Not at all about human evil

Rating: 9/10 (8 September 2013)

Those who accused the movie of lack of realism missed the point. This masterpiece was not about Holocaust and its atrocities but rather this theme served as allegory for something so sadly rare that in order to show it the director had to use this controversial subject in a comedy. I am talking about something called "human spirit" although I don't like this phrase as it became slowly a cliché. I am Polish and had a few relatives who experienced concentration camps - some of them survived - one didn't. I also lived 100 km from Auschwitz which became sort of a destination for school field trips. On top of that - in schools we had an extensive course on camp literature and let me tell you that your typical Holocaust movie is not especially realistic either. The problem I have with those movies is that it shows always similar narrative: diabolical German guards (chosen from criminals), victims so sick and emaciated, and super obedient due to hunger, illness and extreme fear that you could not find the shred of humanity in them. Other people, outsiders, did not nothing because conveniently didn't know. Camps were super isolated so only a few could be blamed - that is typical narrative of movies which makes people feel good. After all: we are not so bad, it is just a few of us. As to camps: image of prisoners are totally inhuman which is probably the biggest injustice to those who suffered and died. But death, torture,hunger was just part of the camp experience, huge no doubt but not the whole truth about those places. There was camaraderie, help, compassion,medical attention done by prisoners doctors (some hanged for this),acts of incredible courage (Jan Karski, priest Kolbe)... And if you want to know how it really was like being there read Tadeusz Borowski's: "This way to the gas, Ladies and Gentelmen" or "Men's search for meaning" by Victor Frankl. Yes, it was abyss but people reacted differently. Many became a part of killing machine, many gave up any struggle for survival but few remained humans despite hell. There was even humor, nightly reading stories by some writers, teachers inmates without books, some sort of lectures, art performed with coal, games done with sticks or balls made of rags and yes - there were some attempts at saving small children although rarely successful. What I am trying to say that clichéd, tired image of big cruel guards, sheep like prisoners walking in mud,slowly,in perfect order towards death without any protest, piles of corpses really say nothing about Holocaust. It only desensitizes viewers and pose a threat that it will be forgotten by younger generation, or perhaps even repeated. Before extermination camps were built there was the whole decade of injustices, watched by the Western world with indifference , which started small but slowly precisely because of lack of reaction from the World, snowballed to gas chambers. If you don't believe it could happen now. Just listen to people with their stupid simplistic explanation to complex problems. I heard statement from so called decent people that in the light of recession and lack of jobs for born citizens all foreigners, including their children should be deported to their countries. Here you go. That is how it starts. And Roberto Benigni made movie so original, so different from other of this sort that said more about humans that all other films combined. combined.