Sublime triumph of love, despite the worst of situations

Rating: 9/10 (23 March 2006)

My summary conveys the message of this movie. This film is an astounding tribute to the beauty of the human spirit, the ability to maintain a hopeful and optimistic outlook, the unique bond between a father and son (or husband and wife), and the triumph of love...all in coping both with everyday life situations and later, with the horrific environment of a Nazi concentration camp.
This Italian film tells the tale of a bubbling, carefree Jewish book shopkeeper, Guido, who embarks upon a romance and marriage in 1930's Italy, soon raising a son with his wife, Dora. The family's happy little world crashes when the Nazis force father & son to a concentration camp. Guido seeks out ways to communicate with his wife, who has voluntarily followed her 'two men' to the camp and is of course now separated from them in the women's barracks. Also, in order to make life bearable for his little boy, Guido pretends that the horrifying Holocaust events are all an elaborate game, with a tank offered as the grand prize.
The father turning this unspeakable situation into a game creates a unique perspective, to say the least. Personally, I found this touching tale very emotional, although of course in quite a different way from Schindler's List, a tremendously moving film with its graphic depiction of horrifying truths the world must never forget.
Some seem insulted by this movie, which I can understand. Perhaps this film might be interpreted as an outrage to the memory of those who suffered so much. However, this is not a documentary and I don't think its intent is to deny or trivialize the Holocaust. It is a fictional family's story. The concentration camp setting might indeed seem insensitive, but I agree with those who feel this is simply intended as a film about hope, as personified by its main character, Guido, and about the bonds of family.
This lovely tale, so unexpected, touches the heart in a very personal way...the wife and mother bravely following her loved ones into danger rather than face separation, the father concocting this incredible wild scheme to protect his young son from being frightened by the atrocities occurring all around him. Guido is so charming, funny, inventive, and appealing. The film tells his entire adult life story. It's not just about the Nazi years; the concentration camp is only the latter part of his tale, as it also amusingly and touchingly chronicles his courtship and early married life.
This movie is just a moving, heartwarming FICTIONAL story of a wonderful, optimistic, unique individual and his family. Don't let the sub-titles dissuade you. You absolutely must see this incredible film. It's amusing, romantic, and of course tragic...all three. Above all, it indeed shows that despite all the cruelty of the Holocaust...at least for Guido, in both the best and worst of situations...Life is Beautiful.