Maybe not accurate, but important!

Rating: 8/10 (9 February 2018)

Life is Beautiful has often been criticized for its lighthearted portrayal of the Holocaust, poking comedy at some of the most significant events in modern history. It fails to express the conditions of life in Italy and in the concentration camps during the war, and it can be (rightfully) said that Benigni's character, Guido, is an embodiment of many of the Jewish stereotypes that were central to the antisemitism of this period. Taking this into account, I cannot say that this movie is flawless, but I do believe that it has some merit.
Holocaust Remembrance often presents the statistics and evidence of atrocities perpetrated by the Germans during WWII to hammer home the importance of the saying "Never Again." Growing up in the Jewish faith, and learning from a young age the importance of remembrance education, I can attest to the fact that it is both important, but overwhelming work. Among all of the depressing historical facts, it can be easier to become desensitized or jaded than to cope with the reality, but this defeats the purpose of the exercise. Rather than harping constantly on the emotionally charged and overwhelming truth of events, I believe it is also important to celebrate the lives of survivors and undertake a mission to humanize statistics.
To me, the merit in Life is Beautiful comes from its effort to do so. It shows a (fictional) story of a man who sacrifices to save his family, even while he is, himself, suffering. It shows the love that people feel and the power this love can have. It shows that real people lived through this period of history, and for this, I believe the film deserves at least some praise. Benigni shows the importance of remembering the humanity of survivors and victims alike, which is often lost when looking at mere statistics and death tolls. While this representation is flawed in more than one way, I believe that it still deserves some credit for its homage to these events. And even despite its fantastic story, keeping this period of history fresh in people's minds is a major contribution in and of itself.