The Day the Clown Cried featured Lewis as a circus clown trying to cheer up children in a WWII prison camp. The film was never even released to theaters, perhaps due to studio skittishness. I suppose there's an impulse in every comedian to be dramatic, but it usually comes out as maudlin sentiment. Chaplin got the mixture right in films like City Lights and The Kid . In Life is Beautiful , Benigni applies his pathos with an eyedropper and comes up with a precise mixture of hopeful humor and touching emotion.
Life does perfect double duty as a heartwarmer and a heartbreaker.
Watching Guido shield his son from the harsh reality of their life with a fanciful lie is a wonder to behold. Benigni doesn't try too hard to reveal the horrors of death camp life. At the same time, though, he does not shy away from occasionally confronting viewers with a proper knowledge of how dangerous this situation is. Any child who is spotted will lose points. Benigni never makes fun of the situation.