Review of Life Is Beautiful (1997) by Glazedoughnut — 08 Feb 2019

The first half of Life is Beautiful is a romantic comedy, it presents itself as somewhat of a live-action cartoon. It has a ton of slapstick humor that you would expect from the Looney Tunes. The second half, however, is simply, a father trying to protect his son from the reality of the situation.

Guido (Benigni) pulls of ludicrous stunts, just so his son doesn’t find out they are in a concentration camp. The idea of the film isn’t to tell a real serious Holocaust story, the camps are more of a backdrop for the real story.

As I said before, the treatment of the camps is treated as somewhat of a joke. Guido and his son are able to contact Dora (Braschi) over the loudspeakers and not be caught or killed. Conversely, in the novel Night, Elie Wiesel sees Idek, Wiesel’s superior, with a polish girl.

Wiesel receives 25 lashes on his back. If you want a realistic interpretation of the Holocaust then this film is not for you, but if you want a heartfelt story about a father willing to do anything and everything for his son, I would recommend this film to you.