Humor, deception and pathos in one neat package.

Rating: 9/10 (4 July 2001)

Add Roberto Benigni's name to the list of cinema triple threats: those who can write, direct and act -- all in one movie! And do it well, too!
In "La Vita è bella" (USA: "Life Is Beautiful"), he has made a classic. Initially, Guido (Benigni), an Italian Jew, is a happy-go-lucky fellow whose silly antics are constantly rubbing those who know him the wrong way. Then he meets Dora (Nicoletta Braschi, Benigni's real-life wife) and while Guido's happy demeanor never lets down, he's now becoming more of a man of responsibility. Eventually, Guido and Dora have a son, Giosué (Giorgio Cantarini), and it is now that Guido's blue-sky philosophy of life is severely tested by the World War II clouds that have enveloped all of Europe.
The crux of this movie is how possibly can Guido, the happiest Italian Jew, help his family survive the Nazis and The Holocaust? It's a daunting proposition, at best, and we don't know 'til the end of the movie how -- or even if -- he's going to manage to pull it off.
Benigni, here, has taken a most original story idea, mixed in equal parts of humor and tragedy, added a strong dose of deception (perhaps the movie's most important plot element), thus producing a work of art that is seldom equalled on the screen. And in this case, when we talk of humor and the Nazis in the same context, we're not talking "Hogan's Heroes," folks!

Without telling you how Benigni did it, there is one scene in this movie when Giosué, the son, puts in his first appearance as a five-year-old. The scene is done in a matter of seconds and it is done flawlessly, seamlessly and with a type of artistry that is rarely seen in motion pictures.
And that's what "La Vita è bella" is, too: the artistry of motion picture-making at its very best. A heart-wrencher and a cheerer-upper, all rolled into one.