Rating: 
Summary: I wept and laughed
Review: Some say that it is hard to make a funny movie about the Holocaust. I must admit, some of the scenes were very funny in this film. I found, however, that, once they got to the Nazi concentration camp, even those things that were funny I could only see through a haze of intense sadness. And I think that was the intent of the film. Some of the funny scenes I coul dnot laught at. Benigni is able to weave light through the dark pattern of the Holocaust horror. And he does this showing the deep love of a father for his son, a love that is unconditional, even to death. It is not a movie about laughing about the Holocaust, it is about laughing in the face of evil, because no matter what they take from you, they can never take away love. For those who question that comedy can be made on this subject, may I say that I have never wept so deeply after watching a movie. It affected me even more than Schindler's List because it was more subtle, and in so being, went deeper.
Rating: 
Summary: Creepy
Review: To make a such a movie about the Holocaust would require an extraordinary actor, who could convey the contradictory desire to spare his son and simultaneously feel the horror of being shipped to a camp. Instead, all I saw was him literally trying to make a big joke out the experience, I think because Benigni isn't capable of portraying fear while being a clown. Especially awful was the "funny interpretator" shtick for the Nazis. It was just so icky to me. I was shocked that he won Best Actor, though of course that is consistent with the travesty of the Oscars. It wasn't a true story, but at the end the boy claims "This is the story of my life" as if this were true life story. It was a cheap trick. Very dishonest.
Rating:
Summary: Life Is Beautiful
Review: The version with English subtitles is much better than the dubbed version!!!
Rating:
Summary: All Time Great Movie of the Century
Review: This has got to be the greatest movie of the 20th Century. From comedy to drama, from romance to suspense, this movie presents all the elements that are exppected in the movies. Seeing life in Italy before the "War" to the effects and horrors of the Holocaust, one can really sympathize with the message of the movie. Philosophically it presents an abundance of elements; theologically, even more. Anyone, from within any age group can come to terms with what happened. And even more it presents an objective view of the life lived. I prefer the Italian with the English subtitled over the dubbed English. Not only does it help expand one's horizons but it helps to set the tone for the movie.
Rating:
Summary: Life truly is beautiful
Review: This movie was incredible. It's a shame that it was released in such a competitive Oscar year. Nevertheless, Roberto Benigni gave an amazing performance as Guido, and received support from the lovely Nicholetta Braschi and the very talented Giorgio Cantarini, who gave quite a performance for someone so young. This movie left me speechless. I expected a film that focused on the concentration camps and persecution of Jews. Yes, I did get that, but I also got a beautiful love story and an unforgettable tale of the power of imagination and a father's love for his son. I highly suggest viewing the subtitled version, as the Italian language is simply beautiful. This is one foreign movie that not only made an impact on the US box office, but internationally as well - and with good cause. A film not to be missed.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent movie!
Review: This is one of the best movies I have ever seen! At first I would have never suspected the drama that this wonderful movie brought my heart to. It makes us feel all those human emotions of fear, anger, desperation and endless LOVE between man and woman, father, mother and son! It is a movie that everyone should see! You will not regret it!
Rating: 
Summary: Holocaust Revisionism
Review: Set in the 1930s and '40s, "Life is Beautiful" opens by claiming that the story it tells is a fable, and fittingly, the first half of this film is light and entertaining. Benigni captures the audience with optimistic humour, and Chaplinesque physical comedy as he tries to romance the woman of he has fallen in love with. As the romance progresses we are introduced to the theme that will dominate the second portion of the film: antisemitism. Benigni's character is Jew, and is sent to a concentration camp; his wife joins him and their son, rather than let the family be separated. The (mis)representation of the concentration camp (everyone's head was shaved; children were sent straight to the gas chamber; no one was able to maintain a positive sense of humour [see Primo Levi's book, "the Drowned and the Saved"]), which is obviously meant to be Auschwitz, amount to a revision of the Holocaust intended to make it a palatable and potentially humorous subject for the audience, but which also effectively denies the horror and pain of that event. This, coupled with the film's opening claim that the story it portrays is "a fable", provide more ammunition for Holocaust deniers. "Life is Beautiful" is essentially the story of a man who overcomes great adversity for the sake of his family -- a moralizing story which is too weak to be told against the background of a fictionalization of the Holocaust.
Rating:
Summary: Benigni's masterpiece!
Review: All it took was "seven seconds" for me to know I would love this movie. Filmed in Italy, it is best if you get the subtitled version, for dubbing is not very effective. Italian comedy actor/director Roberto Benigni and his wife Nicoletta Braschi give outstanding performances in the best film of the year without competition, La Vita E Bella. Taking place throughout the second world war, this movie starts off as a boy meets girl hilarious comedy, but turns into a terrifying drama about a father protecting his boy when they are sent to a concentration camp. La Vits E Bella is most definitely in the top five films ever made in ANY country. I reccomend this movie for all who have ever laughed or cried at a movie... and just about everyone else.
Rating:
Summary: The greatest film I have ever seen; needs six stars
Review: Never in my life have I seen a movie that has so deeply effected me. It took me several hours to even speak- literally even speak- after seeing it with friends of mine who bawled uncontrollably throught 90% of this epic. It was days before I could even tell people that I saw it. I have seen CITIZEN KANE; I have seen CASABLANCA; I have seen E.T.; ALL ABOUT EVE; THE GODFATHER; APOCAPSYE NOW; Olivier's OTHELLO; IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE; and so on, and so on... this is the greatest movie I have ever seen; bar none. I never knew the love a father has for his wife and son could be portrayed so incredibly, in the context of prevailing against the ultimate evil and madness. It's European way of refusing to tell you how to feel, but allowing you to witness the uncontrollable flood of your own emotions as you bare witness to that which is most frightening and most beautiful in being human just has to be seen to be understood- there are no superlatives I can think of that could do it justice. This movie has changed me, and changed the way I see the entire art form of cinema- its value to society, and the possibility of its capacity to reveal truth. I have not seen the dubbed version, and I would suggest to any who have not seen this in the theatres to find the version with English subtitles. Dubbbed films, in sacrificing so much in the translation, tend to muffle the soul of the actors' perfomance; to big a price to pay, I believe, for the convenience of not having to look down and read while looking up and experiencing this in its purest, most complete sense. As far as I am concerned, this is the greatest movie ever made.
Rating:
Summary: I love a film that can both make me laugh and cry to tears
Review: I did not know if I wanted to see this film at first, as I am not usually intrigued by foreign films. This is definitely an exception! I watched this movie without knowing what it was about (I didn't want to know first) and was completely surprised with the holocost theme. While the holocost itself was really a secondary part of the film, I was glad it showed simply one family's experience because when we experience life, we never see the whole picture, but rather what is happening to us at that moment in time. That is how this movie viewed it, and showed one person's ability to keep "life beautiful" for another, even through something unbelievably ugly. I highly recommend this film...no wonder it is an oscar winner!!
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