When the world goes dark, we can always find light

Rating: 10/10 (30 April 2013)

Hello, today I, Brandon, a student at PHS, will be reviewing the film Life is Beautiful, and connecting it to another similar story I read, Maus. To briefly recap the film, it is about a family who is taken away to a concentration/work camp from Italy during WWII by the Nazi's. The father, Guido, and the son, Joshua, are separated from their wife/mother, Dora, when they arrive. Guido doesn't want his son to be scared, so he makes him believe that it's all a game, and that they're trying to win a tank, a real tank. Joshua and Guido survive most of their stay at the camp, mostly because of Guido's intelligence and intellect. However, at the end of the movie, Guido hides Josh and tries to find Dora, but in doing so he's spotted by the Germans and shot.
For being a film about such a somber time in history, it has so much light and happiness, which really made in enjoyable to watch. In addition, the film was riddled with humor throughout its duration. The thing I liked most about the film was the fact that it could retell such a sad story without bringing the viewer down, but rather uplift them, and show them that one can always make the best of their situation. Another very good lesson shown in the film was sacrifice. Guido sacrificed his life for his son, so that he could go on and live the rest of his life, instead of perishing at seven years old in a Nazi work camp. And Guido did so with a smile. That was another one of the very good qualities of the film; it managed to portray death in such a way that the viewer thought that the character, Guido, wasn't really gone, but just out of the picture. It shows us that Guido didn't "die," because he'll live on forever in his son. Our sacrifices make us who we are, and despite the fact that Guido was killed, the title of the film couldn't be truer; life is beautiful.
Although the beginning of the film was a little slow at times and drawn out, I believe it was necessary, because it gave us a look at Guido's personality and who he really was. This is important because it makes the second half of the movie so much more enjoyable and understandable. If the film omitted much of the beginning, it would be harder to understand how Guido managed to get Joshua through the camp alive. Even so, the beginning of the film was still very humorous and enjoyable. Overall, the film was excellent, with a true portrayal of how beautiful life is, even at its darkest times. The ending of the film may be frustrating at first, because it doesn't give you a solid end, but once you analyze it, it fits perfectly with the story of life. Life doesn't have a definitive end, just as the film made clear. The film also touched me personally, and I enjoyed it very much. Mostly due to the emotional messages it sends and to the happiness it delivers its viewers.
As for its connections to Maus, by Art Spiegelman, they both obviously share the same theme, being trapped by the Germans during WWII. Something notable is the way that two different mediums, graphic novel and film, both portray the characters being trapped. In Maus, this is done by depicting the German soldiers and guards much bigger and larger, physically, then the Jews. In addition, the Germans were cats and the Jews were mice. In Life is Beautiful, a similar technique can be found. One particular scene comes to mind, where three Germans march into Guido and Joshua's bunk house to explain the rules. Guido volunteers to translate the German into Italian, but he doesn't know how to speak German. While he is standing next to the German soldier translating, he looks so much smaller than the Nazi. The German is physically much bigger than Guido and the Germans also outnumbered Guido 3 to 1 in that particular scene. Other parallels that could be found are how the Jews had to hide their loved ones to survive, and the fact that true love was severed by the Nazis. Both Maus and Life is Beautiful are fantastic graphic novels and films, respectively. If you haven't read/watched both of them, I would strongly suggest doing so. You won't be disappointed.