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Rating: 10/10 (29 April 2013)

Life is Beautiful (1997)
Cast: Roberto Benigni, Nicoletta Braschi, Giorgio Cantarini
Director: Roberto Benigni
Review: Life is Beautiful is a movie, not only about the Holocaust, but also of the beautiful relationship between a father and son, and the love that is shared between a married couple. I recently read the graphic novel Maus and found similarities within them. In the movie, Benigni, or Guido has a son, Joshua that he would give anything to be with and keep safe. When they get taken to a concentration camp, Guido makes a game of it and has a point system that entails all of the rules that Joshua must follow in order to stay alive and receive points, to ultimately win the grand prize. In the novel Maus, there is also a strong bond between father and son that grows as the story progresses. In the end of both pieces of literature, the father and son don't end on good terms, but ultimately, end up happy. All in all, the movie was excellent and I would recommend it to anyone who is into historic literature and/or foreign films. The movie was nominated for several academy awards, including Roberto Benigni winning "Best Actor". Both pieces of literature also portray the horrific and pernicious conditions of the Holocaust and how love alone can get you through almost anything.