The fusion of tragedy and humor in Roberto Binigni’s film “Life is Beautiful” made it both an intriguing and difficult film to watch. The movie certainly had poignant cinematic qualities to it but it was challenging as a viewer to look past the combination of Guido’s energetic antics, the music and sound effects, and humorous tone overall contrasted with the dark realities of the Holocaust later on in the film. Particularly at the beginning, the movie had a light hearted sitcom-like feel to it. However, it still managed to address serious issues and events in history. This further made me wonder why our American culture separates comedy and tragedy into such opposed genres without overlap. Shakespeare and other famous works have successfully merged them but most modern American cinema and television tends to stray away from this. Although it was difficult because I was not used to it, I thought the overlap of these qualities was relatively effective. In other words, I think the duality served to humanize Guido and those around him and represent them as regular and normal people in a difficult situation rather than distant sad figures in a tragedy.
The movie has a comedic element created through physical humor and stunts. However, what is most effective in conveying humor is Guido’s optimism and characteristics. However, there are some more thoughtful aspects of the movie, mainly conveyed through discussion between characters. This appears in several cases including the server’s advice to protagonist that a server is not a servant and relates that idea to a religious relationship of God to human. The movie also touches on Schopenhauer’s philosophy: that is, if you think then you can. This idea is carried by the protagonist but reveals a greater purpose for this film to act as a platform for a philosophical message. The music also aids in the light, fun atmosphere of the film. It also serves to express emotions and motifs of the relationship between the protagonist and his love interest. In addition to the comedic and light-hearted elements, the film also has a heart, using the sentimentality of love to create moments which capture the artist. The emotional elements in a similar way to comedic elements are enhanced through music, such as the opera music in the theater scene and physical elements in Guido’s magical hand gestures. Guido is characteristic of an eternal child. Guido’s optimism serves as contrast to the overt racism. It seems the comedic antics of Guido competes with the racism in their overtness. Both the exaggerated fascist and comedic antics create an unrealistic idealization of the events of the movie. As the movie continues, despite the shift to scenes of the concentration camps, the bright colors and the music persist to create a consistent unrealistic narration in the film.
ReplyDeleteMaria Brown
ReplyDeleteI agree with your comment about the tension that can arise from juxtaposing the comedic and tragic aspects of this film. I disagree however that modern American cinema and TV strays away from it. There are examples of jokes being made about the Holocaust, 9/11, and other tragedies, especially in adult cartoons. However, I feel that these lack a lot of the taste that Life Is Beautiful had with its depiction of the Holocaust. The image of the bodies that Guido finds proves that the movie did not want to romanticize historical events. Although the light-heartedness and arguable fortune of Guido leans towards the unrealistic, Benigni did not shy away from showing the audience the dark side of the coin.
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