Oh, poor misguided youth!

Rating: 10/10 (6 February 1999)

It is a shame that the simple minds of our culture are only able to see true art for its surface value alone. The film is meant to be a sardonic look at how absurd the Nazi party and the infamous Holocaust really was. If you do not know how horrible the Holocaust was previous to seeing this film, then obviously your ignorance is unwelcome at such artistic fare.
Roberto Bernigni was trying to show how truly wonderful life was before the holocaust and how it should be just as wonderful in our present everyday life. While in the prison camps he stressed the true salvation of love and family, and how the strength of that love can help you get through the most horrible of life's challenges.
The fact that the Holocaust was a mad-man's dream of killing people based on their religion, culture, and aesthetic appearance, itself is ludicrous. And Roberto Benigni does a beautiful job of showing just how absurd the Nazis were. The idea that no one knew his son was not German until he spoke, is one indication of how we are really all alike. And this point is underlined when Roberto Benigni's character teaches all of the German children to say "Grazi," meaning that it makes no difference what you are, but who you are as an individual.
It saddens me to see so many disenchanted viewers. Perhaps, the full value of the movie was missed and the message was not revealed to your closed eyes and heart. Mayhaps it is just as well that there will no doubt be a sequel to Dumb & Dumber for all of the rest to enjoy. However, the ones who want to delve deeper into the intricacies of life and what it has to offer should not miss the oppportunity to take in Benigni's Masterpiece.