Nauseating Holocaust Farce

Rating: Null/10 (17 February 2006)

I usually don't take time to make reviews about movies I don't like. But this one managed to infuriate me in such a way that for once, I feel I have to make an exception. Now I don't reject as a principle the idea of a comedy about the Holocaust, but mind you, it is a very sensitive subject, so you have to be really talented in order to afford carrying out such a project.
I admit the first part of this flick does get some laughs, but not much more so than some easy entertaining comedy that you watch to relax after a long working day. That's not exactly what you call big art. It would be OK if the movie tried to be a parody of a Fellini movie for example. Roberto Benigni is certainly a gifted slapstick actor, but hardly more profound than Jerry Lewis or Louis de Funès. Actually, if I want to laugh my head out, I'd rather watch Mister Bean instead.
But sorry, I don't think Benigni can compare to Chaplin, and if you compare this film with "The Great Dictator", sorry again, it falls short. First, "The Great Dictator" was shot in 1940, and as such, it was obviously much more of a dare and of a statement to make a caricature of Hitler while he was still alive. Secondly, Chaplin knew about Yiddish culture, and the portrayal he made of the Jewish quarter for instance, as a parody, had at least some connection to reality. It is pretty obvious, on the other hand, that Mr Benigni doesn't know much about the subject he is dealing with, and did not care to document himself about it. By the way, Guido Orefice does not sound very Jewish, but it could be translated from Italian as "Guy Butthole". No, I'm serious.
What is obnoxious from the start is that Benigni seems to be quite self indulgent, naturally convinced that as an accomplished Italian buffoon, he is totally irresistible. He makes a caricatured court to his wife in real life, and it seems to take a few poor jokes and calling her "My Princess" so that she falls into his arms. The point of Mr Benigni seems to be more or less that : I am so funny, I am so genial, that I can take the most horrible and the most taboo subject I can find, and it will infallibly become as funny and genial as I am myself. That's as narcissistic as can be. When does Mr Benigni plan to make a comedy about pedophilia?
Now, the second part is really hard to take. The concentration camp looks like some severe prison in Switzerland. There were actually no children in concentration camp barracks because they were GASSED right away, and I wonder how long our irresistible Mr Benigni would have lasted in Auschwitz. Probably the Nazis would have thought he was so funny and genial that they would have him perform his laughable tricks while somebody was hanged...
Besides, I think lying to children in order to make them believe that life is a bed of roses is a very dubious philosophy. Children are not as stupid as one would like to think, and they generally feel when they're lied to. Transposed into a political context, lying to people in order to make them believe that "life is beautiful" has already been done many times.
Thanks to Mr Berlusconi who started his career by creating a trash-TV empire, the Italian cinema which used to be one of the most productive in the world collapsed in a mere few years. Here is what remains of it. Bravissimo.
The final "happy ending", with the kid laughing his head out while he is riding on an American tank with a white star made me so angry I wanted to punch my TV! I don't remember having ever experienced such a feeling before.
For those interested in Holocaust comedies, if you can get hold on that, check out "Train de vie". It is not the greatest movie, but since Jewish people took part in it, it is already much funnier, much more realistic, and much more respectful. As a long time movie lover, I am genuinely appalled beyond words by the success and recognition Benigni's despicable flick managed to achieve.
I don't even want to give this movie a rating.