Many of Life's Lessons can be learned from this film, Life is Beautiful

Rating: 10/10 (9 December 2007)

Author Viktor E Frankl would have loved this film. His book "Man's Search for Meaning" (at least the second half of his book) came to life in Guido's character (Roberto Benigni). The film's segment in a concentration camp actualizes what Frankl attributes to his own survival in a Nazi concentration camp, i.e. his own choosing of the way that things affected him, rather than letting the Nazi's dictate that choice for him. What Guido (Roberto Benigni) did in the concentration camp is what Frankl would have have advised him to do and Guido did it very well. This strategy proved especially beneficial for his 5 year old son, Giorgio.
The film is very upbeat and loving, especially in it's first hour which makes no mention of the holocaust or prison camps. Evenso, the uplifting spirit of Guido continues into the camp, with him continually finding ways to show his love there for his wife and son. He's always looking for ways to make things better, never giving into depression in what was clearly a depressing environment. He certainly made the best of a very bad situation.
Frankl's memoir of survival (in the second half of his book) really came to life through Guido in a way that Frankl could never have imagined, but which was done very touchingly, none the less. Although Frankl's book is very serious material, I found it to be remarkably complemented by this film.