roberto benigni is a clown in the tradition of chaplin and keaton .
this italian film star , best known in the united states for the poorly received son of the pink panther , has done the near impossible by creating a comic fable about the holocaust .
but benigni 's life is beautiful ( la vita e bella ) is not so much a story of the holocaust as it uses that monstrous outrage against humanity as a backdrop to tell a story of familial love , devotion and sacrifice .
the movie starts out as a typical slapstick farce with benigni 's guido arriving in the small tuscan town of arezzo in 1938 to fulfill his dream of owning a bookstore .
like many of the slapstick clowns who preceded him , most notably the almost - forgotten harry langdon , benigni 's guido has a childlike innocence .
he ignores the growing anti - semitism of the fascist government .
instead , guido ardently falls in love and persues dora , a local school teacher who already is engaged to a local fascist official .
in benigni 's tightly wound script this is the same fascist official with whom guido had an earlier unfortunate - yet slapstick - encounter .
guido wins dora .
they marry .
fast forward about five years .
guido , dora , and their 5-year - old son , giosue ?
( giorgio cantarini ) are a happy family .
guido has finally fulfilled his dream of opening a bookstore .
but racial and anti - semitic tensions are on the rise in italy , and guido has determined to do his best to shield his son from these harsh realities .
the task becomes even the more difficult when the family is deported to a concentration camp .
here , guido must use all his skill and imagination not only to shield his son , but to keep him from being exterminated .
it is at this juncture in life is beautiful may tend to offend those whom the holocaust has touched .
for the scenes in the concentration camp lack the horror , the pain , the unimaginable suffering of a schindler 's list .
true , many italian jews were not deported until the war was nearly over , and most were not sent to the death camps , but to work camps where they were used as slave labor .
unlike steven spielberg , benigni is not out to tell the story of the holocaust .
his story is about family and the lengths a parent will go to protect a child .
for guido , to save his son , transforms the entire experience into an elaborate game .
giosue ?
must follow the rules without question to amass 1 , 000 points .
the winner takes home a tank .
therefore , guido tells him , he must remain hidden in the barracks .
he can not make a sound nor allow the guards to see him .
guido explains this during a hilarious sequence when a german guard barks the camp instructions to the newly arrived inmates .
guido , lying that he understands german and can translate for his fellow prisoners , instead lays down the rules for his son to allow him a chance to survive .
throughout their imprisonment , guido 's quick thinking continually keeps his son from harm 's way .
ultimately , the allies rescue the camp .
in a poignant scene , giosue ? comes out of hiding just as an american tank rolls into the compound .
the boy goes wide - eyed with wonderment and delight , thinking he has won the game .
the price for his victory is most high .
benigni has succeeded in using the blackest moment in human history to prove that even in hell , a ray of hope and salvation can penetrate the darkness .
life is beautiful is a fantasy , a fable .
it is not to be taken as a record of the holocaust .
those who object to it are missing its point .
and that is simply where there is hope , where there is life and where there is love , the spark of humanity will never be extinguished .
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has done the near impossible benigni has succeeded