Review of Life Is Beautiful (1997) by Boomer1818 — 10 Mar 2021

A lot of reviews here seem to miss the point. There’s no trivialization of the Holocaust. Yes, it simplifies it a bit, but it’s not a film about the Holocaust so it doesn’t need to spend as much time on the realism aspect.

It’s a film about a father who loves his son and doesn’t want him to suffer so he makes light of all the hardships that death camps brought upon their victims. The man literally shouldered his own emotional burden as well as taking on his son’s at the same time.

Through exhaustion, anxiety, and probably a fair bit of depression he continued the ruse for the mental health of his little boy. It would have been nice to see intimate moments interspersed where we get more of a glimpse into his true emotional state, but the lack of emotional transparency doesn’t kill the film or it’s intended purpose.

So long as you don’t go into this film expecting it to be a Schindler’s List, I think you will enjoy it.