The Film Life Is Beautiful - Movie Review Example

Word Count 857 Life is Beautiful is that remarkable combination of tragedy and comedy in a film that is set in a World War II concentration camp under Nazi tyranny. This theme and the lightheartedness of the story seemed like it was incompatible, much less feasible, but Roberto Benigni’s direction made the film heart-wrenching and funny both at the same time. Tragicomedy as a genre in films has been attracting much attention as the audience gets to see a multidimensional rendition of storylines that are not only tearjerkers but tickles the viewer’s funny bones. What makes this film unique is not only is it an outstandingly made tragicomedy but the careful execution that showed the Holocaust at an extremely different light than what moviegoers are used to. It deviates from the tradition of Schindler’s List and the inevitably emotion-charged topic of the world’s history that continuously affects a portion of society. Life is Beautiful showed a human side focused on a family and how love and ingenuity can never be taken away despite a person’s circumstances. Roger Ebert says it best in his review of the film, “The film falls into two parts. One is pure comedy. The other smiles through tears” (para.2). It was not about making fun of the Holocaust, rather, the film was showing that even in those dire situations, funny still exists. Set in the latter part of World War II after Italy has been occupied by Nazi Germany, Guido and his son Giosue were taken to a concentration camp where Guido was to work for the Germans at the risk of his life. His Jewish background made him a subject of the racial campaign of the Nazis for Arian supremacy and genocide founded on anti-Semitism. Dora, fearing that she would be separated from her family inadvertently joined the rows of women in the train. They ended up in the same concentration camp but the segregation between men and women divided them. Throughout this ordeal, Guido devised a scheme where he convinces his young son that they were in a contest to win a real military tank. The things that happened in between made this film an endearing story and paved the way for it to win a number of awards including none other than the Oscars. Mirna Ciccioni aptly writes, “Benigni provides an alternative discourse to those of the fascist and Nazi oppressors, and foregrounds their contradictions, encouraging reflection on them” (285). Though the flow of the story mainly focused on Guido and his family, the minor characters shed light on this point. Doctor Lessing provided that other side of the Nazi which made them more human. The doctor approached Guido at dinner and tells him that he has something to tell him. Guido, sensing the urgency, thought that there must be a way out that Doctor Lessing was willing to help him. But to his dismay, it was only a riddle that had been keeping him up all night he wants Guido to solve. Here, Guido loses hope of getting out of the concentration camp and their way back to the barracks was filled with lamentation and dread. He tells the sleeping Giosue, “Maybe we are both dreaming. Maybe this is all a dream, and in the morning, Mommy will wake us up with milk and cookies” (Life is Beautiful). But even this was injected with humor as he whispers maybe he could make love to his wife two or three times after, only if he is able to. Then he stops on his tracks as he sees the mountain of dead bodies out in the open. But the substance of the movie’s story should first be traced to its core as a romantic film. Guido falls for Dora who was obviously way out of his league. Banking on his antics and perseverance, he woos her and was finally able get the girl and swept her away from the man she was supposed to marry. Working as a humble hotel waiter, the first half of the film establishes him as a goofy character that was willing to self-deprecate to get laughs no matter who his audience was. His love for his wife was something that reverberated throughout the film. The schemes he executed to the fullest extent were in order to drive away Dora’s fascist fiancé. These scenes were classic slapsticks comedy. When their situation changed, the wretchedness of the concentration camp did not deter Guido from committing acts that could easily kill him all to hopelessly show his love for his ‘princess.’ When Guido saw that there was no guard in the P.A. system, he announces his love for her and that he and Giosue were all right. Dora hears the voices of her husband and son which immediately made her smile. The fear of children being taken away to be gassed on the premise that they were going to bathe made her terrified for Giosue. Hearing their voices reassured her of their safety. Then during the dinner where Guido served as a waiter, he saw the record which had the song they had watched live in Italy. He daringly moved the phonograph to the window and played it for her. She hears it and listens intently almost in reverie of their memories. Finally, hard to miss was the fact that caused Guido his life. On that final night in the camp, as the prisoners realized that the war is just about over. He takes the blanket and jacket from Giosue and wore it to pretend she was a woman. He aimlessly looked for her to prevent her from being taken away in one of the trucks. The guards caught him and on an uneventful right turn to one corner, fires were shot by one single guard and Guido was out of the picture. Even the scene of his death was a point of comparison that showed the subtlety of dramatic injections in the movie. There was no big scene, slow motion, or any emotional reveal leading up to his death. The depiction was