Sorrentino, "The Great Beauty", 2013
Wednesday, October 10, 2018
Life is Beautiful
The first time I watched Life is Beautiful was in English class in 8th grade during a unit in which we were researching literature and art on the Holocaust. Watching it a second time, years later and living in Italy, has been a much different experience. I talk with my host family a lot about the films we watch in this class, as they are huge cinema fans (especially my host father). They'll never stop talking about La Dolce Vita and Fellini's visionary talent; and other movie choices for the class they applaud with "Bellisimo!". My host family has made it clear their distraught hatred for Life is Beautiful. When they first said this, I was surprised because I knew the success and fame of the movie. When I pry and ask why they hate the movie, the answer is clear cut and should've been more obvious to anyone: it's not right to make such a light-hearted and comedic film regarding something so tragic as the Holocaust. When I watched the movie earlier in life, I didn't think of this point at all; I thought it was a loving movie regarding father and son and triumph over evils of the world. This time though, I held my host family's view points in mind and the movie did seem some sorts of disrespectful. Although the humor and light-heartedness was a major plot point in the movie and idea of father-son relationship, I feel the movie is out of taste trivializing an event of the magnitude.
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I think it very interesting and beneficial to have been able to watch this film with a new perspective, now being immersed in Italian culture, as well as being able to hear your host family's point of view of the film. I also talked to my host family about "Life is Beautiful", and they simply discussed how sad the film made them at the end. I feel that I can view this film from both perspectives, regarding the ability to understand and sympathize with Guido and his method to distract his son from the horrors of the Holocaust, as well as the hatred viewers may feel since it could be said that the film portrays the Holocaust in a light-hearted yet disrespectful way. My experience while watching the film was a bit of shock and discomfort at first (due to the humor combined with the Holocaust), but I loved the movie by the end and did understand the meaning behind the light-heartedness. I actually found it to be a very unique way to portray the extent a father would go to save his son in such life-threatening circumstances. In summary, I enjoyed this movie, but I do understand the hatred your family feels toward the film and find it to be very interesting that some Italians have such dislike toward this film.
ReplyDeleteThe use of comedy in Life is beautiful is a risky choice, however I feel that it allows the the viewer to also appreciate the relationship between father and son, and makes the comedic aspect easier to digest. The film shows a father who is protective of his son to the point of self-sacrifice, compared to the self-obsessed father in Bicycle Thieves. Additionally, there is a sense of optimism and fantasy that the father in Life is Beautiful maintains, compared to Bicycle Thieves. In Life is Beautiful, the father makes huge efforts to save his son and maintain an illusion for him, even making it into a game. In the midst of adversity, the father still lives up to his responsibility.
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