A Clever Italian Fable

Rating: Null/10 (14 April 1999)

Life Is Beautiful is a highly acclaimed Italian fable which has made a star of actor/writer/director Roberto Benigni who has received numerous accolades and even the coveted best actor Academy Award.Having heard of this praise and seeing Roberto's exuberant acceptation of the Academy Award I had to see what all the fuss was about.
Roberto Benigni creates a rather interesting film. For the first 30 minutes or so we have a light hearted,Charlie Chaplin esque comedy mixed in with a romantic sub plot.The execution of both the romance and comedy though not annoying or without its charm is rather weak as the comedy is rather simplistic slapstick - none of which is funny or inspired and the romance though quite sweet in some ways is rather corny and quite pat in its execution.But after this rather mediocre start the film takes on a more serious tone as Roberto's character Guido is a Jew and being World War two times he is quickly rounded up by Germans and also taken is his son (Giorgio Cantarini) and though not Jewish his wife (Nicoletta Braschi) insists she must come along and forces her way into a train on its way to a concentration camp.This sets the scene for the rest of the film to be a wonderful experience as Guido tries hard to make the experience for his son tolerable he tells him a clever story,he explains how this is all a game and that the Nazi's are just acting mean because they want to win,he tells him in depth the rules of this game and through the power of imagination and his son's trust Guido is able to some how shelter his son from this horrible experience.
Life Is Beautiful is a tremendous fable past the first 30 minutes. It tells a wonderful poignant story with strong and serious undercurrents all told with charming light hearted humour.The film is further highlighted by beautiful performances from Bengini and by Giorgio Cantarni who is unbelievably natural and excellent at conveying emotions for such a young actor. His character's vunerabillity&imaganation is perfectly played out and is a wonderful compliment to Bengini's charming,humorous and touching performance.
Overall this is a lovely film which could have been a classic if not for a awful opening half hour but still if you forget the bad start you will be truly enchanted by a touching film whose title is an accurate summation of the film's powerful universal message.
3.5/5