Life is Beautiful Review
by Joy Wyse (jwyse AT onlineworks DOT com)October 30th, 1998
Review: Life Is Beautiful
Review by: Joy Wyse
This is an Italian film, with subtitles. Most people don’t like subtitles, but give this movie a try. If it was in English, it would probably be on everyone’s best films list. It seems almost sacrilegious to say that this is a very funny movie, because it’s such a moving drama. To me, it’s a cross between “Saving Private Ryan” and “Schindler’s List” with humor.
The central character is a man named Guido, [portrayed by Roberto Benigni] an Italian Jew who is always clowning around. [Benigni himself has been lauded as a new Buster Keaton.] His story begins in 1939 when he comes to the big city where he has an uncle. There he meets a girl. His courtship is hysterical. I keep remembering scene after scene, and laughing to myself. There are the “hat” scenes, and there is his job as a waiter. It is there that he meets a doctor who likes riddles. They become an intricate part of the plot.
Suddenly, it is 1944 and the Germans have moved into Italy. Previously, the Italian Jews have suffered mainly bigotry, name-calling, and graffiti. But, the Germans begin to move them to the concentration camps. Guido, his uncle, his wife, and his young son are all shipped off. Guido, in an attempt to spare his son the trauma of what is happening, tells the boy that they are on vacation, and that it’s a game. The boy loves his toy tank, so Guido tells him that the first prize in this game is a full size tank.
Oh, there are so many wonderful moments, such as when the Grandmother first meets her grandson. I can hardly wait for this movie to be released so that I can see it again. And the sub-titles didn’t bother me a bit. They are even beneficial and funny in the scene where the guard, in German, is explaining the rules to the prisoners.
I cannot recommend this film too highly. I give it an A-, and the minus is only because of the language barrier.
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