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. ...