Sweet and Sour

Rating: 10/10 (4 July 2003)

I have to start by saying that I think this is a great film. Many seemed to be troubled by the lightness of the first half, but to my mind the whole point is to set a reference for the second half. Like Man Bites Dog and Trainspotting, La Vita e Bella sucks you in with humour and then spits you back out with shock. Unlike many other defenders of this film, I didn't find it uplifting. I found it gut wrenching. The fact that it was able to have the same emotional impact upon me without the horror of say Schindlers List is a testament to the film as a whole. Without the levity of the first half the gravitas of the second half would be lost. 10/10.