nauseating

Rating: 1/10 (29 December 2003)

There are very few movies, no matter how bad, where I come away personally disliking all those involved. "Life is Beautiful" is one of those movies. Why because beneath the shiny, happy coating "Life is Beautiful" embodies a narcisstic and almost nihilistic view of the world; I say this because Begnini et al. are apparently willing to use genocide to infuse a poorly written, badly acted, and sloppily directed movie with dignity it doesn't deserve. And make no mistake this movie is all three. The drama is fake, the segments don't flow, the acting sophomoric, the history laughable, and the characters stereotypes at best. Begnini can do slapstick and there is a funny bit or two, but these add up to nothing and seem positively grotesque in light of what comes later. This movie is the most banal and manipulative sort of crowd pleaser, the sort that assumes the crowd is composed entirely of idiots, but because it nominally concerns the holocaust otherwise intelligent people are unwilling to call the movies cynical little game for what it is, fearing the -"What you didn't like 'Life is Beautiful?!' No don't say anything else you don't have a soul," or the more common, "Well go back to your Jerry Bruckheimer movies." Well in all honesty that's an insult to Mr. Bruckheimer. His movies may insult my intelligence, but never to the level this movie did. At the predictable and overdone ending I remember thinking, "I know what you want me to do movie, but there's no way I'm buying." Worse this movie is an insult to anyone who had to suffer because of the Nazis and their fascist allies. Watching this movie I'm reminded of how Salem, MA uses historical atrocity as a kitchy tourist draw (going so far as to put witches on broomsticks on the sides of police cars). Begnini uses the holocaust to draw in suckers in the same way. Group Mr. Begnini with the all those in the holocaust industry who are willing to use the worst atrocity of the 20th century to open wallets and flatter their inflated egos. Beyond being an insult to the victims of National Socialism this movie is terrible because it crowds out much better movies on the same subject. Everyone chalks in "Life is Beautiful" as their art movie of the month and ignores better movies on the holocaust like "The Ogre," "Invincible," or "Heimat."