I Pomised Myself I Wouldn't Cry

Life is Beautiful

Directed by Roberto Benigni

Reviewed by Sarah Ritter

          Of all the dramatic settings ever conjured by directors, the Holocaust has got to top the list. Set in the time leading up to and during WWII, Life is Beautiful is a raw drama about the love of a father for his son and the former's undying will to protect the latter's innocence throughout the duration of their stay in a concentration camp. I classify this film as "Individual vs. Society" but it could be argued that it dips into "Death as a Part of Life" as well.

          From the beginning of the film, Benigni (who also stars as Guido) did a wonderful job of character exposition that allowed for the audience to truly know and attach to the characters in the film making it ten times as heart breaking to watch them suffer in the camp. Another fantastic dynamic of the film was its lead actress, Nicoletta Braschi, whose mostly silent role proved to be one of the more powerful and moving portrayals of a loving mother and wife. Though not Jewish born, Braschi's character, Dora, willingly risks her own life by following her husband and son into the concentration camp. Braschi's silent emotion, mainly communicated through her haunting eyes, portrayed the true despair a woman of her circumstance must have faced in such horrifying events.

          The only off-putting detail of the whole film for me was the over-acting done by Benigni; let's just say if Guido were a stereo, his only volume would be LOUD. With such a rich character, it shocked me that Benigni had virtually nowhere to go with Guido, for example a true juxtaposition could have been made during the times when Guido was with his son and without, yet Benigni kept an overly dramatic air about him throughout the entire movie. If Benigni had gone into more depth to truly show how the camp had been affecting him mentally, physically, and emotionally when his son Joshua was not around, it would have made the effort he put into protecting Joshua appear more trialed therefore eliciting a greater reaction from audiences. Perhaps his over-active style is due to his comedic nature as an actor (Benigni has played comedic title roles in Pinocchio and The Pink Panther's Son), but clearly this is not a movie to make fun of.

          Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this film and would rate it four out of five peacocks. Definitely one to watch in order to gain some perspective on how much your parents truly love you as well as what it means to sacrifice oneself for another person.