THE GARDEN OF THE FINZI-CONTINIS

Based on the semiautobiography by Giorgio Bassani, Vittorio De Sica’s The Garden of the Finzi-Continis tells the story of a wealthy Italian Jewish family trying to stave off the mounting threats of Fascism and anti-Semitism in World War II-era Italy. Of course their cloistered existence can only go on for so long. Bassani has said he wrote the book partially as a way of resolving his own feeling about having done nothing—just like many other people—when anti-Semitism reared its ugly head right in front of his face.