Several years ago I remember an Italian actor winning an Oscar and literally jumping for joy on the stage. I'd never seen him before and thought him a funny looking man. That night, the movie he starred in won two other Oscars too, and it was an incredibly popular choice with the audience. The man was Roberto Benigni and the film, which he starred in, directed and co-wrote, was called Life is Beautiful. I made myself a mental note to watch it some day, and I finally got around to it last week. To say that I was glad I did has to be my understatement of 2002.
Life is Beautiful (1998) is set in Italy during the Second World War. It stars Benigni as Guido, a likeable, excitable bumbler who moves from the countryside to Florence and becomes a waiter. Guido loves beauty, loves thinking, loves knowledge, and loves life. He sees the good in everything and everyone. His most endearing qualities are his fantastical and childlike imagination, his kindness, and his quick and often cryptic intelligence.
In Florence Guido falls in love with a schoolteacher, Dora, and woos her through a series of genuine and set-up 'surprise' encounters. The two marry and have a son, Joshua. Guido opens up a bookshop - his dream - and together
they live a happy, magical life.
But Guido is a Jew, and this is fascist Italy. One day, Joshua's fourth birthday, while Dora is out, Guido and Joshua are taken away and put on a train to the concentration camps. Dora chases after the train and demands to be put on it too. On their arrival at the camp, Dora is sent to the women's quarters while Guido and Joshua go to the men's.
Guido is determined that Joshua's innocence and happiness will be preserved, and pretends that the whole concentration camp experience is an elaborate game. His camp tattoo thus becomes his and Joshua's 'registration number' into the game. The winner will be the first person to get to 1000 points, and the prize is a real tank. In order to gain points, Joshua must keep himself hidden all day every day when Guido is working, and in order not to lose points, Joshua must not cry, or ask for his mummy or for a snack.
As life goes on in the camp and children disappear for a 'shower', Guido thinks of ever more fantastic reasons of where they have really gone and how it all fits into the game. Ditto when Joshua overhears people talking about how the Nazis are burning people in ovens and turning them into buttons and soap.
Guido also finds ingenious ways of letting Dora know that he and Joshua are still alive and thinking of her. She never knows whether these 'messages' are real, but her belief that they are is what keeps her going through her own terrible ordeal.
The performances in Life is Beautiful are absolutely perfect. Benigni is masterful as the bumbling, lovable, quick-witted Guido, and his concentration camp scenes, where he caries the burden of knowing the truth whilst trying to make life 'fun' for Joshua, are superb.
Giorgio Cantarini as Joshua is outstanding. He manages to show us innocence, a great sense of fun, a huge intelligence, an underlying fear and a longing for his mother all at once.
The beautiful Nicoletta Braschi as Dora is equally good, and her lonely, steadfast scenes in the camp are truly moving.
Life is Beautiful is an incredibly moving and very funny film. Yes, funny! The pre-camp scenes are full of slapstick, wit and romance, and these moments persist through the second half of the film despite its utterly bleak setting.
At the time of the film's release, some critics accused Benigni of making fun of genocide, but thankfully most saw that this was not the intention of the film at all. I have never seen a film that manages to portray so many emotions and so many sides of humanity simultaneously. The tragic camp setting is made all the more affecting by the contrasting humour, and in a way the humour is all the funnier by its dreadful backdrop.
In common with so many of the concentration camp films, Life is Beautiful strongly reaffirms the strength and dignity of the human spirit and the power and necessity of hope. It is a story about Nazism, a story about love, a story about relationships and in the end, a story about sacrifice.
Life is Beautiful was the highest grossing non-English language film ever in the US and it deserved to be. It is a movie that is eminently watchable, rich in character and storyline, and ultimately heartwarming. How it manages to walk such a tightrope between comedy and tragedy, genuine emotion and schmaltz, and come out triumphant on both counts, is quite remarkable.
I've hardly stopped thinking about this film since watching it. It has been hailed as 'a modern masterpiece' and in this case such praise is entirely justified.
If you only ever see one subtitled film in your life, make it this one and you will not be disappointed.
Running time 111 minutes Italian with English subtitles Available on DVD from play.com for £8.99 delivered
Production Year: 1981 - Drama - Director: Franco Zeffirelli - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Brooke Shields, Martin Hewitt, Shirley Knight, Don Murray, Richard Kiley, Penelope Milford, Beatrice Straight
Production Year: 2004 - Drama - Director: Nick Cassavetes - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over, 12 years and over - Starring: Rachel McAdams, Ryan Gosling, Gena Rowlands
I get chills just being reminded of this film....in fact any film concerning genocide and the horrific degrading behaviour towards the jews.......I loved this film but loathed it at the same time as I hate to be reminded of the brutality and lose of innocent lives during the war......The ending had me running to the toilet to hide my tears from the kids and the subsequent explantion as to why this film affected me so much......Oh how ironic to be living in Germany today and to be aware of the ever increasing growth of the nazi party again.........a wonderful film and a very good op~Sarah
TheChocolateLady 31.12.2002 13:22
You put quite a bit more of the story into this op than I would have. It is certainly a film that was unique, if not controversial. Well done op. Happy New Year, Principessa!
Morgenhund 31.12.2002 12:16
Got the DVD of this - excellent watching it in Italian with English subtitles - that way you get the best out of Benigni's performance... Mike
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