Life is Beautiful Review
by "Jason Wallis" (rwallis AT inreach DOT com)February 11th, 1999
Life is Beautiful (1998)
Rating (out of five): ****1/2
Starring Roberto Benigni, Nicoletta Braschi, Giorgio Cantarini, Giustino Durano, Horst Buchholz, Pietro De Silva
and Sergio Bini Bustric
Directed by Roberto Benigni
Rated PG-13 for thematic elements
Theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1
Released in 1998
Running 122 minutes
I remember hearing about this film when it first appeared at Cannes over a year ago, picking up the Grand Jury Prize at the festival. 'Holocaust comedy receives standing ovation', the headlines read. Intrigued by this statement, I looked up information on the film and found that, sure enough, Life is Beautiful is in fact a comedy about the greatest atrocity of the last thousand years. Even though the movie was extremely well-received by critics and public alike, I couldn't help but be disgusted at this notion; human tragedy is not something I feel should be celebrated.
Only now do I see the error of my ways. After finally viewing the film for myself after avoiding it for some time, it became clear that it is not, as the headlines proclaimed, a "Holocaust comedy"; on the contrary, Life is Beautiful does not even really depict the graphic events that took place in Nazi deathcamps. Rather, it focuses on the relationship between a father and his son, who he is trying desperately to shield from the horrors of their situation.
Roberto Benigni (who also wrote and directed the movie) stars as Guido Orefice, a Chaplin-inspired clown and all round jolly guy who, as the film opens, is vying for the affections of an attractive school teacher (Nicoletta Braschi, Benigni real life spouse). Through the course of the first hour or so, we see Guido striving to get the attention of this "beautiful princess", as he calls her. Employing the magic of laughter, the Italian comedian wins her heart and together, they raise a young boy named Giosue (child actor Giorgio Cantarini). Life treats them well until Hitler's minions rise to power, and the family is whisked away to a German camp, where Guido becomes convinced that he must upholds his son's innocence no matter what the sacrifice.
Granted, it contains some uproariously funny moments both in and out of the concentration camp, but it does not pull a "Hogan's Heros" and make light of the slaughtering of some six million innocent Jews. Somehow, it achieves hilarity without disrespecting it's gravely serious subject.
So, we've established that Life is Beautiful is not a "Holocaust comedy". But, there is another complete misrepresentation of this material that really disturbs me. The film, despite critic's declarations of it being a "triumph of the human spirit", is no such thing; not in my eyes, anyway. Some have called the story an "affirmation of the beauty of life", but I say it is a very dark and bleak statement about man's capability of denial masquerading as an endearing comedy. The film's ending has been recognized as the most entirely uplifting moment of any film released recently, but I found it to be truly discerning and upsetting. Essentially, Life is Beautiful is quite possibly the greatest hoax in the history of film. However, I am not denying the movie's greatness. Believe me, it's fantastic. I'm just saying that I think Benigni did something different than what most people are interpreting it as.
But perhaps I'm reading more into the movie than is really there. Maybe the film's brilliance relies on the idea that the viewer can interpret the meaning of it in any way they see fit. In fact, maybe Roberto Benigni has made a film that is the sole argument for the old saying that you get out of a movie exactly what you put into it.
*Homepage at http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Boulevard/7475 **Complimentary video cassette courtesy of Miramax Films at
http://www.miramax.com
Copyright 1999 Jason Wallis
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