This was probably Vittorio DeSica's last excellent film before his death in 1974 and it took me about 20 years to view it a second time. I certainly understand it more this time than the first time I viewed it. Story is set in the late 1930's in Ferrara, Italy with the impending war looming on the horizon. The family of the Finzi-Continis are rich and Jewish and live in a huge manor behind locked gates and they love to have friends over for picnics and tennis. One of the friends is Giorgio (Lino Capolicchio) and he is in love with Micol Finzi-Contini (Dominique Sanda) and they have known each other since they both were kids but Micol does not love Giorgio. He's persistent in his affections but Micol lives in an isolated world hidden behind the gates and her demeanor is very cold and malicious. Meanwhile, Giorgio's father (Romolo Valle) seems to be oblivious to what is happening in the world and utters "It's not that bad". Mussolini has enacted laws that forbid Jews from going to school, entering the library and other restrictions. One night Giorgio discovers Micol having an affair with his more Fascist friend Bruno (Fabio Testi) and Micol notices him in the window but seems not to care.
*****SPOILER ALERT*****
While DeSica somewhat abandoned his neo-realism approach later in his career this does have an aura of those wonderful films like "The Bicycle Thief" and "Umberto D". DeSica still wanted to show the world what it was like in Italy during the darker times and even though he had a larger budget and professional actors in his films his attitude never really shifted. This film is primarily about the two lead characters played by Capolicchio and Sanda. Even with war upon them they both seemed to be in their own world. Giorgio became a very angry and heartbroken man and even with soldiers walking around his city he seemed to only care about Micol's rejection of him. But late in the film he did snap out of it and escaped. He didn't allow what happened to him to get the better of him. Unfortunately, Micol and her family waited too long and were rounded up to be sent to camps. There are instances in this film that I thought Micol was awaiting to be taken by the Fascists and Nazi's. It's one of the reasons she slept with Bruno and seemed unperturbed by the events around her. Remember what Giorgio's father told him? He said, "In life, in order to understand, to really understand the world, you must die at least once. So it's better to die young, when there's still time left to recover and live again". After viewing this thought provoking film once again, maybe DeSica was showing us that Micol needed to get out of her haven and understand the world about her.
*****SPOILER ALERT*****
While DeSica somewhat abandoned his neo-realism approach later in his career this does have an aura of those wonderful films like "The Bicycle Thief" and "Umberto D". DeSica still wanted to show the world what it was like in Italy during the darker times and even though he had a larger budget and professional actors in his films his attitude never really shifted. This film is primarily about the two lead characters played by Capolicchio and Sanda. Even with war upon them they both seemed to be in their own world. Giorgio became a very angry and heartbroken man and even with soldiers walking around his city he seemed to only care about Micol's rejection of him. But late in the film he did snap out of it and escaped. He didn't allow what happened to him to get the better of him. Unfortunately, Micol and her family waited too long and were rounded up to be sent to camps. There are instances in this film that I thought Micol was awaiting to be taken by the Fascists and Nazi's. It's one of the reasons she slept with Bruno and seemed unperturbed by the events around her. Remember what Giorgio's father told him? He said, "In life, in order to understand, to really understand the world, you must die at least once. So it's better to die young, when there's still time left to recover and live again". After viewing this thought provoking film once again, maybe DeSica was showing us that Micol needed to get out of her haven and understand the world about her.