Life Is Beautiful

1998 "An unforgettable fable that proves love, family and imagination conquer all."
8.6| 1h56m| PG-13| en| More Info
Released: 22 October 1998 Released
Producted By: Melampo Cinematografica
Country: Italy
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
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Synopsis

A touching story of an Italian book seller of Jewish ancestry who lives in his own little fairy tale. His creative and happy life would come to an abrupt halt when his entire family is deported to a concentration camp during World War II. While locked up he tries to convince his son that the whole thing is just a game.

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TheNabOwnzz It shouldn't be surprising that this movie isn't a very great one, as it is very hard to take a matter like the holocaust and try to create a parody of it as Benigni tries to do here. Yet it has been done before succesfully, but unfortunately Life is Beautiful is not one of these instances.It seems to be a movie with the central message that you can find hope in anything or anyone, yet it comes off as a sitcom with jokes you just can't seem to laugh about. Benigni himself was overacting like a madman the entire film, yet comically, dramatically and emotionally he does not seem to make any dent whatsoever. The story is also rushed. He suddenly has a child and expects that this is his free ticket in order to feel sympathy for his character, yet it comes across as a cheap way to get the audiences undeserved sympathies. Benigni uses cliché'd jokes that we have all seen before, rendering it inaffective as a comedy film. The movie doesn't take itself seriously enough in its seemingly serious setting of the holocaust, making it also fail as a dramatic or emotional film. Ofcourse Dr Strangelove by Kubrick is an example of where it actually works to create a comic effect over a serious matter, but this is generally because the comic aspect is a lot funnier, the dramatic aspect is a lot more plausible, Peter Sellers is simply a better actor than Benigni, and the film knows at all times it does not take itself seriously, unlike this one.The cinematography is alright, but nothing special. There are a couple of nice landscape shots and the scene where the train arrives are quite nicely filmed, but it is nothing to cry home about. The music is decent, but not enough to make you emotionally involved in the picture like Ennio Morricone's score for fellow italian film Cinema Paradiso (1988) managed to do so well. There are also a lot of scenes in the latter part of the film where particular scenes could have easily been drawn out to create a more dramatic effect, yet Benigni cuts everything short and everything seems to end way too abruptly and quickly, negating any kind of emotional connection you might be starting to feel. I would say despite the fact that Benigni was even worse in the first half of the film, i would still prefer the first over the second, as atleast it seemed to know which direction it was going at that point, but in the second it turned into an unfocused mess of sillyness to the point where we cannot absorb any kind of dramatic or emotional impact we were supposed to get.If you ignore all these obvious issues, which i am certain a lot of people did, some might consider it a movie with a message, yet you are indifferent to any possible message since the characters seem indifferent to the situation.
emadterkmani I just saw this movie , and it sucked , first of all, I've never seen the main character in other movies. And I will never check his movies after i saw THIS, He has the most unlikable personality I've witnessed. His Actions are unbelievable, it may show his strength, but come on there are people LITERALLY burning and he can keep a fake smile on his face just for his kid, he made him live in a fairytale in which our actual life isn't BEAUTIFUL , he keeps talking the whole movie I was actually relieved when he died so I can watch a minute of silence without him mumbling and shouting the rule of GAME they are playing, The End was just horrible, I mean the wife didn't even care about her husband nor the child did, I think if the main character was not Roberto Benigni, the movie would have been Good. DON'T WATCH IT
dmess This is definitely one of my favorite movies. An incredible father who strives to keep his son happy despite the terror they are living.
kennasplace I would like to say that I enjoyed the movie, but I did not. I find it difficult to watch a film, whimsical and sweet as this one was, that seems to make a joke of an atrocity. I feel that there is no need to shed light on a horrific event like the Holocaust. Were there moments of joy within the camps? Yes, but what does a film which seems to glorify the experience really add to the conversation? The actors were lovely, and the love story was pleasant, but the film is so far from historically accurate or even possible as there is very little chance that a toddler would have survived in a camp. I understand why many have loved the film and I do see where it encomapsses important themes such as the preserved humanity of the camp inmates. Yet, I am fearful that there are many who see the film as a true representation of concentration camps were, and I see that as a disservice to those who experienced the inhumanity of the camp system.