Life is Beautiful Review

So I noticed that most of my reviews have been favorable reviews. So I think it's about time I review a movie I perceive as a bad one. So here is my review for Life is Beautiful.

Holy shit! Do I hate this movie. There are things in life we admire, like or love and so when we learn that two of these great things come together we initially think 'this is gotta be great'. But some things are just so polar opposites that you shouldn't think of putting them together and here it's the holocaust and slapstick comedy.

Roberto Benigni plays an Italian man who is the husband of a Jewish lady and when WW2 comes around they're all sent to the infamous concentration camps. Throughout the story of how Benigni's character meets his wife and his time in the concentration Benigni bombards us with purely visual humor, with no variation and a predictability can be seen with every "joke".

You may or not know that Benigni won an Oscar for his performance in this film. In retrospective i'm sure many academy members wish that it was given to Tom Hanks for 'Saving Private Ryan' or even better with Edward Norton for 'American History X'. His performance lacks a depth that any good actor will tell you that you need. Try playing an angry man, or a sad one. It's easy, but how about both at once. That's not easy and skill like that can win you an Academy award.

As for Benigni's direction, it's shot-reverse shot. Nothing innovative, nothing that calls upon the greats of cinema and nothing that makes it cinematic. Benigni also co-wrote the movie and I only have one thing to say about, in the form of a question. "What sick mind decided to do slapstick comedy set during the holocaust". In contrast the largest recent genocide was the Rwandan one, between 500, 000 and 1 000 000 people died. When compared to the Jewish holocaust, even by lowest estimates there was almost 12x the amounts of deaths.

When you see great films like Schindler's List and Son of Saul which handle the holocaust with such respect it makes you cry on the inside. While I know I might be a smaller percentage of people who don't like this film (it's currently #26 on the IMDb Top 250) you should approach this film with caution, especially if you have a heart and a brain.

Overall Score: 1/10

Director: Roberto Benigni

Writer: Roberto Benigni and Vincenzo Cerami

Starring: Roberto Benigni, Nicoletta Braschi, Giorgio Cantarini, Giustino Durano and Horst Buchholz

Cinematogprahy: Tonino Delli Colli

Editor: Simona Paggi

Music/Score: Nicola Piovani