No laughs here

Rating: 1/10 (2 May 2001)

I'm sorry but I could not get beyond the fact that this was a comedy about the Holocaust. Is the World so screwed up that everything can be commercialised? I find it especially offensive when non-Jews make these comedies. Its hardly like the Italians have anything to be proud of in the way they treated the Jews during the war. If the film was a German comedy about the Holocaust would it have won an Oscar I wonder? I am sorry but making a comedy about the Holocaust or about Cambodia or some other genocide is just not a good idea. Making a slap-stick comedy about such an event is simply tasteless. No surprise it was so popular in the US.
Its not that good comedies can't touch on these subjects - Cabaret is not only funny but a musical - and I think its excellent in lots of ways. Most importantly its respectful for those who died when the Nazis took Berlin. Life is Beautiful lacks respect. The fact it comes from a country that was an ally in with Germany in the Holocaust is unforgiveable.