Sensitive, careful and sweet, but...

Rating: 7/10 (26 March 2003)

In spite of having taken the world by storm with this tale of a father who tries to hide the horrors of the holocaust to his son, there is a serious flaw that affects the tone and the overall sensation of the movie to more demanding viewers: after all, is this movie a comedy or a drama? Because Benigni doesn't seem to grasp an overall tone and the structure ends up being erratic, with some great laughs and some serious dramatic moments, and some moments in between that don't allow the viewer to know if they will laugh or not. But don't let my review cast a shadow over this movie, since its idea is genius, and one of those projects only Roberto Benigni would grasp.