Life is Beautiful
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Movie Reviews of Life is Beautiful
Movie Review: Youll laugh, youll cry: a truly moving movie.
Summary: 5 Stars
An Italian movie? Worth watching? If you are put off by the fact that this movie was produced in Italian, you'll miss the pleasure of seeing one of the most "moving" movies ever made. And fortunately for us English-speaking folks, a version has been produced with English voices fluently dubbed over the original Italian. You'll find that the power of this movie goes beyond languages and cultures.The setting is Italy, prior the Second World War; the protagonist Guido is a bumbling yet charming waiter. With his Charlie Chaplin style charm, Guido attempts to seduce the pretty schoolteacher Dora, only to find she is already engaged. In a comic sequences of events, he courts and wins his bride. But this first half of the movie about romance is mere background, setting the emotional stage for the rest of the movie and the horror that follows. After their marriage and an interlude of five years, it becomes evident that Guido is a Jew. Along with his wife and son Giosue (Joshua), he is deported to a concentration camp.
The structure reminds me of "It's a Wonderful Life", which in a similar manner is composed of two halves, the first half developing sympathy for a character and his family, and the second half placing this character in the cauldron of fiery trials and tragedy. There are also similarities with the movie "Titanic" - a man falls in love with an engaged woman based on physical attraction, and after the conquest of their love they are together they are thrown into a horrific trial with a tragic conclusion. But "Life is Beautiful" has a story far more "titanic" in its power and passion, and unlike the Hollywood blockbuster, it is genuine love based on self sacrfice rather than immoral passions. Whatever suggestion there is of immorality (such as Guido's declaration that he desires to make love to her on the street) is presented absurdly and for humor, and is hardly intended to be taken seriously, unlike the steamy car scene in Titanic. The very vague suggestion that they sleep together before marriage quickly fades behind the image of marital faithfulness, the wife's selfless devotion to her husband and family, and the self-sacrificing love of a husband and father.
While the first half is very comic, the second half is very serious. Guido is desperate to protect young Joshua from the horror inflicted by the Germans, and so he pretends that the concentration camp is part of an elaborate game, with the first prize being a real tank. He tries to keep up his son's spirits by ingeniously inventing this game, saying "Isn't this fun?" "I've never had so much fun!" "It sure is fun!" These repeated statements ring hollow in the middle of a concentration camp, and the illusion is hard to maintain when the boy says "I just don't get this game" and wants it to be over. His father's reply "This game is serious" has more significance than he realizes.
The first part of the movie features many memorable scenes of comedy: the belly-button classroom speech; the couple in deep conversation on the steps, he holding a steering wheel and she holding a pillow over her behind; a passionate kiss that occurs underneath the table; the green horse Prince Charming uses to rescue his princess; Guido's "interpreting" of the German guard's instruction. But as comedy turns into tragedy, there are also memorable scenes of tragedy: the old Jew offering to help up the German who trips in the gas chambers; the irony of the German doctor who can help Guido but is obsessed with his riddles: "You have to help me!"; and the boy's final vision of his father goose-stepping between the guards.
The concluding hope ("We won! We won!") is touched by tragedy. By not being afraid to include sorrow, this tragic note makes the movie all the more emotional and successful. I can think of few movies that have affected me as emotionally as this one. Injecting a movie about the holocaust with comedy was taking a major risk, but ultimately made the movie all the more successful. The height of comedy in the first half makes the depth of tragedy in the second half all the deeper.
The PG-13 rating is primarily because of one instance of blasphemy, and a few war scenes. Any adult themes that are present, however are not seen, but implied off-screen, including the actual horrors of the concentration camp. Rather than dwell on the physical horrors of war through sensationalism, this movie focuses instead on the emotional impact. It is especially the actor Roberto Benigni that makes this succeed. As well as being the main actor, Roberto Benigni was also the writer and director of the movie. In the half-hour featurette that is on the DVD, he acknowledges that the biggest influence on his acting was Charlie Chaplin. Not does his slap-stick humour provide wonderful comic relief, but also emotion. It's a brilliant performance that deservedly won him the Academy Award for Best Actor.
But this film also took out the Academy Awards for best soundtrack - the classical music is a wonderful emotional counterpart to the storyline - and for the best foreign language film. Over time, it has won a record of over 70 international awards. After you watch it, you'll understand why. It's a captivating picture of comedy and of survival and hope in the midst of horrific tragedy. I can't think of a single movie that has "moved" me as this one has. It may be Italian, but this is a movie not to be missed by people from anywhere around the world.
