Page lwo
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
Si I
April 16, 1972
Page to THEMICHIAN DALY Sunay, Aril 1, 197
cinema=
Weeds in the
garden of Finzi-Continis
BILLIARDS
TABLE TENNIS
BOWLING
FOOSBALL
UNION
RACKHAM STUDENT
GOVERNMENT
TUESDAY-FRIDAY, APRIL 18-21
Rackham Lobby
By PETER MUNSING
There axe two principle cri-
teria I use in judging a film -
does it successfully fulfill i t s
own aims and is it good on
general film aesthetics - does
it say anything, give any in-
sight into its characters or peo-
ple in general.'
The problem with The Garden
of the Finzi-Continis is twofold-
there are three, possible themes
and it's directed by Vittorio de
Sica. It is difficult to decide
what the film is trying to do,
though this says something in
itself.
Finzi-Continis is directed by de
Siva de die Schlockmeistersing-
er. While it's themes could have
come from the de Sica of Two
Women, Bicycle Thief, and Shoe-
shine, they are instead present-
ed in the manner of Sunflower
without any of the humor of
Marriage, Italian Style, Bocaccio
'70 or even After the Fox. Be-
cause he was once a great direc-
tor, there is a temptation to look
for the old de Sica, even if he
isn't there, so that you can say
"This is the film where he starts
climbing back to the top;" a
cinematic first game after the
minors. No such luck; it looks
more like de Sica's trying to
find the bottom first so he can
tell which way to go.
The central plot is about
Giorgio, a middle-class Jewish
kid, and his love for Micol, beau-
tiful daughter of the Finzi-Con-
tinis, Ferara's richest Jews. At
the beginning of the film we are
told that the story takes place
from 1938-43, when "The facist
government of II Duce, Benito
Mussolini, is applying the so-
called racial laws." So we have
three themes: love, decay of an
oligarchic class structure, a n d
Jews and the holocaust or the
evils of repression in general.
Now the old de Sica would have
spun his tale of repression in a
deeply humane, sympathetic,
powerful story focusing on the
people involved.
Giorgie boy has known Micol
since childhood, but she w a s
always inaccessible, separated
by her wealth in the symbolic
garden. With increasing anti-
semitism the Finzi-Continis
throw open their garden to
Giorgio and other young folk.
Enter Malna.te, a prototypically
handsome third corner of an
eternal triangle, who likes his
women "beautiful, stupid, and
sufficiently whorish." Micol re-
mains too enigmatic to tell whe-
ther she is either of the latter
two, though she does get it on
with Malnate.
Which is not in itself a bad
plot; up to the break between
Giorgio and Micol, it's well ex-
ecuted. However, the new de
Sica gives us little insight into
Giorgio and not much into Micol.
Giorgio becomes an unexplained
schlemielbcharacter with whom
it is hard to sympathize, while
Micol becomes so enigmatic as
to be inaccessible. When she
tries to tell him it's all over
without hurting him he ineptly
attempts rape; for her part Mi-
col makes various predictions
and generally goes around with
an air of foreboding and im-
pending doom.
In the tradition of wealth-
brings perversion-of-personal-re-
lationships - and perversion-in-
general (a.k.a. the rich are
fags), her menapausal brother
Alberto has a close relationship
with her until he dies beca use
of his frail nature. Pointless as
image . 0
this is, it wouldn't be so bad if
it weren't bludgeoned into us.
"It was a nice day;" - "But it
was nicer when we were alone."
Where did she get the wedding
ring? Alberto. When he croaks
she can't love Giorgio because
"It would be like loving a broth-
er." He may have died for lack
of Giorgio's ,love, but that
doesn't add to heterosexuality.
The film begins in Fall with
your out of focus shot of leaves
accompanied by tinkle piano mu-
sic in the Elvira Madigan tradi-
tion. It ends in Winter with a
dynamite Kaddish and shots of
an overgrown Finzi-Contini es-
tate. And let's not forget those
other symbols - along with the
change of seasons,Micol's dress
changes from white to black; a
"monster" of a dog guards the
estate "but with four teeth,
who can he bite?" blossoms fall
off a rose, movie theatres and
carnivals become places of fear,
etc....
