Holocaust Sitcom!!

Rating: Null/10 (11 July 2004)

I read a lot of negative reviews about this movie before I actually watched it, and thus when I finally got a chance to watch it, my expectations were not very high. And perhaps that worked in my favor. "Life is Beautiful" surely is not a "must see" movie; but at the same time, it's an enjoyable one.
As far as my subjective opinions are concerned, I found the first half of the movie unnecessarily long. However, the major drawback of the overall movie (in my opinion) is that it's sort of Unicorn: neither purely a comedy nor any kind of a serious movie. Many of the situations depicted in this movie are not even within shooting distance of reality. Now, I'm willing to enjoy a comedy movie as one; but when one watches a movie that deals with a serious issue and historical facts, one expects the bare minimum reality in it. A couple of German speaking guys, a heap of bones, and couple of Magen David symbols cannot add authenticity to a movie that deals with the Holocaust.
But that does not mean all is wrong with the movie. In my opinion, the depiction of the father-son relationship is one of the major plus points of this movie, and so is the portrayal of human spirit that cannot be crushed under any situation. Another plus point is that it's devoid of all those scenes in such a movie that leaves one depressed for the rest of the week (Schindler's List is a case in point).
Finally, I won't recommend it to someone who really wants to see a movie that seriously deals with the history and reality of holocaust; but, at the same time, it's a good, clean and enjoyable movie.