Movie Review: Every day's a good day.
Summary: 5 Stars
Few people believed it would be possible to make a comedy set in the Nazi concentration camps of WWII. But in Life is Beautiful (aka: La Vita è bella), Roberto Benigni had a vision of one possible way to tell this tale of horror without dehumanising the lead characters. In fact, the whole film is full of contradictions and surprises. There are two clear stages in the film. The first half concentrates on Guido Orefice's efforts to woo his chosen lady. He is funny, courageous and irrepressible in his attempts to win the heart and hand of the lovely Dora. Cunning strategies are used, that take advantage of all the quirks of Florence and its people to impress the woman he constantly greets with, "Buono giorno Principessa", (Good day Princess).
From early on, there is an undercurrent of anti-Semitism that casts a cloud over our anticipation of things to come. But for Guido, racism is simply another of life's obstacles; all he does is dodge around them in his pursuit of life. Pre-war Italy still manages to seem magical through his eyes and his attitude becomes infectious. We soon come to believe, along with Guido, that anything is possible and if you assume the best will happen, it probably will.
Dora's situation does not start out quite as rosy. She is betrothed to a boorish man who takes her for granted and seems more interested in his political status than in her happiness. Luckily, Guido has set his sights on making her life as interesting as possible. And that allows the audience the pleasure of rooting for the underdog; a semi-employed Jewish waiter with one sadly misshapen hat. Although she doesn't see a way out at first, we all know that Guido's optimism will eventually triumph over his straight-laced and narcissistic competitor.
Soon, the two star crossed lovers are married and joined by a precocious son by the name of Giosué, played superbly by the young actor, Giorgio Cantarini. He clearly takes after his father and is the apple of his parents' eyes. It would take a hard-hearted person to avoid loving this little angle; an angel who will go to any extreme to avoid his bath time. His other main concern seems to be getting enough time to play with his toy tank.
But love and optimism are unable to hold back the tide of history. Italy soon falls in with Germany and begins persecuting their Jewish population. On Giosué's forth birthday, while his mother is out, soldiers take he and his father. They are bundled into a truck and then a train, headed for the concentration camps. As soon as Dora realises what has happened, she follows them into the depths of hell.
Guido has other problems to occupy him. Although he doesn't know exactly what is going to happen, he knows enough to want to shield his son in the only way he can. While they are in the truck he concocts a story to convince Giosué that they are taking a surprise trip to celebrate his birthday. As their situation worsens, the fiction becomes more convoluted. Guido controls every aspect of his son's perception to convince him they are participating in a most challenging competition, with a full sized tank as the prize.
Despite the horror of the situation, death all around, brutal labour, starvation and dehumanising barracks, Guido focuses all his efforts on the happiness of his son. Not only does he succeed in protecting the young boy's fragile soul but it is clear he manages to distract himself as well. Guido epitomises selflessness. In the brief moments when he is not labouring for the Nazis or entertaining his son, he finds small ways to remind Dora that he loves her. I can't think of any more poignant moments in cinema.
In the end, Guido manages to accomplish what he had set out to do; protect his son. He manages it so well, that Giosuè is convinced he has won the tank that rolls into camp as the allied army arrives. His happiness contrasts strongly with the backdrop of death and brutality and we are drawn to celebrate Guido's achievement; impossible hope met unthinkable hatred and triumphed. What father could do more for his son?
Movie Review: If Life Gives You Lemons...
Summary: 5 Stars
I never saw Life is Beautiful when it first came out but always meant to when I found time. However, in the years since its release, I had quite forgotten about it until something I read recently rekindled my desire to view it. So I looked it up here, bought it, and enjoyed it several times.
The idea of a Holocaust comedy is intriguing and I sure wanted to see how something like that could be done tastefully. This film shows how that can be done.
Roberto Benigni is magnificent as Guido, a man who has such a cheerful outlook on life that very little can faze him for long. The film begins with Guido and a friend barreling down a twisting highway seemingly out of control in a car with failed brakes. They come into a town where a crowd lines the road awaiting the motorcade of the king and queen, not fascist officials as one reviewer said. As Guido frantically waves them aside, they think he is the king saluting and they salute him in return, and are still doing so when the real motorcade arrives with the impatient-looking royal couple inside. And the comedy continues...
