Roberto Benigni's Life is Beautiful

Life is Beautiful: A Movie Review [student`s name] [course] [university] Life is Beautiful: A Movie Review Is it possible to portray the holocaust in a comedy without watering down the seriousness of the carnage? Famous Italian comedian Roberto Benigni says, it is. The first actor to "win" the Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actor in a non-English role, Benigni is often considered as the heir of Charlie Chaplin. His 1997 movie, Life is Beautiful has earned him international praise. The movie is internationally acclaimed and has received citations from the Academy Awards, the Oscars, the European Film Awards, and the Cannes Film Festival, among many others. Yet despite the praises it has received, Life is Beautiful has garnered many criticisms. It is steeped in controversy - for laughing at an extremely woeful event, for Benigni playing a Jew when he in fact isn`t, for looking at life as if it was a game. For me, however, I think that Life is Beautiful is really a fable, but the insight it provides about the spirit of man is truly powerful. This paper explores why Roberto Benigni`s work became a commercial success and a controversial film. Life is Beautiful is composed of two acts, the first one relating to love, the second, about the Holocaust. In the first act, we see Guido using flirtatious encounter to woo Dora, a schoolteacher at the local elementary school. Perhaps one of the most memorable scenes in this part of the movie is one that involved the Mary, a key, time and a hat. In this scene, it seems like Guido is in perfect synch - he meets the right people, at the right time. Scheduled to be married to her childhood friend (whom she does not love), Dora tells Guido, "Take me away", and Guido promptly abides. With all the comedy scenes and hilarious stints, the audience soon forgets that this is a story about the Holocaust, but all that is about to change with the act 2, which starts soon after it is revealed that Guido is a Jew. Act 2 is no longer about Guido and Dora`s characters, but rather, the problems they encountered at the time. His young son has learned to read, and from the shop of a window, he reads as sign which said "No Jews or Dogs Allowed". From this sign alone, we know that the Holocaust has reached Italy, and many citizens are embracing the facist philosophy. Jews are equated with animals, which strengthens the belief that Aryans are of a superior race. This concept was already introduced in act 1, but it is only in act 2 that this is fully explored. On the day of his birthday, Giosue, his father and Eliseo, Guido`s uncle, are brought to the death camp. Dora, upon her return, sees the damage done on her home and knows immediately what has happened. She rushes to the Nazi camp and demands to be let on to the train so that she can be with her family. Giosue sees his mother boarding the train. Arriving at camp, Guido goes on to find his wife only to discover that men and women were held in different barracks. Guido alerts his wife, and manages to give her a smile, as if saying "Don`t worry, everything will be fine". To appease his son, he creates s story about a game where the winner can take home real tank. Guido is again shocked to realize that his uncle has to live in a separate camp. Holding on to his son, it is clear that Guido will do whatever it takes to keep his son well. At the barracks, Guido volunteers to translate for the German. He uses this time to explain the rules so that his story about the game becomes believable. He also uses this a pretext for the Giosue`s need to hide and live with very little food. From this point, we see that Guido is starting to realize their situation, and he knows that they may not come out of camp alive. Yet, despite this knowledge, he continues to pretend that all is just a game. His hope of release happens when he meets his favorite patron at the hotel where he served as a waiter (in act 1). To his dismay, the German doctor`s concerns were not of his safety, but rather in resolving a riddle which he has been unable to solve. Thirty years ago, making a comedy about Hitler`s concentration camps would`ve generated much ire to