no library privilege and no obituary and and be subject to strict curfew . gradually the right of jew be eradicate and even the wealthy jewish family reduce to third class citizen . against this landscape be tell the story of two jewish family and the affluent and aristocratic finzi contini family and the middle class bassani family . the finzi continis live a cloistered existence within the wall of their palatial estate . surround by tall wall and a vast garden and the family live in a dream world and believing that fascism will leave their lavish life untouched . director vittorio de sica us overexpose image and white clothing to suggest that these wealthy jew be magnificent angel and dance in luxury and bicycle through their estate like glide deity . when the family host tennis game for friend and family and de sica shoot them like innocent forest nymph and playing in their idyllic eden . of course and outside the stone wall of the finzi contini estate and trouble brew . the bassani family adjusts to mussolini racist law with success at first and their father state that despite their new limitation they can still live a reasonably secure existence . their daughter will simply have to be home school and their maid will have to be smuggle in and their son and giorgio and will simply have to use the private library of friend . no big deal . they can adjust . so already we see how complacent everyone be . it not just a question of non jew ignore these racist law and but of jew accept these law outright for fear of rock the boat . the bassani submit and the finzi contini ignore . but even if they want to challenge mussolini racist segregation policy and how would they go about do so . during one scene and in which giorgio be kick out of a public library and de sica make it clear that when the world begin to collapse and it never anyone fault . power be fragment and everyone be fearfully follow order and obey rule that somebody else devise . the system run because everything be compartmentalise and everyone be in charge of their own section of the pie . to fight an organised system would take organisation and rebellion on a fast array of front . and so jews and gentile submit to the racist law . the war will be over soon and they hope and and italy and germany will soon emerge victorious . just abide and hope that thing change . big mistake . the late half of the film focus on the romance between giorgio bassani and micol finzi contini . despite micol wealth and beauty and giorgio love her primarily for the sense of tranquillity she represent . he know her during her childhood and and so begin to see her a a nostalgic symbol . she represent a snapshot in time and a personification of europe before thing go bad . many have complain that micol be a cipher in the film . that she prowl her estate like a zombie and that she never give a reason for reject giorgio advance . but this be the very point . micol be an idealized vision of the world and simultaneously delude herself and representative of mass denial . she be a ghost of the past and and giorgio can not attain her because she have long turn her back to the living world . the romance thus abstract many of the theme that take place in the film . firstly and it illustrate the false belief hold by both gentile and jew that if they isolate themselves and mind their own business and they may be spar the horror of this hostile political climate . secondly and it show that no amount of wealth and prestige and education can defend you against mindless and irrational bigotry . finally and it highlight the danger of jewish ethnocentricity . judaism can accurately be describe a a cultural fortress that keep outsider out and insider in ( the degree to which jewish community be isolate from their host culture be even reflect at the genetic level ) . of course and one should not have to assimilate to avoid persecution and but this ethnocentricity be largely the reason that their entire history be one of spectacular success and growth follow by persecution and slaughter . a cycle which play out repeatedly from the egyptian exodus to the holocaust . positive quieter holocaust picture like the garden of the finzi continis and seven beauty and the boat be full and the shop on main street be important in counter the myth of the holocaust . hollywood film like schindler list have colonise our mind with a very american view of the holocaust . they present u with false iconography and rich with their own set of visual signifier . but the holocaust be not a horror movie . it do not happen in black and white and with shaky documentary footage . it unfold with the banality of everyday life and in bright colour and ordinary day to day activity rarely upset . there be nothing alien about the holocaust . the world do not break down or erupt into violence . instead it stand back with a serene and far more chilling acceptance . perhaps this be why and today and documentary footage of hitler relax with his family in the bavarian alp be far more horrific than any of his loud mouth speech . worth two viewing .