LA VITA E BELLA!

I rented this film out from my local video store as I’d heard good things about it but little else (I never like to hear to much about film plots before I see them). It wasn’t until I saw the box that I became aware of the critical acclaim this film received. It was the winner of the three Acadamy awards including ‘Best Actor’ for the main star (and director!) of the show Roberto Benigni. Not a bad effort for an Italian language film in the states!

THE PLOT

Fast forward a few years and all is going well. Guido and Dora are married and have a son called Joshua (Giorgio Cantarini). They run a small bookstore in the town and lead a relativley carefree life against the backdrop of World War 2. However its not to last and unfortunately for Guido the fact that he is Jewish results in him and his young son being rounded up and put on a crowded train to a concentration camp. Dora comes back to the ransacked house and her worst nightmares are soon confirmed: the holocaust has found them. She pleads to be allowed to go as well and is soon on the train with her family.

Benigni manages a seemingly impossible feat in this film: a comedy out of a film about the holocaust. It is still very moving in places and you don’t know how to react (like when Guido shows the number on his arm to his son and tells him is the registration number for the game!). The direction is excellent throughout, an impressive feat from a man in the lead role. I suppose it allowed him to really express the vision he had for the story.

Almost perfect. All concerned do well but the three main characters of Guido and his family particularly impress. Benigni is impossible not to like in this role. Braschi does some of her best work in the film in her unspoken scenes using body language and reactive expressions to good effect. Cantorini’s innocence may have been real or acted but it worked brilliantly. Some of the extra characters like the doctor who loves riddles are also excellent. Oh and please please please watch it in Italian! Subtitles are irritating a know but as with all good foreign language films its well worth it!

I’ve run out of superlatives now really so suffice to say I would recommend this to anyone old enough to follow the subtitles! It can be a touch haunting but this is nothing to shy away from. I rented but this can be picked up for under £10 now. Try Amazon or Play on the web if you can’t find it in a video store near you. Thanks for reading!