A symbol should be subliminal,
integrated with the plot - these
are thrown in awkwardly as if
de Sica was checking off the re-
quirements of a certain type of
film on a clipboard.
But the most indicative sign
of de Sica's decline is the lack
of any gut-level emotional im-
pact. When the family is sep-
i
i
I
FE
I
CINEMA II'
aud. a; angell hal
arated into different classrooms
filled with people ready for the
ovens, I felt no emotion what-
ever. This may partly be due to
a lack of a sense of Jewishness
- Giorgio leaves the Passover
Seder at the drop of a phone
call, the facts that they are
Jews is rarely mentioned - but
most of all de Sica has not giv-
en us any empathy with the
characters. It's not a question
of liking them, it's a question of
caring about them; at least a
vague interest in what happens
to them. jThe only -character I
felt sorry for was Giorgio's fath-
er, whose only involvement in
the film is because of his son.
At least there isn't any synthetic
realism like the Elvira Madigap
puke scene.
presents
TONIGHT ONLY
Charles
Laughton
IN
WITNESS FOR
THE
PROSECUTION
Dir. Billy Wilder, 1957
with
MARLEN E
DIETRICH
and
ELSA
LANCASTER
A sensational L o n d o n
murder trial filled with
t e n s i o n and suspense.
Laughton stands out with
his richly succulent and
amusing portrait of an
aging barrister.
1:15
3:45
yf . 8:45
romnan Polanakis
filmdi
MACBETH
BEST PICTURE
OF THE YEAR!
-National Board of Review
FEATURE TODAY AT
3
6:15
I
Architecture Auditorium
DIAL 668-6416
F
i
CORRECTION
I
Ip t1
II '
OPEN 12:45
SHOWS AT
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603 E. Liberty
DIAL 665-6290
Black Film Society
presents
SHADOWS--7:30
MURDER ON LENOX AVENUE
Monday, April 17-$1.0(
0
B&W 70 CA
The World's Finest Speakers
IT TAKES TWO
AT
$660 EACH
emusic center, inc.
'
E-9:00
*
-Daily-Robert wargo
|
U
Correction: In Peter Munsing's
recent Cinema Weekend review of
The Last Picture Show, the Mag-
nificient Ambersons were incorrect-
ly printed 'as the Andersons.
SUMMER SUBLET
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0 $130 Available May 15
* 763-6039 Evenings
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$165
ROUND TRIP
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Youth fare to age. 30
National Bank
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483-8556
3
rI
MCAT- DAT-GRE
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*Preparation for test required
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home study prepared by ex-
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Weekends-I ntersessions
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C L S E f ;(3 1 3 ) 3 5 4 -0 0 8 5 .i -
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LEVI'S
Denim
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Shows at 7 & 9:00 P.M.
Tickets on sale at 6-75c
THIS WEEKEND:
THE APU
TRILOGY
Dir. by Satyapt Ray,
Indian
"APU, whose conscious-
ness develops from the
village life of 'Panther
Panchali' and the univer-
sity life of 'APARAJ ITO,'
m a r r i e s the exquisite
Sharmilla T a g o r e in
'WORLD OF APU' and
grows bey6nd self-con-
sciousness. Rich and con-
templative; and a great,
convincing affirmation."
-GINA ERDREICH,
Cinema Retrospective
FRI.--PANTHER
PANCHALI (1954)
SAT.-
APARAJITO (1957)
SUN.-THE WORLD
OF APU (1959)
I
T 'I
THE STUDENT COUNCIL OF
GRADUATE SCHOOL OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
Presents
The Young Presidents Organization
(YPO is an organization of businessmen who became president of a firm
with a net worth of at least one million dollars before they were forty
years old.)
THE PANEL CONSISTS OF:
RONALD SARGENT-Thetford Corporation
DONALD FISHER-Ask Mr. Foster Travel Service
PHILIP POWER-Observer Newspaper, Inc.
