LA VITA E BELLA (DIDIER BECU)

Rating: 9/10 (1 March 2004)

What hasn't been said about this movie that hasn't been said before? Indeed, absolutely nothing as "La vita e bella" is just the kind of movie that has to be seen and that has to be watched over as soon as it is on the television screen. A comedy that is filmed around the dramatic adventures on some concentration camp and Roberto Begnini isn't the sort of preacher (certainly not at the end) and as viewer you simply don't know what to do : laughing or crying... You know that laughing is a very bitter thing to do in situations like these but still it works... Some scenes are heartbreaking, or may I say the lowest common factor humankind can fall into (the scene at where Begnini expects help from some "befriended" SS-general turns out to be finding a solution for a stupid riddle). There isn't a real message and if there is one then it must be keep on smiling. "La vitta e bella" won 3 Oscars, and for Christsake, it might have made Begnini crazy, but it's still too less...