Life is Beautiful

Rating: 7/10 (5 May 2013)

The Italian movie Life is Beautiful, directed by Roberto Benigni, was very surprising. The main character Guido, played by the director, was a free spirited happy guy who helped his son, Joshua, and wife, Dora, throughout the holocaust. Without Guido the movie would have a completely different feel. Life is Beautiful gave a totally different look on how to portray the holocaust. Most holocaust movies are really tragic and depressing. Benigni put a different spin on how things are usually done by making a game out of it and he did a very good job.
Although I felt the movie was a bit annoying at times, it was really enjoyable. Typically, I am not a fan of foreign movies but I liked watching this movie. I was able to feel everything they were feeling even though I did not know what they were saying.
In Life is Beautiful, Guido was a lot similar to the main character Vladek in the book Maus, by Art Spiegelman. Both the characters were very optimistic and knew they could make it through this horrible time. It might have been different ways but they still believed they could overcome such a tragedy. Guido made a game out of the holocaust while Vladek kept his head up and always found ways to overcome things. Also both Vladek and Guido had connections that were able to help them. Vladek had his cousin and many others while Guido had his uncle and the physician.
Overall, the movie was very good. The ending was both tragic and happy which kept me thinking in the end. Roberto Benigni truly made the movie and I suggest putting this movie on your "need to watch" list.