Life is Beautiful
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Movie Reviews of Life is Beautiful
Movie Review: An amazing foreign film... don't miss it!
Summary: 5 Stars
When this movie first came out, we went to the theatre to see it during a foreign film exhibition, and now, in an attempt to share it with the family and some friends, we acquired the DVD and saw it again, this time in the privacy of our home environment.
Life is beautiful is about love, romance, comedy, tragedy, horror, and it surfaces the best and worse of human emotions in a way that leaves us with the hope that someday we shall learn to live better lives.
Roberto Benigni starts as Guido, a young man who moves from the country to the city to work as a waiter for his uncle at a restaurant owned by the family. Guido is articulate, fun, possesses a great imagination and upon arrival falls in love with the woman of his dreams, who "falls from the sky into his arms." Dora, played by Benigni's real life wife, actress Nicoletta Braschi, is dating and is soon to be married to a man that Guido runs into and with whom Guido has several controversial episodes which serve to add great adventure and fun to the story.
Thanks to several encounters where Guido and Dora end up in each other's arms, Guido conquers Dora's heart and they marry, forming a beautiful family. We meet their son, played by Giorgio Cantarini... and the child is simply magnificent as the stubborn, intelligent and precocious boy that struggles to live through the Holocaust.
At some point, this ideal family life is shattered by the Nazis who arrest and ship the men off to a concentration camp. Because she is Italian, Dora is not arrested but she goes to the train station and commands the Gestapo in charge to stop the train because there has been a mistake. He reviews the list and tells her that no mistake has been made, she is not Jewish and therefore, has not been selected to go, but she explains that her husband and son are on the train, therefore, she too... must go on their journey. The saga that ensues is simply heart wrenching because Guido attempts to do something that we know is impossible, make believe that the concentration camp experience is part of a game designed to determine a winner of a real tank. He does this to shield the child from the horror of what they have to endure each and every day.
What we enjoy most about owning DVD's is that we get to see the special features and bonus material provided with the films. In this DVD, the extras include interviews with many actors that had the honor of working with Benigni, who comment on his personality and charismatic human power. The interviews answer the question: would a Jew be offended by attempting to bring humor, fun, and hope into circumstances surrounding the Holocaust? They conclude that the film surfaces the horror of it all and yet, provides an endearing vision into the best of humanity; a father that risks it all to make sure his child is not traumatized by the insanity created by the most evil machine ever conceived. Simply... a most see film... just make sure you have tissues close by.
Movie Review: Whimsy in a Technicolor Death Camp
Summary: 5 Stars
How to show the horrors of the Holocaust? Spielberg created scenes of almost documentary quality on black and white film in Schindler's List because he believed color would make it too terrible to watch. Roberto Benigni chose to make his Holocaust film in gaudy quasi-Technicolor with unnaturally rosy cheeks, bright pink dresses, and bright green horses. Its main character is a live-action cartoon, complete with slapstick humor, running sight gags, and broad yet deep romance. The result? Life Is Beautiful is more than gut-wrenching. The humor doesn't ease the horror of the Holocaust or make a joke out of it. Contrary to what some reviewers here say, the humor makes the reality of the Holocaust all the more grim in contrast.
While Spielberg certainly captured the facts (and one wonders if one way in which Benigni could be faulted is that he has made a Holocaust movie with no violence), Benigni's film has a different kind of very real emotional truth. Life is Beautiful is a must see, recommended for everyone. At the same time I don't think I could ever own it. One to watch every ten years, if that, because it's so hard to watch. Life is Beautiful is a singular movie--horrifying, sickening, but somehow you still remember the jokes after it.
From here on, there will be some spoilers:
It is not the basic plot which makes this movie good, but the way in which the story is told. All of the advertisements and many of the reviews focus on Benigni's character. (He did after all win several Best Actor awards around the world.) During the film he does seem to monopolize the attentions of the audience and the onscreen characters around him. But the mastery is evident in that much of the story Benigni is telling is actually told very subtly. We can see the love Guido has for Joshua through the father's tireless antics despite his complete exhaustion after a day of hard labor. But Dora's love for her husband and son is even greater than theirs for her. She demands that she be put on the train with her family, even though she is not a Jew. And although Guido tries to involve other prisoners in his game with his son, their attempts are half-hearted at best. He certainly hasn't eased their condition. What's more, he knows that he wouldn't be joking if it weren't for his son.
Later, Guido's uncle instinctively helps a female German guard when she trips near him. She is stunned and the audience should be as well. On the opposite end of the spectrum of human kindness, Doctor Lessing seems to promise help for Guido and his family in the camp, only to ask Guido another riddle when they are able to meet in private. It is the smallest actions which move this story forward, and which evidence just how well-told this story is.
Movie Review: I didn't want to see this film!
Summary: 5 Stars
I hadn't heard of this film before I saw it (okay, I know I was in a minority of one but I'd been abroad!). When a friend suggested that we see a movie, I wanted to see Schwarzenegger in "End of Days", but my friends wife had already bought tickets to see "Life is Beautiful" (LIB). When I asked what it was about, I was told something like "It's an Italian Black and White movie, with English subtitles, about a Jewish man in a concentration camp". I can't begin to tell you how much I DIDN'T want to see this film. Two hours later, I emerged from the cinema with a warm glow, having been put through a gamut of emotions, thanking my lucky stars that my friend had got to the kiosk ahead of me.LIB is an odd film; how on earth can you marry a subject that evokes such compassion and outrage as the holocaust with what is essentially a comedic love story? But LIB comes through in spades. The film is basically divided into two acts. The first introduces the hero as an eccentric, jocular guy, out to enjoy the life God has given him in every way, and the escapades that lead him to meet and marry his future wife. The comedy here owes much to the visual, vaudeville style and works superbly well, given that scripted jokes sometimes fail horribly when translated into another language. The second act is understandably very much darker, when our hero, son and ultimately wife are arrested for no apparent reason other than being alive. Even here, however, Roberto Benigni manages to introduce humour (notably the "Instructions" scene, when he `translates' the Camps Rules and Regulations, as announced by the Camp Guard in German, into Italian for the benefit of his son, despite not speaking a word of German) albeit above a veneer of desperation. It is reasonably hard to depict the depth of love a parent has for their child (and spouse), but LIB comes as close as I've ever seen on film.
