Review of Life Is Beautiful (1997) by Karl C — 22 Nov 2011

Life is Beautiful is a truly beautiful film. The acting, writing, story, pacing, and score, are absolutely perfect. The 80% Tomatometer just saddens me. Who doesen't like it? If you haven't seen this picture, I strongly reccomend you go out and rent it.

In case you just stumbled upon my profile, I like to give a little plot synopsis on the film I am reviewing. Life is Beautiful is a movie you just have to see for yourself in order to know what it's about. The film is rated PG-13 but don't bother reading the reason why it is given that rating because it gives away some of the plot. Dont' even bother going on the IMDB or Wikipedia pages for the film. It's about a man named Guido (played by the enjoyable Roberto Benigni) who has a great job and family. His relationship with his family is strong. One day, he and his son, Giosue, land in one of the most dangerous and deadliest places on Earth. Guido makes the experience of being in this specific place less terrifying for his child by playing a game with him. If they follow the instructions, he will win a prize.

Life is Beautiful is one of the most original movies I have ever seen. It's blend of heartwarming comedy and intense drama doesen't fail. The script is witty and smart and the comedic timing is brilliant. I also enjoyed the pacing and story development. Speaking of the pacing, there are some scenes that are brilliantly set up. They start off intense and then become comedic or vice versa.

The strongest part of the film in my opinion is the performances. Roberto Benigni is perfect in his role as Guido. You can easily tell he based his performance on Charlie Chaplin. He is very witty and fun to watch and deserved the Best Actor Oscar he got. Giorgio Cartarini is one of the best child actors I have ever seen. I loved hin as Giosue. Nicoletta Braschi was very good as Guido's wife whose named after the explorer, Dora. The cast is excellent. No sucky performances are present.

The film quickly shits from a comedy to dramedy. The comedy and drama are equally excellent. They don't interfere with each other. As I was watching this film I thought to myself, "Why can't Hollywood make movies like this?" For every good movie out there, there is a bad one. It's like Yin and Yang. The film left me in awe and made mt forget of all the bad movies I've seen. If Marc L., Gordon Franklin Terry Sr., and Cody Fairless-Lee are reading this, you better change your taste quickly. Hollywood, please make more good movies like this again. I think the American film industry can look up to foreign films for help.

You'll laugh than bawl. Writer-director-actor, Roberto Benigni has created one of the best movies I have ever seen. It's funny, sad, intense, artistic, well constructed, and beautiful. I tend to avoic counting up plot holes in mistakes when I watch films so I consider the film to be basically flawless. Life is Beautiful is a must see.

"Pigeons fly, women fall from the sky! I'm moving here!".