A magical, unique film, a wondrous lesson

Rating: 10/10 (1 August 1999)

I am amazed that people believe Life Is Beautiful is satirizing the Holacaust. Would this allegorical film be less controversial had it been set in Bosnia or in America during slavery or during our continuing racism? Perhaps I am naive, but I choose to see this film as a story about creating hope and trust in a place where neither is present. I believe almost all of us have experienced such a place; perhaps in reality or in our own minds. A time when someone else had to care for you because you could no longer care for yourself. Guido did not see himself as a hero or a helpless victim, nor did his wife. They were simply people who loved their child and each other above all else. I will long remember this film not for any specific scene, although there were many fine ones, but for the amazing example of the potential of the human spirit and the love one may have for another. I wept when I first learned about the Holacaust in sixth grade, I wept when I saw Schlinder's list, I wept at Life is Beautiful. I hope we never forget how brutally one human can treat another. I also hope we never forget the hope and promise that Life is Beautiful displayed so eloquently.