Uplifting and heartbreaking

Rating: 9/10 (16 December 2003)

While some may complain that Life is Beautiful does not portray death camps in the appropriate level of detail or realism, the simple fact is: Life is Beautiful is not intending to be a faultlessly accurate portrayal of concentration camps in World War II Germany. It could also be pointed out that very few (if not none) contemporary movies can even come close to fully portraying the horrors endured by Jewish, Polish, and Gypsy people in such camps.
That said, the film itself needs to be addressed. Life is Beautiful follows one idealistic and offbeat Jewish man's life, love, and experiences when the Germans take he and his family. The central plotline is this man (played sensitively by Roberto Beninini, who also wrote and directed the movie) trying to keep his son alive and sane in the camp. In this way, the film sometimes reminded me of Hogan's Heroes, with a Jewish man in place of the American soldiers- with the Nazis being the butt of jokes and generally being outsmarted by Bennini.
But to say this piece is a fairy tale or a comedy far from the truth, while it is true that the movie never really approaches the real horror of a concentration camp- that is not to say that it is a happy movie. It is feel good, I'll give it that, but you will cry during the movie. Perhaps it is the fairytale quality that makes such loss all the more powerful, and when you consider a lot of this movie is focused around a confused and naive child, it is actually powerfully done. By 'glossing over' the horrors (as a child undoubtedly could), the inevitability of loss is made so much more painful.
This movie was, and still is, one of the finest movies I've had the pleasure of watching. The subtitles are a minor issue, but easily overlooked. Simply put, Life is Beautiful is one of the few emotionally driven movies to be acknowledged as real cinema in recent years.
See if you liked: Big Fish, The Devil's Arithmetic, The Green Mile. Strengths: Has the viewer's emotions on a string, excellent music. Weaknesses: Lacks realism and subtitles can be distracting,