I won't rehash the entire movie, others have done so, but suffice to say that Guido is such an irrepressible guy that he finds it within himself to have an outwardly positive attitude about everything even when all seems hopeless.
To me, the key parts of the film are:
1) The way in which he courts the beautiful Dora (Nicoletta Braschi) and persists even when it looks as though she seems almost sure to be wed to a wealthy and debonair childhood friend. How he snatches her from under that stuffed shirt's nose is hilarious.
2) The way he reacts to the anti-Semitism lite of fascist society. He keeps his head up, a smile on his face and tries to brush it off. When his young son Joshua, played by Giorgio Cantarini, asks about a sign on a shop that forbids entry to dogs and Jews, Guido deflects the emotional blow by joking that everyone has his own dislikes and that down the street there are other shops forbidding entry to other groups. So, since he (Guido) doesn't like Visigoths and his son doesn't like spiders, they will post a sign in their bookstore forbidding entry to Visigoths and spiders!
3)When Germans occupy part of Italy toward the end of the war, the soft anti-Semitism of Mussolini's regime gives way to the hard-core anti-Semitism of the Nazis. The town's Jews, Guido and Joshua among them, are rounded up and shipped out to a labor camp. When Dora informs the German commander that there must be a mistake, he looks at his list, sees that Guido and Joshua are Jews, and assures her there is no mistake at all and suggests she go home. She demands to be shipped out as well and is granted her wish.
In the camp, Guido has to use all his powers of persuasion and imagination to keep the truth of their predicament from his son. He tells the doubting boy that they are in an elaborate contest to win a tank, and if he remains undiscovered, he will accrue the thousand points needed to win. How he manages to keep his son from being detected and how he keeps his spirits up, even when worry and apprehension lie just beneath his upbeat facade, is a wonder to see. His seeming optimism in the face of looming disaster even helps his fellow captives grimly endure. I don't want to give it all away, so it will suffice to say that Guido is ever the jokester to the end.
We've all heard the expression "If life gives you lemons, make lemonade.". Well, Life Is Beautiful is a prime example of someone doing just that. And while we all can't be happy-go-lucky types, that is the trait that let Guido carry on in what would be an untenable situation for most people. And that is the trait that helped him help his son live to see a new dawn.
All the lead characters give excellent performances, especially Benigni. The German characters are largely stereotypically sneering and bossy hate-filled Nazis, about the only sympathetic one being the camp doctor. There are a few scenes that are literally not credible, but even with these the movie is well worth seeing for the lessons it imparts and for the warm feelings you have at the end.
Movie Review: Story of Hope, Love, Life Despite the Realities
Summary: 5 Stars
Released to movie theaters in 1998, like many people, I could not conceive how a comedy and satire about the Holocaust would be an award-winning film ... yet having viewed it, I *do* now understand: it is the personality of Roberto Benigni who uses Charlie Chaplinesque comedy techniques to emphasize the tragic events which seem even more intense as the viewer knows the truth. Roberto Benigni plays Guido, a waiter who moves to Arezzo, Italy and literally bumps into Dora (played by Nicoletta Braschi, his real-life wife), a stylish and attractive young lady, with whom he instantly falls in love, only to learn she is engaged to someone else. As luck would have it, he is the waiter at their engagement reception - where all kinds of mishaps occur, as Guido tries to engage Dora's attention. He accidentally drops something on the floor and crawls beneath the table to retrieve it while Dora peeks under the table and crawls half-way to meet him ... where they exchange a secret kiss (despite her fiance sitting at the table). One thing leads to another, Guido magically rides in on a green-painted horse, sweeping Dora up onto the saddle with him, as they ride off ... together to be married.
Next, more than five years has passed, as the present turns into the future, within the courtyard of Guido's home ... Their son Joshua is the sunshine of their lives, as he sits on the bicycle along side his mother, as Guido peddles into the town. Joshua tends the bookstore while his dad is taken off to the police station, to register as a Jewish store owner. Guido does the famous goose-step routine to entertain his son ... Shortly afterwards, on Joshua's birthday, the local Jewish population is taken off to internment. Guido tells Joshua a story about going on a trip, a secret trip, only his mother knows about it. Guido establishes the rules of the game, where on this trip, if they earn 1000 points, Joshua wins a *real* tank. As a little boy, Joshua is in love with his toy tank ...