matter-of-factly that it was as simple as a gun being shot multiple times. No dead body or even just a spill of blood was shown. But this does not take away from the reaction derived by the audience who were oriented that the movie’s main protagonist is dead. The film is able to educate the value of the power of imagination while dealing with eventful themes such as World War II and Auschwitz that only revitalizes people’s memory of the Holocaust (Ciccioni 294). The fortitude of the human spirit is enduring and this was shown through the film. This film has enabled Roberto Benigni to forge his mark in the industry and go beyond Italy to capture the attention of the world. But not surprisingly, he has gathered negative criticisms as well from people who regard his work as reductive of the Holocaust. These negative reactions especially from Jewish critics were founded on moral indignation as Maurizio Viano writes. The architecture of the movie is something worthy of analysis. This consists of an allegory with a varying beginning and ending. Most of the film’s opposition gives focus on the comedic first half of the film and the seemingly too happy disposition when referring to the Holocaust. But this is contrasted to the final parts particularly to Guido’s death. Guido is the manifest equivalent of comedy in the film but he dies. This unexpected turn of events is unlikely in a comedy but it was effective in reminding the audience of the plight of the Jews under Nazi regime. These criticisms were not unknown to Benigni himself who despite of his massive audience in his home country has not been embraced by critics. “His films are not for those who value style over content, difficulty over simplicity” (Viano). This mixing of emotions makes it a good tragicomedy. The movie was filled with bittersweet memories and the situation itself renders the characters to show vulnerability while being true to their persona. The audiences felt both happy and sad during its viewing. This proves that the common notion that happiness and sadness cannot co-exist must be re-evaluated (Larsen and McGraw 265). This supports the wide-ranging emotions that can be felt by moviegoers who are able to experience something by way of an alternative in the big screen. In the famous scene where Guido pretended to translate from German the instructions in the camp, he similarly uses the actions of the guard to make his account more believable to Giosue. The intimidating German guard was turned into a source of laughs. He capitalized on the opportunity to display to his son that the game he speaks of is for real while equally addressing the concerns that would cause a problem to a father under the circumstances. The pattern of make believe that he was able to convince Giosue of was clever and resourceful. On more than one occasion, he uses reverse psychology to encourage his son from playing the made-up game. Benigni was Guido in the same way that Guido is Benigni in this film. As Roger Ebert puts it, he was born to play this role. Benigni does not lose himself in any misapprehensions of himself. He knows who he is and he does not shy away from showing that his physical appearance could in itself be a source of comedy. In a scene where he tells the young students of why Italian’s are superior, he undresses in front of them and exemplifies that his big ears and belly button makes him a great Italian. He had all these funny and silly attributes but he was able to use these characteristics to elicit laughter. This honesty and inventiveness made for a compelling appreciation of the movie even without considering that it was about the Holocaust. Simultaneously, this aspect was indispensable to the conception of the storyline in its entirety. They were shunted to a situation where their humanity was at the brink of destruction. The treatment of the Jews would never seem comical in whatever sense and by no means is it a topic comedy. But more than the Nazis, the Jews and the Holocaust, Life is Beautiful is a story of love and what one man can do for his family. Benigni, the comic that he was, is central in its execution. In the end, Ebert summarizes best what Benigni was able to do, “He is showing how Guido uses the only gift at his command to protect his son. If he had a gun, he would shoot at the Fascists. If he had an army, he would destroy them. He is a clown, and comedy is his weapon” (Ebert para. 7). The bittersweet reunion of Giosue with Dora showed that though Guido died in the hopes of bringing his family together, it had not been in vain. Benigni, in an interview with The Guardian, said “to laugh and to cry comes from the same point of the soul… the crux of the matter is to reach beauty, poetry, it doesnt matter if that is comedy or tragedy” (qtd. in Logan). Works Cited Ciccioni, Mirna. “No True Darkness?” The Critical Reception of Life is Beautiful in Italy and Australia.” Beyond "Life is Beautiful": Comedy and Tragedy in the Cinema of Roberto Benigni. By Bullaro. United Kingdom: Troubador Publishing Ltd, 2005. 272-291. Googlebooks.com. Web. 28 Nov 2014. Ebert, Roger. “Life is Beautiful.”Roger Ebert. Rogerebert.com, 30 Oct 1998. Web. 28 Nov 2014. Larsen, Jeff T. and McGraw, Peter A. “The Case for Mixed Emotions.” Social and Personality Psychology Compass 8.6 (2014): 263-274. Web. 28 Nov 2014. Life is Beautiful. Dir. Roberto Benigni. Cecchi Gori Group, 1997. DVD. Logan, Brian. “Does This Man Really Think the Holocaust Was a Big Joke?” TheGuardian.com. The Guardian. 29 Jan 1999. Web. 28 Nov 2014. Viano, Maurizio. “Life Is Beautiful: Reception, Allegory, and Holocaust Laughter.” Indiana University Press. Muse.jhu.edu, 1999. Web. 28 Nov 2014. Read More