Life is Beautiful Roberto Benignis ‘La Vita e bella,’ is in many ways similar to Chaplins ‘The Great Dictator.’ Both are comic attacks on fascism, but the formers is the more successful. Benigni initially accesses the emotions of his audience through simple comedy, which is a pleasant mix of Keaton and Chaplin. Romance ensues with his real life wife Nicoletta Braschi. The first half of this film has been seen by various critics as being inferior to the second, but this is certainly not the case. In the first section we follow the delightful romance that will eventually lead to marriage and the creation of the wonderful Giosue (Giorgio Cantarini). It is the first half where the audience can laugh the loudest and delight at the immense comedic talent of Benigni’s. Unlike so many films nowadays there is nothing crude or course, his is simple innocent humour which is all the more effective. The way he ties together little strand in the film to create comic elements shows a great writing ability, and a mastery of timing when it comes to their execution on screen. Various incidents related to the rise of anti-semitism and fascism in Italy show that there are sinister forces at work which come to the fore in the second segment. Guido (Benigni) moves events on from Tuscany in 1939 to the last year of the war in a concentration camp. In this period he and Dora (Braschi) have had their son Giosue (Cantanarini). The five year old greatly reminds me of Toto in ‘Cinema Paradiso,’ and plays an equally important role in his prospective film (though in ‘Cinema Paradiso’s case it is at the beginning of the movie). The relationship between the two is very similar to that of Jackie Coogan’s and Charlie Chaplin’s (though Benigni, unlike Chaplin, keeps the best of the comic sequences). Guido attempts to keep from the boy the horrors of what is going on, and this eventually manifests itself as a game where the aim is to score 100 points, with the winner winning a real tank (which, of course appeals to the young boy). Levity is still present, that involving Guidos translation of the rules of the camp is particularly notable, but it becomes somewhat more difficult to laugh when we consider the gravity of what is going on. The emphasis begins shifts, and we realise that this is a film about human spirit above all else. Guido not only appeals to the audience due to his charm and sheer pleasantness, but also in the way that he loves his family and the measures that he will go to protect them. This is certainly no ‘Schindlers List,’ but it never pretends to be that either. Occasionally, events seem a little contrived, but this does seem to work in the films favour. However, this film avoids the tendency of Hollywood to go far over the top in emotional and credibility terms. Benigni shines like a lantern throughout the picture, showing that he is a talent that far outshines his peers. Cantanari is a delight, and Braschi also plays her part well. There is even an appearance by ‘The Magnificent Seven’s Horst Buchholz as Doctor Lessing, a man who events change for the worse. Please dont let the fact that it, to all but the Italians, is a foreign language film. The language itself adds a beauty of form to the film, much as it did in the case of ‘Il Postino.’ This had to be a certainty for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar, exactly why they just couldn’t hand it over the Best Picture Oscar as well. By the way, Benigni’s reaction to his Oscar win surpasses the whole film!
Posted on: Sat, 15 Mar 2014 15:40:38 +0000
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