Life Is Beautiful

Great film enjoyed it

I don't have time to write a detailed review about how good this film is, but I saw it when it first came out about 20 years ago, and bought the DVD because I had such fond memories of its infectious charm. It's hard to describe this film, because it's set against the backdrop of persecution and murder of Jews in 1945, but I love it for the fact that it shows us that even in the bleakest of times, we can always find love, hope and happiness.

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Life is Beautiful Life Is Beautiful is an old favourite of mine. The story is set in Italy just before and during World War Two. The protagonist, an Italian Jew, falls in love with a woman from the local high society, who is betrothed to a man she does not like. After a sweet, funny courtship, which is punctuated by the protagonist's creative dates (including a memorable attempt to pass off a Mussolini while inspecting the school where his beloved is teaching), the pair decide to elope together. After a time skip, during which the couple have a child, the war begins and the family is deported to the concentration camps. Unable or unwilling to explain the reality of the situation to his son, the protagonist begins to pretend that the concentration camp is a competition, with a military tank as the first prize. This movie has been criticised for "making light" of the atrocity of concentration camps. I do not agree with this view, because in my opinion the funny elements of the story serve to emphasise the terrifying, incomprehensible violence of the situation, starkly exposed by the contrast between the fun-loving, affectionate protagonist and the inhuman camp guards. It is too optimistic, perhaps, in that it suggests that a person may be able to cultivate their dreams even through such an ordeal, but it also carries a hopeful message of rebirth after the war.

I saw this film when it first came out in a little art cinema in Perth, Australia with my two newly adult daughters. It made us all cry (I'm not a 'crier' at all normally). It really brought home to me the importance of family and made me realise that my father was very much like Guido in that he brought fun and laughter into our childhood (all four of us). A thought provoking film on several levels and very worth watching.

thos is a funny film but it sad because of world war two and what they did to Jews it makes you think and you have to wach it from beginning to end such a great film

This Italian English sub-titled film has two sides. It starts off as a comedy, and although I enjoy humour, I didn't find it particularly funny. The second half of the film is more serious. It starts when Germany invades Italy and takes Guido who is Jewish and his young son, to the train station with the hundreds of other Jewish people. Guido's wife Dora, who isn't Jewish wants to join him an persuades the German guard to allow her to join Guido on the train of death. They arrive at a concentration where Guido proceeds to tell his young son that they are now playing a game...in order to win the prize, the young son must not cry when hungry, not ask for food, or make a noise, he should hide away when the guards come and pretend he cannot speak. The prize if he does this...is a tank...the small boy loves tanks so he plays along. In the meantime, Guido finds ways to let his wife know he is still alive. Finally at the end of the war, Guido hides his son in a steel cabinet outside in the courtyard and tells him to stay there until there is no more sound...which he does...finally the boy exits the hideaway...he is alone, the only survivors have also left and he is entirely alone...I won't tell you anymore as it will spoil the story. I have mixed feelings about this film. I'm not sure I enjoy poking fun at such a serious subject as the Holocaust - it was no joke, however, when the film ended, I was speechless, it was very thought provoking...it left me with a strange feeling that I have yet to transcribe into actual words....It is a film about the Holocaust that I will not forget... I can fully understand why it won so many awards...

For me, the thing that sets this movie above Schindler's List, Au Revoir les Enfants and The Pianist (much though I like these films) is that it actually attacks and ridicules the ideology behind Nazism, whereas these other movies don't go anywhwere near the mind set that led to the Nazis' crimes. Also, by making a comedy set in the Holocaust, it acknowledges that you can't possibly portray such awfulness acurately on screen. A brave, funny and uplifting movie that deserved the recognition it received.

I never saw Life is Beautiful when it first came out but always meant to when I found time. However, in the years since its release, I had quite forgotten about it until something I read recently rekindled my desire to view it. So I looked it up here, bought it, and enjoyed it several times. The idea of a Holocaust comedy is intriguing and I sure wanted to see how something like that could be done tastefully. This film shows how that can be done. Roberto Benigni is magnificent as Guido, a man who has such a cheerful outlook on life that very little can faze him for long. The film begins with Guido and a friend barreling down a twisting highway seemingly out of control in a car with failed brakes. They come into a town where a crowd lines the road awaiting the motorcade of the king and queen, not fascist officials as one reviewer said. As Guido frantically waves them aside, they think he is the king saluting and they salute him in return, and are still doing so when the real motorcade arrives with the impatient-looking royal couple inside. And the comedy continues... I won't rehash the entire movie, others have done so, but suffice to say that Guido is such an irrepressible guy that he finds it within himself to have an outwardly positive attitude about everything even when all seems hopeless. To me, the key parts of the film are: 1) The way in which he courts the beautiful Dora (Nicoletta Braschi) and persists even when it looks as though she seems almost sure to be wed to a wealthy and debonair childhood friend. How he snatches her from under that stuffed shirt's nose is hilarious. 2) The way he reacts to the anti-Semitism lite of fascist society. He keeps his head up, a smile on his face and tries to brush it off. When his young son Joshua, played by Giorgio Cantarini, asks about a sign on a shop that forbids entry to dogs and Jews, Guido deflects the emotional blow by joking that everyone has his own dislikes and that down the street there are other shops forbidding entry to other groups. So, since he (Guido) doesn't like Visigoths and his son doesn't like spiders, they will post a sign in their bookstore forbidding entry to Visigoths and spiders! 3)When Germans occupy part of Italy toward the end of the war, the soft anti-Semitism of Mussolini's regime gives way to the hard-core anti-Semitism of the Nazis. The town's Jews, Guido and Joshua among them, are rounded up and shipped out to a labor camp. When Dora informs the German commander that there must be a mistake, he looks at his list, sees that Guido and Joshua are Jews, and assures her there is no mistake at all and suggests she go home. She demands to be shipped out as well and is granted her wish. In the camp, Guido has to use all his powers of persuasion and imagination to keep the truth of their predicament from his son. He tells the doubting boy that they are in an elaborate contest to win a tank, and if he remains undiscovered, he will accrue the thousand points needed to win. How he manages to keep his son from being detected and how he keeps his spirits up, even when worry and apprehension lie just beneath his upbeat facade, is a wonder to see. His seeming optimism in the face of looming disaster even helps his fellow captives grimly endure. I don't want to give it all away, so it will suffice to say that Guido is ever the jokester to the end. We've all heard the expression "If life gives you lemons, make lemonade.". Well, Life Is Beautiful is a prime example of someone doing just that. And while we all can't be happy-go-lucky types, that is the trait that let Guido carry on in what would be an untenable situation for most people. And that is the trait that helped him help his son live to see a new dawn. All the lead characters give excellent performances, especially Benigni. The German characters are largely stereotypically sneering and bossy hate-filled Nazis, about the only sympathetic one being the camp doctor. There are a few scenes that are literally not credible, but even with these the movie is well worth seeing for the lessons it imparts and for the warm feelings you have at the end.

Roberto as Guido's portrayal of concentration camp as a place to score points in the game turns horror into oh! it's true!! for a boy is poignant and mesmerizing...

Buscas una buena película y en Blu-ray... eso te dan.

Bad because don't work I don't see nothing

Piètre qualité de couverture, de DVD... Me demande si original ? Mais introuvable donc je garde pour mes cours.