Life Is Beautiful

Rating:
Summary: EXTRAORDINARY...BOTH WONDROUSLY JOYOUS AND INFINITELY SAD
Review: This is one of the best and most creative films ever made. Totally inventive in concept, the story revolves around an exhuberant and romantic Italian man named Guido, who also happens to be Jewish. He sweeps the woman of his dreams, his "Principessa", off her feet. They marry and have an adorable little boy whom they dearly love. Unfortunately, this all happens during World War II in facist Italy.

Ultimately, Guido and their son are whisked away to a concentration/work camp on their young son's birthday. Meanwhile, his wife and the boy's mother, coming home and expecting to find a birthday celebration in progress, discovers, instead, that the inevitable has occurred. She tracks them down to the train that is taking prisoners to a work camp and, after confirming that they are on board, insists upon boarding the train herself, so that she may remain close to them. They see her board the train and know that she is with them.

In order to get his son through this horror as best he can, Guido tells his son that they are involved in a real life game to win a tank, knowing that the boy had wanted a toy tank for his birthday. Talk about a reality survival game! In any case, his son is young enough to fall for it and gets with the program as only the very young can. What follows is a series of inventive scenarios which tells the viewer of the lengths that the father goes in order to keep his son quiet, obedient, entertained, and safe from harm. All along, the father has his son believing in the game and playing to win, to the point that the boy believes that they are actually in first place to win the tank. ...

While this may sound like an odd venue in which to find oneself laughing, that is exactly what the viewer does. At the same time, the film is achingly poignant, and the end is infinitely sad. Guido is played to perfection by comedic star and filmmaker Roberto Benigni, who also directed this masterpiece. His on screen wife and comedic foil is played by his real life main squeeze, Nicoletta Braschi. The son is played with wondrous innocence by the totally adorable Giorgio Cantarini. This is an award calibre film which saw Benigni deservedly capture Oscars for Best Actor and Best Foreign Language Film.

All in all, this film will leave the viewer both laughing and crying. It is simply a great movie.

Rating:
Summary: Life and Humor on the Brink of Holocaust
Review: This is the only Roberto Benigni picture I did not enjoy. Some subjects are just not funny. To me, Holocaust is one of these subjects. Slapstick and clowning around do not belong here. I am sorry to be so categorical, because I like Benigni's work very much, and generally, his movies are both art and entertainment of the highest class. I think I know what he was trying to do here, and he achieved it. But emotionally I cannot accept this product. This movie has a very different feel than the much lighter "Johnny Stecchino" and "The Monster" (two of his other big hits in America). That is to say, the movie does not leave you feeling that you have just seen a wild, light comedy, but instead, leaves you feeling that you have had a trying experience and know what it's like to confront real evil. This was almost certainly intentional and the only appropriate way to go, but then we are back to the argument that the comedic elements just do not "belong." .... But here you have a death camp and genocidal Germans--a "truly different race" as one character calls them in admiration. By the way, it is typical of Benigni's approach to drop this kind of "hints" to make his statements--he almost never generalizes in a direct fashion. The mere presence of his puzzle-obssessed German doctor, who is entirely incapable of empathy, says more about the single-minded, cold-blooded determination of the Nazis than entire volumes of verbal propaganda ever could.

The acting in "Life is Beautiful" is of the highest quality. Benigni again engages his real-life wife Nicoletta Braschi as his co-star and on screen love interest who eventually marries him. Braschi's character, Dora, who is not Jewish, nevertheless follows her husband and son to the camp, when the invading Germans spread their genocidal policy to Italy. This is where the second part of the movie takes place. If you know a lot about WW II and the Holocaust, then the movie is hard to watch and it's hard to accept that its humor fits. But if you are new to the subject or feel rather emotionally distant from it, perhaps you can enjoy the movie as a moving inspirational story. Perhaps.

Rating:
Summary: GREAT MOVIE. ok dvd.
Review: Everything that needs to be said about this movie has been said, but I'm going to repeat some of it anyway. It is both hysterically funny and deeply moving. Roberto Benigni does a great job at juggling both aspects of the movie both as an actor and a director without veering too much towards tearjerker or all-out laugh fest. Life is Beautiful is a brilliant piece of work that gets better each time I see it and, as if you couldn't guess, I recommend it highly to anyone who hasn't yet.

Now, the DVD is another issue altogether. The movie looks pretty good and sounds good. The disk is sufficient in those aspects. However, for those of you who love extras, they are severly lacking here. The "making of" featurette has very little to do with the filming but more to do with the attention the movie has received worldwide. I have seen better documentaries about the movie elsewhere and would have preferred to have one of those included. You get a theatrical trailer and a string of TV spots that all look the same. The coolest feature is that you can switch between dubbed or subtitles depending on your mood.