Jews. Everyone would`ve made a bet that no one will go see it. In a report by the CNN it was said: "There`s probably no topic as tragic or that offers so little to laugh about as the Holocaust" ADDIN Mendeley Citation{2bd934f5-ad3c-4c5a-8c34-1eafd4a36cfd} CSL_CITATION { "citationItems" : [ { "id" : "ITEM-1", "itemData" : { "author" : [ { "family" : "CNN", "given" : "" } ], "container-title" : "Entertainment", "id" : "ITEM-1", "issued" : { "date-parts" : [ [ "1998", "11", "9" ] ] }, "publisher-place" : "New York", "title" : "Roberto Benigni defends Life as real love story", "type" : "article-newspaper" }, "uris" : [ "/documents/?uuid=2bd934f5-ad3c-4c5a-8c34-1eafd4a36cfd" ] } ], "mendeley" : { "previouslyFormattedCitation" : "(CNN, 1998)" }, "properties" : { "noteIndex" : 0 }, "schema" : "https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json" } (CNN, 1998). But then, 30 years ago, Benigni was just starting with his career. He wouldn`t have thought of co-writing, directing and starring in a film about the Holocaust because he was still busy thinking about what his niche will be. For many critics, only Benigni could perform Guido Orifice`s role with fervor, in Roger Ebert`s words ADDIN Mendeley Citation{f5feeed9-d697-4523-9017-fda2ea44a8a8} CSL_CITATION { "citationItems" : [ { "id" : "ITEM-1", "itemData" : { "author" : [ { "family" : "Ebert", "given" : "Roger" } ], "container-title" : "Chicago Sun Times", "id" : "ITEM-1", "issued" : { "date-parts" : [ [ "1998", "10", "30" ] ] }, "title" : "Life is Beautiful", "type" : "article-newspaper" }, "uris" : [ "/documents/?uuid=f5feeed9-d697-4523-9017-fda2ea44a8a8" ] } ], "mendeley" : { "manualFormatting" : "(1998)", "previouslyFormattedCitation" : "(Ebert, 1998)" }, "properties" : { "noteIndex" : 0 }, "schema" : "https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json" } (1998) "Life is Beautiful is the role [Benigni] was born to play". Even Benigni`s life story mirrors that of Guido. His life is a "series of happy accidents and Dickensian adventures [which] feature the young Benigni plucked from his ‘very poor family` in Tuscany, by a ‘Fellinian priest`, then rescued from life as a cleric by a flood in Florence, then saved by fire from a career as a magician's assistant in the circus. But not before the clown caught his eye" ADDIN Mendeley Citation{2b1eb213-f217-492f-83d4-79ced265bfac} CSL_CITATION { "citationItems" : [ { "id" : "ITEM-1", "itemData" : { "author" : [ { "family" : "Logan", "given" : "Brian" } ], "container-title" : "The Guardian", "id" : "ITEM-1", "issued" : { "date-parts" : [ [ "1999", "1", "29" ] ] }, "title" : "Does this man really think the Holocaust was a big joke?", "type" : "article-newspaper" }, "uris" : [ "/documents/?uuid=2b1eb213-f217-492f-83d4-79ced265bfac" ] } ], "mendeley" : { "previouslyFormattedCitation" : "(Logan, 1999)" }, "properties" : { "noteIndex" : 0 }, "schema" : "https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json" } (Logan, 1999). Benigni thought that the clown was the king of the circus because he knows everything, the physical gags, the tricks of the acrobats, even the repertoire of the orchestra. Of this experience Benigni comments: "To be in front of an audience and pretending, and to lie, this is the principle of acting. To lie but to be happy to be there; to be observed and to make people surprised, to make them feel emotion: 'Look, fire in his hand and he doesn't scream.' Or watching this clown and discovering he's a prince, the most poetical and the highest" ADDIN Mendeley Citation{2b1eb213-f217-492f-83d4-79ced265bfac} CSL_CITATION { "citationItems" : [ { "id" : "ITEM-1", "itemData" : { "author" : [ { "family" : "Logan", "given" : "Brian" } ], "container-title" : "The Guardian", "id" : "ITEM-1", "issued" : { "date-parts" : [ [ "1999", "1", "29" ] ] }, "title" : "Does this man really think the Holocaust was a big joke?", "type" : "article-newspaper" }, "uris" : [ "/documents/?uuid=2b1eb213-f217-492f-83d4-79ced265bfac" ] } ], "mendeley" : { "manualFormatting" : "(Benigni as quoted in Logan, 1999)", "previouslyFormattedCitation" : "(Logan, 1999)" }, "properties" : { "noteIndex" : 0 }, "schema" : "https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json" } (Benigni