Life Is Beautiful
La Vita e Bella
Actor-director, Robert Benigni, captivates a movie genre unlike anyone else I have ever witnessed. He is not only charged with delivering a fresh cinematic take on WWII, but also has the added pressure of being the main character. Benigni is joined in his quest to differentiate his film with such names as: Giustino Durano, Nicoletta Braschi (Benigni’s real-life wife), Sergio Bini Bustric, and last but not least Giorgio Cantarini. Benigni’s classic was nominated for seven Academy Awards and walked away with an astonishing three victories, which included: Best Actor, Best Music Score, and Best Foreign Film. As impressive as this was, the big screen success also got a nod from the Academy for Best Motion Picture. For a foreign film to be nominated for Best Motion Picture is quite an amazing feet, unfortunately Benigni couldn’t quite get the Academy to award the top honor to his masterpiece.
This dramedy begins with a chance meeting between Guido (Benigni) and his soon to be love interest Dora (Braschi). Instant infatuation results as Dora captivates our happy-go-lucky traveler, who decides to give her the nickname of princess. As the film progresses, Guido has several more “chance” meetings with Dora and tries to win her heart. Unfortunately, Dora is engaged and about ready to announce her marriage to another man. Guido continues his uphill battle in order to win the heart of the woman he loves. To say he does it the traditional way is a horse of a different color (quite literally…I believe it was green), he crashes the wedding announcement party and carries her off to live happily ever after!
The two meet up with Guido’s Uncle (Durano), who happens to be Jewish, which is not a bad thing unless you are in Italy waiting for Hitler to invade your country. With a jump ahead of about five years, we catch a glimpse of Giosue (pronounced Joshua – I believe) (Cantarini) running and playing with his mother and father. Guido is always playing games with the boy and frequently takes him to work at the bookstore, which he owns. For me, the movie transitions from comedy/romance to drama right at this time. As Guido leaves his shop and closes the gate, a spray-painted message indicates it belongs to a Jewish business owner. Obviously, this is not a business endorsement during a pre-World War II environment. Even with the hateful message, Guido continues to show his son the brighter side of the world. He always has a glass half full mentality, which makes the rest of the film so believable.
As history has reported, those with Jewish background were rounded up and taken away via trains, busses, trucks, etc. In an apparent show of support, Dora shows up just before the train is to depart with her husband and son. She demands to be let on the train and the officer-in-charge grants her request. Our family travels for many hours and finally arrives at their destination, which is a concentration camp. The primary objective at this point is merely to survive what is sure to be the most trying time of their lives.
Guido quickly tells his son that they are playing a game with a tank as the grand prize (his son loves tanks). He lets Joshua know that if they play the best game possible then they will get to take the tank home. However, in order to win the tank he must be able to score points every day by managing to stay hidden and not ask for food. His son believes his father and does as he says; which in many cases turns into quite the comedy routine featuring the antics of Benigni. Even the men in the barracks with Guido play along to keep the child safe and believing that he one day will win his tank.
The only part of the movie that renders any kind of war-like imagery is when Guido accidentally stumbles across a mass burial site littered with hundreds of bodies. Even with this, the imagery is ghostly and not ghastly as all that can be seen are the outlines of the bodies and not the guts and gore that ultimately permeates our subconscious. This was a moving scene without a body exploding or blood oozing from an open wound. The message was clear and it was eerily painful to see as we witness the atrocity seemingly standing right beside the main character.
The time comes for the war to end and Guido kicks into high gear to make sure his family is able to get out alive. Do they make it? Well, let’s just say that Joshua gets his tank, but as with all prizes it comes with a cost.
This may be my all-time favorite movie. I have to say that the subtitles are a little tough to follow as they fly by in a hurry. However, as the movie goes along the pacing slows down. I would highly suggest seeing this picture with the subtitles as opposed to the dubbed version because I don’t believe they would do justice to the outstanding acting that Benigni brings to his character. This foreign film gets a solid 5 stars and is well worth your time to see.
The acting is sublime from each and every character. It seems at times that Benigni is over the top, but that’s what makes his character and persona so lovable. The cinematography, special effects, and music score simply add to the ambiance that is Life is Beautiful. The use of comedy and drama are wonderfully balanced and you begin your journey, with this film, laughing and end with an understandable sadness. If you haven’t had a chance to see this movie and I’m guessing most of you haven’t, pick it up and I’m sure you won’t regret it!
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