Without giving TOO much away, Benigni chose wisely with his ending; it would have been all too easy to give us a traditionally happy ending. For me, the conclusion was STILL a happy ending - the hero achieved what he had set out to achieve, and is rightly called a Hero.
As far as the subtitles are concerned, you really won't notice them after the first ten minutes, and this comes from somebody who LOATHES subtitles.
Possibly, the DVD version loses something from the sheer scale of the cinema release, but then so does every other film.
This is a film that I would NEVER have CHOSEN to watch - the film simply didn't sound like a fun way to spend two hours; I wanted to watch Schwarzenegger rip a few bad guys apart. Having spent two hours entranced by it, I'm sorry Arnie, but LIB just blows you out of the water!
Movie Review: 5 Stars Aren't Enough
Summary: 5 Stars
The Holocaust has been a point of interest for me since my brief residency in Germany as a child in the late 50's, and I've read many books on the topic, basically trying to understand the meaning of life, and deal with the knowledge that people can be so cruel to each other. Still, for months, I'd avoided watching this movie. No doubt that reveals a bit too much about me - I've always been one to cover my eyes at scary scenes in movies (there's a scene in Dancing with Wolves that I never have seen and don't intend to). I've never made it through the movie version of Shindler's List, though I'd read the book - perhaps I don't need to watch that one. This movie is quite different than Shindler's List, although it teaches the same history.
Watching the trailers for this movie made me think it could not possibly be for me. The idea of a child in a concentration camp seemed the ultimate horror. How could such a movie be as wonderful as reviewers were saying? Eventually, through recommendations from friends, I rented it, comforted by the knowledge that I could always fast-forward it if it got too awful to watch.
I didn't fast-forward over this movie, but fell in love with the lead character and stuck with him to the end. Roberto Benigni makes you love Guido, and that love for him (and his own love for his young son) draws you into this story that is based on so many incredible stories of that time and place.
On the surface, Guido is a buffoon, a slapstick goofball, who falls in love with a beautiful woman. His goofiness his really an expression of his love of life, his humor, his willingness to take incredibly wild changes. These are the very traits that win him the love of this woman, in an incredible scene as she almost marries the wrong guy. These skills are what allows him to save his son's life, and his son's sanity, during their stay together in a concentration camp.
This is a treasure, not to be viewed just once, but to be owned and watched again and again. Give a gift to yourself and friends, too.(In my opinion, it needs to be sub-titled, because the photography and the facial expressions of Benigni should not be missed for a second.)
While writing a review of Elie Wiesel's book, "Night", I decided to cross-reference this move - evidently it is on the reading list for some high schools in their diversity programs. Book reviews posted on here by high school seniors made me realize that Wiesel's book needed to be accompanied by a movie that will make the connection that the written word can't do for those who are blissfully unaware, if only by their fortunate lack of experience yet with life.
Movie Review: Both hilarious and deeply moving
Summary: 5 Stars
When Roberto Benigni burst onto the Hollywood scene with this acclaimed film and his over-the-top enthusiasm, I couldn't bring myself to watch this film. Instead, I waited for the DVD. However, what I perceived as hype was truly deserved. "Life is Beautiful" is a wonderfully inventive tale that seems fresh even today, years after its first release. Part slapstick, part drama, part romantic comedy, part tragedy - this story of an Italian family during the Holocaust defies categorization.The films opens with Guido (Benigni) and his friend arriving in town on a car with no brakes and being mistaken for facist officials expected for a parade. This slapstick scene ends with Guido catching the future love of his life, Dora (Nicoletta Braschi), as she jumps from a barn window. The clownish Guido sets out to win her heart despite the odds against him. These early scenes set the stage for the rest of the movie: Guido will rely on invention, humor, and persistence to protect his loved ones despite the obstacles he faces. What begins as slapstick becomes heartbreaking later. Like all stories of the Holocaust, this film has its grim side, but Benigni relies heavily on exaggerated humor, running gags, and an early circus-like atmosphere to set up the emotional power of the time's reality. Most of the atrocities are implied, not witnessed, and the viewer's own knowledge of the time period creates an additional layer of tension.
Roberto Benigni is superb as Guido; his antics are hilarious, but during more dire moments, emotions flash across his face, revealing both the depth of his character and the reality of his position. Nicoletta Braschi is also good, and little Giorgio Cantinini as Guido?s son Joshua is adorably spunky, especially as he questions his father's stories.
I always advocate watching foreign films in the original language, with subtitles, but I understand that some viewers may not like "reading" a movie. In this case, however, the dubbed version was distracting, as Benigni provides the English track for his own character while American voices dub the rest of the cast. His Italian accent amid the American accents completely broke the illusion for me. Still, if a dubbed version is the only way you'll watch this movie, please do it.
I highly recommend "Life is Beautiful." Its offbeat approach remains unparalleled in the canon of Holocaust movies. Because of the absence of explicit violence and sex, viewers as young as thirteen should admire this extraordinary film.