The triumph of the human spirit!

Rating: Null/10 (17 August 2001)

I know that some people are calling this movie tasteless and disrespectful towards the unimaginably terrible events that happened during the Holocaust. People think that events such as these shouldn't be "made fun of" by making a comedy out of it.
But to all those that see this movie that way, I think that you should understand the underlying message that this movie gives. It shows us that in the face of certain danger and despair, the human spirit can be stronger. It is humanity vs. inhumanity and many people simply don't believe that it is possible for a man to remain strong and unbroken whenever he faces certain peril such as Begnini's character managed to do. The love for his son will always be stronger than the Nazi's rifles and he managed to tastefully remain light-hearted even though it was obvious that deep down, he was very very fearful about the uncertainty of the fate of his family.
The reason that I say that it is tasteful is because of the excellent character development that went into the first half of the movie where you see Begnini's character try to court Dora. Without this first half, then I would have to agree that it would be missing a very important element. However, we can see that Guido Orifice was a man who always believed for the remainder of his life, that no matter what evil may happen to befall on him, life IS beautiful.