Holocaust meets comedy and someone who can pull it off

Rating: 10/10 (28 February 2012)

Question: Is there any conceivable way at all to combine the holocaust with comedy and get laughs out of it? Well, not really I'd say, not without completely sacrificing the unspeakable horrors the concept of organized mass murder stands for. One shouldn't even try. If you look closer at Roberto Benigni's "Life is Beautiful" you will see that such an attempt isn't actually made either in this film. It's not about ridiculing Nazis, confronting them with their own absurdities or pretend to go along with their ideas to make the underlying idiocy apparent. This is just a means. Rather the film creates a parallel, carefree world alongside the horrific reality of the Nazis, which is upheld by the central character Guido (played by Benigni himself), a clown at heart. All this in order to keep up the illusion of a perfect world for his son Giosué in the face of impending doom. "Ah, the train ride was no good," the father admits to his son when they arrive at the concentration camp. "When we go back we take the bus. I'll tell them!" And when young Giosué wants to quit what Guido has convinced him to be just a game, his father is the first one to head out: "We're in the lead now, but well, we won't get the big prize then. Too bad." And suddenly Giosué reconsiders.
Roberto Benigni undoubtedly is a brilliant comedian. He's unforgettable e.g. in Jim Jarmusch's "Night on Earth" as a crazy cab driver to name just one example, but unfortunately his talent is often wasted in various light comedies. Great opportunities arise rarely for comedians, but Benigni grabbed this one and put all his heart into it, as director and actor. Contrasting his slapstick humor with the stark, painful reality of the Nazi's final solution to the Jew problem is daring, risky and extremely difficult to pull off. Thanks, Roberto Benigni, for giving the impossible a try. Highest recommendations!