A light shining through the darkness

Rating: 10/10 (23 April 1999)

This is a film of contrasts, making it very easy to see just how dark the darkness can be. The attempt by a death camp inmate to paint his family's incarceration brightly for his son to protect him from the darkness, serves to emphasize by contrast just how horrible these events really were.
I felt even greater aversion and disgust for the depth of the horrors of WWII from this movie than I did from "Schindler's List" or "Saving Private Ryan". And yet, I found my self laughing at Begnini's translation of the threats and rules of the Nazi camp guard into a sugar-coated tale that his son could believe in. I had discovered the breadth Benigni's comic genius from watching "Johnny Stecchino", and now believe that his potential for dramatic work is just as vast.