as quoted in Logan, 1999). And it is with this attitude that Guido appears on Life is Beautiful, one that people wish to emulate but can`t especially when in the height of misery. Why did Begnini decide to film Life is Beautiful despite the obvious risk of criticism? Perhaps this can question can be addressed by this statement, "I discovered that in the lowest you can discover the highest. This is wonderful for me, this moment, this is revolutionary" ADDIN Mendeley Citation{2b1eb213-f217-492f-83d4-79ced265bfac} CSL_CITATION { "citationItems" : [ { "id" : "ITEM-1", "itemData" : { "author" : [ { "family" : "Logan", "given" : "Brian" } ], "container-title" : "The Guardian", "id" : "ITEM-1", "issued" : { "date-parts" : [ [ "1999", "1", "29" ] ] }, "title" : "Does this man really think the Holocaust was a big joke?", "type" : "article-newspaper" }, "uris" : [ "/documents/?uuid=2b1eb213-f217-492f-83d4-79ced265bfac" ] } ], "mendeley" : { "manualFormatting" : "(Benigni as quoted in Logan, 1999)", "previouslyFormattedCitation" : "(Logan, 1999)" }, "properties" : { "noteIndex" : 0 }, "schema" : "https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json" } (Benigni as quoted in Logan, 1999). The Holocaust one of the the darkest moments of history, left more than 9 million Jews dead, and one that still has repercussions on modern society. It is often show in negative light, with suffering, pain and death as the central theme. Schindler`s List, one of the highest paid movies about the Holocaust, shows the life in Auschwitz where thousands of Jews were killed in gas chambers. But for Begnini, the Holocaust has shown the best and worst of man. It has brought about human rights laws, and has given voice to the suffering minority. It has brought ethnicity and race at the forefront of international discussions and led to numerous researches. Because of the Holocaust, the world has awakened with the need for equality and justice. The Holocaust has strained relationships among peoples, but it has also opened new opportunities for the poor and marginalized. Through Life is Beautiful, Benigni is essentially saying "the Holocaust has happened, and it sure did a lot of damage. But it is also over, and it`s time to take the lessons and build a better world with it." Unlike other Holocaust movies filled with gory frames of violence and death, Life is Beatiful is light, but serious. The story shows Guido making light of issues that will stress most people: a broken car, his dreams of putting up a bookstore flying out the window, being separated with his wife, and being sent to death camp with no hope of return. All these were enough to break someone, but not Guido. People kept telling him "these are bad times, bad times indeed", but Guido`s mantra was "what can they possibly do to me?"ADDIN Mendeley Citation{f5feeed9-d697-4523-9017-fda2ea44a8a8} CSL_CITATION { "citationItems" : [ { "id" : "ITEM-1", "itemData" : { "author" : [ { "family" : "Ebert", "given" : "Roger" } ], "container-title" : "Chicago Sun Times", "id" : "ITEM-1", "issued" : { "date-parts" : [ [ "1998", "10", "30" ] ] }, "title" : "Life is Beautiful", "type" : "article-newspaper" }, "uris" : [ "/documents/?uuid=f5feeed9-d697-4523-9017-fda2ea44a8a8" ] } ], "mendeley" : { "previouslyFormattedCitation" : "(Ebert, 1998)" }, "properties" : { "noteIndex" : 0 }, "schema" : "https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json" } (Ebert, 1998) Yet, despite the astonishing story made up by Guido so he can shield his son from emotional trauma, he knows the gravity of the situation. For one, when Giosué says that there are no more children in camp, he knows tht something bad has happened to them. He steals inside the radio room so that he can send a message to his wife, because he knows that she will probably be waiting for news about them. Even when they are apart, he was able to send his love to his wife. He played a song, which he knows his wife will remember through the gramophone, and opened the windows so that the music can carry to the barracks. When he knew that the war has ended, he did not wait for safety, instead, he went out and looked for his wife. Even before hi...