“La vita é bella” is simply beautiful! Roberto Benigni can turn any piece of history into a masterpiece, as we see in La tigre e neve. With both films centralized around wars, Benigni takes on the role of a character that is caught in the horrors of the Holocaust in “La vita e bella,” which almost seems impossible to accomplish by knowing how well he’s known for his comedic roles in films like “Il mostro.”The film starts off similar to other films by Benigni, with the protagonist (played by Benigni) chasing after a girl, who happens to be his wife in real life, Nicoletta Braschi. The time is set in the late 1930’s. Benigni’s character, Guido, a Jewish-Italian waiter, tries to win over the Italian schoolteacher, Dora by charming her with the phrase “Buongiorno Principessa!” every time they encounter one another. Dora is already set to marry another man, but one night they share a kiss underneath a table which seals their future together.
Guido and Dora marry and the second half of the movie begins 5 years later with Guido, Dora, and their 5 year old son, Giosué, when the war is brought into the film.
While Guido and Giosué are walking, Giosué asks his dad why stores have signs that say “No Jews or Dogs allowed.” Benigni’s comedic side comes into play when he responds to his son “Oh, that. ‘Not Allowed’ signs are the latest trend! The other day, I was in a shop with my friend the kangaroo, but their sign said, ‘No Kangaroos Allowed,’ and I said to my friend, ‘Well, what can I do? They don't allow kangaroos.’” At that point you can already see Guido protecting the innocence of little Giosué, but can tell it’s becoming difficult for Guido to keep up with this outlook knowing how close to home this war really was. The first part of the film resembles a fairy tale; shot in soft and bright colors in contrast to the second half where it’s shot in dark and gloomy colors resembling a war movie.
The war goes on without them noticing until one day German soldiers come to the door of Guido and his family and take Guido and Giosué aboard a train to a Nazi camp. When Dora returns to her empty house, she finds that Guido and Giosué have been taken to a concentration camp and demands to get on the train to the same camp.
This is where the game begins: yes, an actual game which disguises the ugliness of the Nazis. Just like before when Giosué asked about the sign, Guido turns the whole situation of the camp into a game, where all you need is 1,000 points and you will win the game and the prize is a tank, not a toy tank, but an actual army tank. Guido carefully explains the rules to Giosué while cleverly stating that he can’t cry, ask for his mother or says that he's hungry, which results in the loss of the "game", an apparently playful ploy that we know protects his son from certain death.
There are so many close calls, where you think that either Guido or Giosué come close to death but with Guido’s intelligent mind, they always escape it. At one point Giosué wants to quit the game and go home, but is fooled by Guido’s use of reverse psychology. Guido pretends like he is over the game as well and insists on packing up their belongings, which is almost nothing. He walks out the door in the pouring rain and tells Giosué to come along, but Giosué quickly changes his mind and continues the game in hopes of winning the tank.
The film continues with Benigni’s charming wit and I don’t want to spoil anything for those of you who haven’t watched La vita é bella but at the end of this story you’ll not only witness Benigni’s remarkable work but understand why, in spite of the tragedies’of the Holocaust, life is truly beautiful.
Links:
YouTube - Roberto Benigni goes wild at the Oscars®
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118799/
No comments:
Post a Comment