Life is Beautiful Review
by Scott Renshaw (renshaw AT inconnect DOT com)October 28th, 1998
LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL (LA VITA 'E BELLA)
(Miramax)
Starring: Roberto Benigni, Nicoletta Braschi, Giorgio Cantarini, Sergio Bustric, Horst Buchholz.
Screenplay: Robert Benigni and Vincenzo Cerami.
Producers: Elda Ferri and Gianluigi Braschi.
Director: Roberto Benigni
MPAA Rating: PG-13 (adult themes)
Running Time: 114 minutes.
Reviewed by Scott Renshaw.
LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL, a fancifully dark Italian comedy from co-writer/director/star Roberto Benigni, has inspired one of the most misguided criticisms of recent years. A large portion of the film, set in Italy circa 1939-1945, involves an Italian family in a concentration camp: Jewish bookseller Guido Orefice (Benigni); his Gentile wife Dora (Nicoletta Braschi); and their five-year-old son Giosue (Giorgio Cantarini). In an effort to protect his son from the terrifying reality of their situation, Guido convinces Giosue that they are playing a grand game, collecting points for being quiet or remaining hidden. When German soldiers arrive at the bunkhouse to announce the camp rules, Guido feigns being able to translate into Italian so he can announce the rules of the "game" to Giosue; when Giosue hears stories of the evils going on at the camp, Guido laughingly dismisses them as the attempts of other "players" to gain a psychological advantage.
The criticism leveled at LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL is that it is a sanitized version of the Holocaust, which somehow diminishes the gravity of the tragedy by squeezing humor from it. The absurdity of that criticism is that it seems to miss the point entirely. Guido's entire purpose in the second half of the film becomes sanitizing the Holocaust, turning the experience into something his son can survive both physically and emotionally. Benigni crafts a sensitive relationship between the father and son, as Guido's wit and imagination allow him to create a world of pleasure and hope where no pleasure or hope should be possible. There are more than enough grim reminders of the camp's true purpose -- as well as a glimpse of banal evil in the character of an obliviously self-absorbed physician (Horst Buchholz) -- to dismiss any notion that Benigni as a film-maker is candy-coating one of the bleakest chapters in human history. His character, however, is doing exactly that; his success is a triumph of love and determination in the creation of their own reality.
The irony of that misguided criticism is that there's a much simpler reason to be less than dazzled by LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL -- namely, most of the first hour. In essence, it's an _extremely_ extended prologue, introducing us to Guido as a carefree seeker of love and fortune who directs his creative energies towards winning Dora's heart. The pleasant scenes between them certainly establish their bond, as well as Guido's imaginative gifts, but on their own they're fairly innocuous bits of romantic tomfoolery. Benigni mixes physical comedy with the occasional social commentary, all with moderate success and the sense that he's just passing time until he can get to the real meat of the story. It's easy to imagine Benigni setting up all the necessary relationships in about half the time, making the shift in tone less abrupt...and making shifting in your seat less necessary.
None of that detracts from the potent, bittersweet pleasures of the film's second half. All of the things that could have gone wrong instead go right -- the young Cantarini radiates charming innocence without cloying self-awareness; Benigni hits just the right balance between clown and unlikely hero; the darker moments always feel consistent with the human comedy. LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL grows richer by the minute, making it easy to forgive the amiable but meandering first half. If it hadn't takeng quite so long to reach its most powerful scenes, LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL would have been an easy choice as one of the year's best films. An expression as trite as "triumph of the human spirit" doesn't quite do justice to what Benigni has pulled off here. He has taken pure horror and turned it into a whimsical love story -- between a man and a woman, between a man and his son, between a man and the idea that we never lose the capacity to create beauty in our lives.
On the Renshaw scale of 0 to 10 beautiful dreamers: 8.
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