Life Is Beautiful: A Critique

This my story
This is the sacrifice my father made
This was his gift to me
Life is beautiful or La Vita e Bella was an Italian film, directed, written, and acted by the
great comedian, Roberto Benigni. This happy yet tragic film revolved around the funny Guido
Orefice, a Jewish-Italian, who will make the greatest sacrifice to save his family from death in a
concentration camp under the Nazi German. Benigni narrated a story of a family living in a fascist
society, using the wits and positive outlook of Guido in life to make his family happy and safe
despite their situation. This sitcom or situational comedy with a tragic end had won Best Actor,
Best Music, Best Foreign Language Film and Best Original Dramatic Score in the 71st Academy
Awards.
The acting was great. Guido was a deceptive, funny, happy and lucky guy who will make
you laugh on the first part of the film but towards the end of the film, you will see his hopelessness
and the destruction that was imminent to his family when he saw the mass grave. As a father, he
showed a different world to his son by hiding him from the horror surrounding them. Dora, played
by Nicoletta Braschi, played a great role as Guidos wife. She was a nave girl, who was not serious
with her life and does not even care if she will marry someone she doesnt like. Doras highlight
was when Guido saw a gramophone and played the Opera piece they both watched years ago.
When Dora heard it and was coming nearer to the windows, it showed the pain and fear she was
holding inside her. And when her teardrops fell in her cheeks, and knew that her family was safe
and the assurance that they will be coming home soon. This scene just showed how brilliant
Benigni as a director and the cinematographer for that angle.
The production design also was great. Especially in the concentration camp, the design of
the place elevated this film to its status. The story was superb, it was like you are watching two
movies in one. First, is the situational comedy wherein you will laugh because of Guidos charm
and luck; and then when they were in the concentration camp it was the fight for survival for both
him and his family. The script was also brilliant, when Guido told Dora that he wanted to make
love to her many times. It was surprising because when Guido was courting Dora, he was not
saying I love you to her but all he was just saying was about having sex with her which makes this
film very romantic.
The director intended to tell people that life is both sad and beautiful. The director takes
the viewers with him in a journey in knowing what life really means, that life is not just full of joy
and happiness but was a combination of chaos and peace. Also he wanted to show people that life
in Italy was happy until fascism was created, the relationship between Jewish people and Italians
were in harmony until war broke because of the concept of Aryan race. The director created a great
film, telling the audience no matter life get hard or trials came there will always be happiness only
if you look at your situation in a different way.
 The movie talked about true love. True love was the sacrifice that Guido done to his family.
Love that will do everything to protect ones love. Guido did everything to get the women of his
dreams, and even though he was inside the concentration camp he still went to check her wife if
she was okay. The Germans caught Guido, and killed him. His love to his son was also seen in the
film, he hid the sad and chaotic world to his son by making the whole concentration camp a game.
Guidos ultimate gift to his family was when during their time in the concentration camp, he gave
them hope and happiness to them even though everything around them seems dark and death.
The movie also talked about that everything in life has a meaning and purpose. In the film
when Guido was taking Dora home. Everything that he saw and experienced came to his favor.
Because of this, Dora fell in love to him due to sequential events that happened to both of them. It
may be unbelievable or unrealistic that everything turned well to Guido, who did not even have to
plan them. It means that everything that happens to life has a purpose, you may question the
Universe, God, or anyone but what the movie was giving its audience was that you may not know
the answer to everything that happened to you but in the end it will always turn out good.
What is life? Can one find beauty despite the chaos surrounding him/her? From where can
one get his/her hope from? What is the meaning of life? These questions will be answered by the
masterpiece of Benigni, La Vita e Bella. The gift of Guido to this the world was the value of family
and the purpose of life. Life is beautiful was not about Nazis and Fascists, it was about the spirit
of every human. It is about looking life in a better perspective, whatever is good and beautiful
despite the destruction someone was facing. About principles and conviction, and the faith that
things will be better for ones family in the future.