LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL
**** (out of ****)
Rated PG-13 (for mild language, violence, holocaust themes)
Guido: Roberto Benigni Dora: Nicoletta Braschi Giosue': Giorgio Cantarini District Attorney: Giustino Durano Ferruccio: Sergio Bustric
Directed by Roberto Benigni. Produced by Gianluigi Braschi and Elda Ferri. Screenplay by Roberto Benigni and Vincenzo Cerami. Distributed by Miramax Films. Running time: 120 minutes. Release date: October 23, 1998 in NY/LA; wider over the coming weeks. (Italian film with subtitles)
(to read this review complete with pictures from the film, go to: http://www.impactprod.org/people/huston/life.htm )
The idea: a comedy set in a World War II concentration camp. Sounds like "Hogan's Heroes", but it's not. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth. "Life is Beautiful (La Vita E' Bella)", from acclaimed Italian filmmaker and comedic actor/director Roberto Benigni, achieves the unthinkable. It uses comedy to tell a deeply moving story set against the backdrop of this century's greatest horror, the Holocaust. With the haunting memories of "Schindler's List" still fresh in the psyche of our culture, Benigni's approach first appears to be potentially tasteless and offensive. That's why it is all the more impressive that this is a film that is reverent, honorable, and inspiring. Through Roberto Benigni's joy of spirit, "Life is Beautiful" powerfully reaffirms life itself.
Like all great films, "Life is Beautiful" is best viewed without prior knowledge of key plot elements. One of my greatest pleasures in watching it was that I knew nothing of the film's story aside from its basic premise. Therefore I will not detail a synopsis here, but rather discuss the story's structure, the film's performances, as well as its themes.
The first and second halves of "Life is Beautiful" are as different from one another as they are necessary to each other. The first half is a charming, magical romantic fable (filled with moments of glorious color) that could have been pulled straight out of Hollywood's Golden Age of the 1930s and 40s. There is a sweetness about it rarely seen in modern cinema. It isn't until the film's second half that the concentration camp comes into play.
Some may watch it and feel that it is two different films put together. I do not feel that would be an accurate view. Rather, "Life is Beautiful" has a defined two-act structure. Within the first act's joy and romance, there are moments of subtle foreshadowing that hint at the elements to come. And without the first act's charm and humor, the film's second act would seem peculiar and oddly inappropriate. The two halves feed off of each other; one is not complete without the other. It is by seeing the first half that we can view the second half in a proper emotional context. It is an extremely difficult weaving of vastly differing moods, but it is done masterfully by Benigni. The mixture of humor with evil is a precarious balancing act, one that seems virtually impossible to achieve. It is Benigni's deep appreciation and sensitive understanding of humanity that enables him to make this film work.
Roberto Benigni, along with being the film's lead actor, also serves as writer and director. Needless to say, this film is Benigni in every sense of the word. Among the film's strengths, it is Benigni's performance that is the strongest. He evokes memories of Charlie Chaplin, virtually the only actor since that era who has done so. His gift for physical comedy is rooted not in the situation but the character. He also uses the props around him, as Chaplin did, in a very unique and entertaining way. Benigni is nothing short of a comedic genius.
But perhaps more than anything, the trait that really makes Benigni so special is the joy he exudes. It seems to just pour out of him. His portrayal of Guido truly is one of a person who takes great pleasure in always finding life's beauty. It is through him that we are able to see beauty, even when the circumstances are helacious.
The film is blessed with superior, at times transcendent, performances by its supporting cast. Nicholetta Braschi plays Dora, Guido's love interest. She is a woman who seems to have it all. But it is through Guido that she is awakened to life's true blessings. It is a subtle, heartfelt performance by Brashci, one of the better female performances of the year. Giustino Durano plays the District Attorney, a man of power who befriends Guido. His character arch is a unique one with a subtle evolution. Just when you think you know him, you realize that you don't.
