the most you can ask for

Rating: Null/10 (18 January 2004)

It would be a small understatement to say that Life is Beautiful has been misunderstood. I've read an abysmal amount of imdb user comments that make me squint my eyes and shake my head from side to side. Roberto Benigni didn't strive to be truthful. Mussolini allowed no French opera under his reign, yet Life is Beautiful has French opera. There were no labour camps in the mountains, yet Benigni set his in a remote valley, surrounded by mountains. Benigni didn't show us horror, because that wasn't his purpose. The name of the film is Life is Beautiful. If he made it hyper-realistic and relentlessly depressing, as some people seem to think he should of, then he wouldn't have named it Life is Beautiful. Benigni received the blessing of many prominent Jewish groups. He had no intention of making light of the Holocaust. He just wanted to tell a story about love, parenthood, and beauty. Which is the most you can ask for. Brilliant.