HERBERT GRAEBNER-Tempco Business Service
FRANKLIN GREGORY-Advance Packaging Corporation
RICHARD ROMANOFF-Romanoff Electric Motor Service, Inc.
MONDAY, APRIL 17-7:30 p.m.
Business Administration Building, Room 131
I
308 South
Phone 665-8607 or 8
State Street
ANN ARBOR, MICH.
4
i
.
LOWVESTJE
ET FARES
TO EUROPE
Whatever your age, SAVE
money on Icelandic Airlines'
jets from New York to Lux-
embourg in the heart of Eu-
rope. Our fares are lowest of
any scheduled airline.
UNDER 21?-Our round-trip
Youth Fares are $180 (win-
ter), $205 (spring, fall), and
$270 (summer), ages 12
thru 21. Also, exclusivesone-
way Youth Fares.
OVER 21?--Stay ;overseas
46 days up to a year and
you'll SAVE $274 this sum-
mer, $247 this spring and
fall against lowest compara-
ble fares of other scheduled
airlines. Great for teachers
and grad students. See your
travel agent for valid dates,
reservations.
7a: Icelandic Airlines
S630 Fifth Avenue, N..Y.10020
(212) Pi.7-8585I
Send folder CN on Lowest Jet
Fares to Europe.
Name_
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My travel agent is- - -
All fares subject to change.
ICEIANOIC
p. - - -
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CHECKMATE
StateStree at Lbert
ARCHITECTURE
AUDITORIUM
#i
all films in Bengali; with
music by Ravi Shankar
I
7 and 9 P.M.
75c
f
--I
1
1
SGT. PEPPER
SPRING SKIING!
1028 E. University
662-0202
" BANFF, ALBERTA 0 MT. HOOD
" SNOWBIRD " GARABALDI'S WHISTLER MT.
MAY 2-14
Ski 10 days ... Pay $245-265 for ALL
Info., meeting: April 19, 3516 SAB, 7:00 P.M.
call Cathy 769-0813, Josie 769-3712, Brad 449-2668
By Appointment Only:
SPECIALIZING IN:
Haircutting, Frosting
SALVATORE will be at the
Ladies' Beauty Shop
Mondays 10:30-on
1106 S. University 663-4784
--GO<--O C<-- ()!"< -f(<--. "<--OC ')" C):^(COC - ) <-
OPEN 7 DAYS
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COKE, FRESCA, TAB, 6-PACK--79c
WE CARRY DANNON YOGURT
IMPORTANT INFORMATION MEETING
U of M-Sarah Lawrence
Summer program in PARIS
July 1-August 11, 1972
Everyone Invited-Grads and Undergrads
place: East Conference Room, Rackham
date: Tuesday, April 18th
time: 8 p.m.
*I
I1
U OF M STUDENTS, FACULTY, AND STAFF:
COSTA DEL SOL, SPAIN-$199
8 DAYS/7 NIGHTS MAY 2-MAY 10
NGT8 AS WAIKIKI, HAWAII-$219
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FRENCH RIVIERA, FRANCE-$239
GOING ABROAD?
Outbreaks of smallpox have, been reported in Yugoslavia, the
Middle East and, to a lesser extent, in Germany. If you are plan-
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cination is strongly advised. The innoculation is good for three
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another is in order before you depart. The Health Service Im-
munization Clinic provides smallpox vaccinations and is open
each weekday from 8:30 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. Just come into the
Health Service, pick up your record and go up to the clinic,
which is on the second floor.
Questions or Complaints?
CALL 763-4384
UAC-DAYSTAR
Presents the final concert of
semester on day classes end
April 21 Fri.
1.50-3.00-4.50
reserved seats on sale now
Mon.-Fri. 12-6 p.m. Michigan
Union. Also at Salvation Rec-
ords on Maynard St... .
*
You know you'll want toi
this concert, so get a
make
killer
0
seat early.<m