Review of Life Is Beautiful (1997) by Kenneth R — 11 Aug 2011

(A bit of spoiler but nothing not in the description of the movie up top).

This movie is without a doubt my number one favorite movie of all time. Yes it is a bold claim to have a definitive number one but this movie is the only movie that deserves to be called the best movie ever (sorry Citizen Kane). It starts out with a silly and wacky sort of man named Guido who meets his "Princepessa" (read that in an Italian accent =P) and continues to try and court her even though she's slated to marry someone else. They have a family and then a more serious and dark theme is introduced which was only hinted at during the beginning half. The setting of this movie is right around the very beginning of WWII and the second part of the movie is set in a concentration camp. Guido now has a son and to help him get along in the camp says that it is a game and that whoever wins gets a tank. From here on out it is a Father-Son story and has a beautiful ending. It is one of three movies to actually make me cry, not move a tear, but cry. By the end of the movie you realize that the film accomplishes showing that the title is true, "Life is Beautiful" and that it is, in the harshest of times, the most beautiful. The characters are rich and interesting, the setting is fantastic and not another cliqued WWII holocaust story, and the story is just fantastic. It's true that I have a bias as I had watched this as a kid and there is a certain amount of nostalgia to it but this is a movie you appreciated more and more the older you get. If I only had a choice to have one movie to pick and watch forever and ever it could only be this movie, and it would be better every time =).