LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL (LA VITA E BELLA)
A movie review by Joe Barlow
(c) Copyright 1998
STARRING: Roberto Benigni, Nicoletta Braschi, Giorgio Cantarini, Horst Buchholz, Sergio Bustric DIRECTOR: Roberto Benigni WRITERS: Roberto Benigni and Vincenzo Cerami RATED: PG-13 RELEASED: 1997 (1988 in the USA, subtitled)
Roberto Benigni's "Life is Beautiful" is the sort of film which exemplifies the power of cinema: it's art without pretension, hope without fear, dreams without restrictions. Although it has been criticized as a sanitization of the Holocaust, the movie pulls no emotional punches; by sharing the hardships and joy of the characters, we are reminded just how precious and remarkable the human spirit is.
It's 1939 Italy, and Guido Orefice (Benigni) is a pleasant, amiable waiter who works in a restaurant owned by his uncle. Clever and impulsive, Guido uses humor as an ally while serving his customers, making him well-liked, especially by Dr. Lessing (Horst Buchholz), a German who shares Guido's fondness for puns and riddles. Their relationship is particularly intriguing, as Guido is Jewish.
When a chance meeting with the lovely Dora (Nicoletta Braschi, Benigni's real-life spouse) sets his heart aflutter, Guido goes to great lengths to win her love, despite her engagement to a snooty government official. Their mutual affection gradually deepens into something more, culminating in a wonderful scene in which Guido disrupts Dora's engagement party to whisk her away on horseback. It's here that a more conventional film would end... but there's nothing conventional about "Life is Beautiful," and this scene occurs less than halfway through the story.
Flash forward six years to 1945: Guido and Dora are happily married, and are now parents to a five-year old son named Giosue' (Giorgio Cantarini). Fortune has been good to them: Guido even owns the bookstore he's always wanted! But Guido's Jewish heritage is discovered by a facist-filled government, and he and his son are sent to an unidentified concentration camp. Dora, a Gentile, is not required to attend the camp, but she demands to go with her family; her devotion to her husband and child is that selfless.
Young Giosue' is frightened, but it's here that Guido gives his greatest performance, convincing his son that they are embarking on a grand adventure, an epic game that will be exciting and fun. (The prize for winning the game? A full-size tank!) Guido knows that the Nazi officers who run the camp are looking for reasons to dispose of the prisoners, so he tells Giosue' that he (Giosue') can win extra points for hiding, remaining silent for long periods of time, etc. These are poignant scenes, as father and son rekindle each other's enthusiasm and optimism (Dora is in a different part of the segregated camp). Although the other children are gradually disappearing into the camp's gas chambers, Guido uses humor to keep his son oblivious to their fate, sparing Giosue' from the emotional agony and sense of helplessness that he himself is feeling.
The structure of "Life is Beautiful" is somewhat like Robert Rodriguez's "From Dusk Til Dawn," in the sense that each half of the film has a completely different tone, joined together by a startlingly abrupt transition. It's ingenious and effective: both halves of the movie are masterfully constructed, but as different as night and day. The warm, sunny first half establishes these wonderful characters and their relationships; we see Guido's remarkable personality in full-swing, and witness the passion and joy he derives from simple, ordinary activities. These early moments also set up his fairy-tale love affair with Dora (Guido refers to her as his "princess" throughout the story), and their devotion to each other is made clear-- we understand why she is willing to follow Guido to a concentration camp. The story's second half, by contrast, uses their love as a foundation on which to build triumph and tragedy. The construction is as elegant as any I've encoutered.
It's impossible not to like Benigni's warm portrayl of Guido, the sort of clown who inspires laughter as much by accident as deliberate effort; his mannerisms are so broad and cartoonish that comparisons with Chaplin are justified. Benigni, who not only starred but directed and co-wrote the screenplay as well, has a masterful sense of comedic timing. The material flows effortlessly through him, lending both spontaneity to the gags and power to the drama.
Benigni doesn't skimp on the humor, despite the subject matter; even during the horrific scenes inside the camp, Guido is full of life and optimism-- a veritable beacon of hope and sunshine for his fellow prisoners and, most importantly, his son. There are those who have called the film "offensive" because of the way it handles its Holocaust-related material. They are mistaken: this movie isn't *about* the Holocaust; it's about humanity, love, and the desperate facade one man must invent to spare mental anguish for his son. The Holocaust is merely a backdrop.
There are perhaps ten genuine laugh-out-loud moments in "Life is Beautiful," sprinkled in among the tragedy; like the characters in the film, Guido's antics make the despair bearable for us, right up to the movie's final moments, which involve the triumph of the human spirit over the unimaginable forces of adversity. The film soars, heartens, saddens, uplifts, rejoices... and, like life, is beautiful indeed.
RATING: **** (out of a possible ****)
E-Mail: jbarlow@earthling.net Joe Barlow on Film: http://www.ipass.net/~jbarlow/film.htm
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---- "Average Joe" Barlow (jbarlow@earthling.net) MiSTie #73097 Joe Barlow on Film: http://www.ipass.net/~jbarlow/film.htm
"The one good thing about the [life-size sticker of Jar Jar Binks on the door of Taco Bell] is you can pretty convincingly throw the SOB a roundhouse punch. I found it satisfying." --Renard A. Dellafave
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