There must be some international law that all good foreign films must have a great performance by a child actor ("Ponette", "Cinema Paradiso", "Kolya"). If there is such a law, then "Life is Beautiful" sure has abided by it. Giorgio Cantarini plays Giosue', Guido's son. He becomes an integral part in the film's second half. Unaware of the real reason why he and his father are at the concentration camp, Giosue' believes and trusts the reasons as to why his father says they are there. Cantarini's innocence is sweet and loveable. He makes you yearn for that innocence to not be lost.
The script, by Benigni and Vincenzo Cerami, is one of the year's best efforts. They find unexpected but magical ways to interweave various plot elements and characters. Two story lines that seemingly have nothing to do with each other eventually intersect. These are soft, tender moments that take you pleasantly by surprise. It's what gives the film much of its charm as well as its depth.
The moments of foreshadowing in the film's first half are particularly strong. I think of one scene in particular where Guido's horse is painted bright green with various racial slurs (Guido is Jewish). He playfully brushes this off, finding humor even in this. His thinking is, of course, that it is ultimately harmless. Certainly things could not get any worse, right? Of course our hindsight tells us otherwise, making this scene all the more sad.
Benigni displays great talent as a director in this scene with his use of the film's score. Up to this point, Nicola Piovani's music is playful and bright. But as Guido laughs about this incident with the horse, we hear the first use of music that is somber and foreboding. It is in direct contrast to Guido's mood. The music represents what we, the audience, already know of what is to come. It also begins the transition between the film's first and second half. This is expert direction by Benigni, using music to add depth and develop the story's dramatic build.
There is a powerful aspect to "Life is Beautiful" that doesn't make itself overtly apparent. It is something that, while I caught it during the course of the film, I did not fully comprehend until afterward. It was immediately after seeing the film that as I began to meditate on the character of Guido, it hit me in the pit of my soul. What I realized is that in the character of Guido was one of the most powerful examples of courage that I had ever seen in film.
The reason it is not obvious is because humor is not commonly associated with bravery, particularly in cinema. It is not humor "per se" that is brave here, but Guido's underlying motivation for using it. Benigni instills Guido with a deep fatherly love for his son. It is this paternal instinct which will do all that is possible in order to protect one's child. It is what Guido uses to shield Giosue', even at the risk of his own life. Every day, Guido must go through grueling physical and psychological abuse. But the instant he sees his son, Guido is somehow able to summon the strength to appear as if he has not a care in the world. It is a display of courage that occurs in the most unlikely of ways; an act of selflessness that made an indelible impact on my life.
In profound fashion, Guido personifies the axiom "Life is what you make it". It is an unexpected, oddly passionate yet deeply emotional portrayal of a father's sacrificial love for his son. Parents in particular will be moved by Benigni's wholly original performance, one that I found to be both humbling and inspirational.
While the film does take place in a concentration camp, there is not excessive or graphic visual content. The hardships are portrayed and the threat of evil is always present. But as Guido guards his son from the camp' s horrors, director Benigni visually guards them from us as well.
"Life is Beautiful" is arguably the best foreign film to be released in the United States since 1995's "The Postman (Il Postino)". Both released by Miramax, "Life is Beautiful" warrants the promotional support given to "Il Postino", which went on to receive Oscar nominations for Best Picture, Director, Actor, Screenplay and Original Dramatic Score (which it won). "Life is Beautiful" deserves to be embraced in the same manner.
At this year's Cannes Film Festival, Benigni and his film received a ten-minute standing ovation from the audience that attended the screening, an event unprecedented in the Festival's fifty-plus year history. It is no wonder that it went on to win the Grand Jury Prize at Cannes. "Life is Beautiful" is one of the most unique film experiences of the year. It is also one of the best. What Benigni's film so poignantly show us is that in the midst of the dark ugliness of death, the light of life shines at its most beautiful.
(to read other reviews by Jeffrey Huston, visit his film review website "Believe Me" at: http://www.impactprod.org/people/huston/core.htm )
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