There are numerous poignant scenes within the film which emphasize the risks Guido is willing to take to keep his wife and son safe from harm. He manages to send Dora a very personal message by playing an opera song on a loudspeaker, and even Joshua gets in a loving message to his mother. Guido continues the game, despite Joshua's suspicions, as other prisoners give him messages of what is truly happening at the camp. One of the most bizzare twists is when, Joshua manages to escape from taking a shower ... his dad says, you should take the shower (as meaning a real cleansing one) ... not knowing that Joshua's life was held in the balance, and tilted toward "life" by having refused and run away from the shower which meant *certain* death. The rescue scene by an American soldier, who has Joshua hop on board for a ride is very moving ... especially when realizing Guido who was dressed as a woman with a babushka tied beneath her chin, had just been caught, and led away into an alley, where gunfire was heard in the distance. The German soldier walked out alone ... The fact is, Guido sacrified himself in search of his family after the war was declared over, and in the end, had died in the attempt to keep his family alive. To appreciate the magic of this film ... it must viewed, with an open mind. There is no doubt in my mind, the film deserves the 70 world-wide film festival awards it has won ... including the prestigious Gran Prix at Cannes, three awards in Jerusalem, including the Mayor's award and the Jerusalem Medal, Best Actor, Best Score, and Best Foreign Film at the Academy Awards and at the European Film Awards, Best Film and Best Actor. Erika Borsos [pepper flower]
Movie Review: Protection of Innocence Amid the Horror
Summary: 5 Stars
Life Is Beautiful is an extraordinarily significant work of art. Screenwriter/Director/Actor Roberto Benigni takes Tragicomedy to new heights, even as he pays tribute to the finest work of Charles Chaplin. Benigni plays Guido, an Italian Jew whose ethnicity is suddenly and shockingly targeted by the Nazis at a time when he is growing a young family- after having, literally, fallen upon the "Princesa," the woman of his dreams- as well as a fine bookstore.
A genuinely happy, warm and charming person, Guido, along with millions of other Jewish people, is now beset by woes of almost horrificaly unimaginable proportions as he and his little boy are taken away by the Nazis to a concentration camp. His intent, no matter what may follow and above all else except keeping his child physically alive in Auschwitz, a place and time where Jewish children were systematically gassed and killed, is to protect the innocence of his young son by pretending the whole horror is a game, the end of which, if he plays right, is to win a tank.
Guido's wife, who is not Jewish and not sent on the train, insists on accompanying the rest of her family, husband and son, to Auschwitz, much to the surprise of the Nazi soldier at the train station; her life is her loved ones, something he does not understand.
The strikingly beautiful cinematography- including exceptionally rich use of color, choice of camera shots and movement, set- and costume design-, editing, stirring musical score and fine surrealistic touch reminiscent of Fellini, make this film enjoyable and poetic in a visual sense, because there is rhyme and reason to each decision made by Benigni as screenwriter and director, as they blend with the dialogue, acting, story and theme to create a finely crafted, richly inspired, tragicomic masterpiece that brings forth tears of abject sadness amid the light of Guido's sense of play and fatherly protection- "You always did want to go on a trip," he softly tells his little boy as they are carted off in the death train amid the foreboding musical passage that accompanies this shot.
This seems bizarre but it is only the beginning of this man's overwhelming desire to shield his beloved child from the pain of the reality that confonts their family. In fact this preparation was actually, in a sense, begun before that, when Josue playfully hid from his mother in a little cabinet to avoid taking his bath, with his father in collusion with the game, something that winds up saving him from the fake "bath" at the camp.
The use of extreme close-ups is reserved by director-screenwriter Benigni for the most poignant point in the film, where a final wink from Guido to little Josue hiding in the cabinet places the seal on the reality of their game of survival and preservation of the child's innocence.
Survival in the physical sense and also in the emotional or psychological sense is Guido's role as father/protector of his child. Other high cinematic/editing feats include those such as the skillful, unobstrusive change of time from the courting of his wife stage to the realization of their family they created, five years later,in one single shot. This makes clear the family/child they created is a direct result of the love they have for each other. Cinematic poetry is unfortunately a rare phenomenon on the big screen, so this one is a true gem. It should be watched in the original Italian, because the true voices of the characters that people this film belong to them and should be heard by all.