Movie Review - LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL (1998)
Life Is Beautiful, or La Vita e Bella- directed by Roberto Benigni. Starring Roberto Benigni and Nicoletta Braschi.
This film is, quite simply a masterpiece. Why? For me, Roberto Benigni achieves the impossible. A classic piece that captures the horror of the holocaust by means of comedy, Begnini pushes the madness of the nazi regime to the point of absurdity via the manners of a clown, letting imagination and hope triumph over the terror and horror of war.
What is mere slapstick humour in itself in the first half of the film, becomes a weapon and life saver in the second half, as Guido (Roberto Benigni) uses his imagination to shield his son from the horrors of the gas chamber by distracting him with a grand illusion - a pretence in which the camp becomes the site of a game whose first prize is a brand new armoured tank. I love this film and have seen it more times than I can remember. It baffles me in its genius, its humanity, its dignity, and the power and beauty of a fertile imagination in the midst of unthinkable horror and darkness. I marvel in it’s brilliance - if you’ve never seen it, rent it today…..
“The idea suddenly occurred to me. Like Rossini once said that he received his ideas and creativity straight out of the sky. The same thing happened to me. First I hesitated because it seemed too risky. But then I couldn’t do otherwise: I had to make this film. I am in the fortunate position to be able to make the films that I like. In italy, I am a little like steven Speilberg. many warned me about this project. but an artist must be ahead of his audience and not running after them.”
Roberto Benigni, 1998
Interesting facts-
This film was Pope john Paul II’s favourite movie. It won the grand prize of the jury at the Cannes Film Festival in 1998, then going on to win three academy awards for Best music, best Foreign Language film, and of course, best actor…….