Overall, the movie is fantastic and because of that the DVD is worth owning by all means. Just don't expect a spectacular disk to go along with this great movie.

Rating:
Summary: The Most Touching Film I Have Ever Seen
Review: The first half of this film merrily leads you down a road of light, fluffy comedy - then with little warning it seamlessly melds into a deeply moving tale of a father's love for his wife and son, all held prisoner in a Nazi concentration camp. It would have been easy for this odd and daring approach not to work, but director, co-author and star Roberto Benigni has created one of the most touching films ever made. To appreciate this film fully, you should be aware of a film Jerry Lewis made in 1972, The Day the Clown Cried, ridiculed by critics and public alike (although it's never been seen by any of them). It's based on a similar premise, but it's locked in Lewis's vault, unreleased. Life is Beautiful is testament that Lewis's unseen and prematurely shunned film is a legitimate premise and could well be a great movie, as far as anybody knows. But until the day may come that Lewis decides to share his film with us, you won't do better than the flawless mastery that is Life is Beautiful.

Rating:
Summary: Remarkable!!!!
Review: I absolutely loved this movie. It ranks right up there with Crouching Tiger and Europa Europa as the best foreign films. I don't want to spoil anything for those who have not seen it, but don't be discouraged by the kind of cheesy beginning, it turns into so much more.

Rating:
Summary: Life is beautiful everytime;if you know it's value
Review: A family's tragedy in Italy during German occupation is told by adding comical elements While exbiting the merciless of the German concentration camps during World War 2, the relation of a father and son is emphasized by the acting talent of the players. This subject has been the theme of many movies for many years. We can't see a different approached in this one. The things the father does for his son are not extraordinary. Every father can do the same things for his son. In my opinion Roberto Benigni as the director and performing the leading role stands out.

He was very successful in making people smile and create a comedy and joy for life in spite of such gruesome conditions. Benigni has proved that an ordinary theme can be transformed into a successful movie by bringing an epic tale of love and the human spirit to the screen. The film by itself doesn't deserve the Oscar but Benigni's acting talent gets the reward.

Rating:
Summary: Shows the power of familial Love
Review: A great film ! That fact that the wife did not have to go to the camp, but did out of love for her husband and son was very powerful. The ending... when you hear the American tanks rolling in and the son is jumping for joy since he thinks it is the prize his father has been telling him about had this macho man blubbering away ! Do not miss this film. Also forget about the English subtitles. Watch it in glorious Italian. Begnini is a genius.

Rating:
Summary: A true spark of life.
Review: In that I mean Benigni and his family included also the times and hardships endured. I was taken aback by the emotion, the happiness within this man. It is a beautiful film; the characters portrayed are equally that. I recommend subtitles instead of the dubbed version. It be best that one hear what was meant to be heard.

Rating:
Summary: LA VITA È BELLA - should be seen in Italian with subtitles!
Review: I saw the film without any knowledge of what the critics had said about the film. I own it, and have watched it over many times. I have not even read the other amazon.com reviews before doing this one.

If you dislike Holocaust movies per se, still see this movie. This is a story about living life and loving. Guido is the epitome of a true man. He is a little goofy, but endearing. At first I put up with his antics, but as the movie progressed, Benigni (Guido) had me wishing I was his princepessa. He loved Dora with a passion that I've rarely seen in life. He consistently refused to live life at a low level, no matter what the circumstance. He refused to bow to any circumstance or public opinion that made him feel less than a prince. Principe Guido!

He seemed to glide through life with his wit and optimism. He refused to be offended by racism, and protected his loved ones by making light of racist attacks. His humor and creativity shielded his son through the concentration camp experience, all the way to the end. He was a winner...an overcomer. He gave this great gift of winning to his son, whose innocence was intact to the end.

You start out the movie thinking Guido's a goofball, and end up realizing that he is a man among men. That is the charm of the movie, that you become attached to them as though you know them.

This movie is about a horrible event, but will make your spirit soar. Every line and every scene of the movie is important, so pay attention. Listen to the Italian spoken as you read the subtitles. It is part of the beauty of the movie. Life is beautiful, and no one can steal our outlook or optimism unless we allow them.

Rating:
Summary: Amazing!
Review: im only 13 years on and when my dad suggested renting life is beautiful I wasn't happy. "But dad! i don't want to see a stupid forgein drama! why can't we get a cool action movie!! i'm glad my dad didn't listen. life is beautiful ended up being one of my favorite movies ever. (remember i'm only 14 years old.) I definatly recommend Life is beautiful! don't waste your time renting life is beautiful, buy it so you can watch it whenever you want!