Movie Review

Rating: 8/10 (29 April 2013)

Life is Beautiful (1997)
Cast: Roberto Benigni, Nicoletta Braschi, Giorgio Cantarini
Directors: Roberto Benigni, Rod Dean
Synopsis: Roberto Benigni stars as a father of Joshua (Giorgio Cantarini) and husband of Dora (Nicoletta Brashchi) in Life is Beautiful. As he and his family are sent to concentration camps, he makes a game out of the Holocaust to cover it up for his son. He realizes that there isn't a way to get out of this and so he sacrifices a lot to save his family.
Review: Roberto Benigni and Rod Dean directed a comical, inspiring and romantic movie. As seeing it for the first time, we see all sorts of different actors in this foreign film.
When crisis enters his family, Roberto sacrifices his own life to save his family. Instead of telling his son Joshua (Giorgio Cantarini) what's going to happen during their time at the concentration camp, he makes up a game of it and tells his son that he is going to win a tank if they make it through the game.
This film served as a good attention getter with its beautiful scenery and plots. Roberto used actors that had good intentions and that fit their character very well. Nicoletta Brashchi was an incredible "princess" that acted out her emotions pretty well, while Roberto Benigni and Giorgio Cantarini were both excellent and obviously content with Roberto and Rod's directing style and the movie's dramatic tone. The one actor that gave people suspension was Roberto Benigni.
Throughout the movie, he acted as a comedian towards people and was laid back. It was a shock to watch him make a game out of the words that the Germans were saying and fight his way through the Holocaust for his family. He was a smart man who got out of deathly situations quickly. After a few scenes, however, we were surprised that he went through with letting the Germans kill him.
Life is Beautiful relates to the book Maus because it took place during the Holocaust. Roberto made sacrifices to save his son and wife while in Maus, Vladek made sacrifices for his wife during the Holocaust. Vladek and Roberto have the same mental ability to get out of deathly situations quickly. While making underground tunnels under garbage cans, Vladek makes it safely out of getting caught by the Germans and their dogs. In Life is Beautiful, Roberto hides his son in a metal box and uses his "magic" to get the barking dog away from his son.
Life is Beautiful is exciting, creative and romantic—and worth a few hours of your time to watch.