The Best Foreign Language Movie I Have Ever, And Probably Will Ever See.

Rating: 10/10 (29 November 2014)

Roberto Begnini's Italian masterpiece is won that brings out every emotion that you have deep within yourself to strong degrees. You laugh, cry, cheer, among other. He rightfully won the Academy Award for Best Foreign language movie and went crazy. That was an easy win. Later, he won for Best Actor. As astonishing as Begnini was, Edward Norton was still more worthy for the win. In some of my lists and reviews, I say Norton in American History X is the best acting performance in film history, so I knew Begnini would be inferior. I wasn't trying to be stubborn or biased. If Dustin Hoffman defeated Norton for Rain Man, I would disagree, but I would not mind either. Either way, Life Is Beautiful is a life changing movie with a marvellous story and top-notch acting.
The first half of the flick is a romantic-comedy, leaning more toward the comedy portion. During World War II, Begnini plays comical waiter, Guido who's world of fun can get him out of sticky situations. He meets a school teacher named Dora whom he immediately falls for and tries to woo. She eventually gets out of the marriage with an arrogant millionaire she is forced to marry and sides with Guido. This first bit could be a movie all its own. But they did do a movie with almost this exact storyline at around the same time which was Titanic. Life Is Beautiful's bit is more funny and heartwarming. Some of the jokes that Guido does is a stroke of genius on Begnini's behalf. The second half picks up a few years after Dora runs off with Guido and we see them together with a son named Joshua and Guido owning the bookstore he wanted since the start. We also learn that he is Jewish. Guido and Joshua are taken to a concentration camp when Guido must think quickly on his feet on ways to protect his son from the horrors of the Holocaust they will face. He puts his knack for comedy to the test saying that they are contestants in a game where they must earn points and first prize is a tank, and he makes jokes every time Joshua sees or hears something ugly. What's really great about the jokes is that they are actually funny. I know that it is in the middle of a concentration camp, but still. Begnini had to water-down the Holocaust to make the movie believable and lasting. I think that history gurus may not be a fan of the Holocaust being so friendly in compared to how it really was. But this movie isn't about war, it is about courage, honour and the power of love. Guido is a very inspiring character that Begnini was born to play. As good as Norton was, Begnini also blew me away. He is a clown that will do anything to protect his family before himself. None of these themes and characters could have been presented better.