Foreign Film Critique
Natalie Ormond
10:00 AM
1) Title of Film
Life is Beautiful (La vita e bella)
2) Year of release
1997
3) Language of original film:
Italian
4) Director:
Roberto Benigni
5) Actors:
Roberto Benigni, Nicoletta Baschi, and Giorgio Cantarini
6) Give a brief plot summary (should be 150-250 words and not be plagerized from the web)
This movie starts off with two best friends in Arezzo Italy. One guy is named Guido, a Jewish man.
Guido keeps running into a woman named Dora (who is not Jewish). Later he goes out of his way to keep
running into her in hilarious ways; courting her yet she resists him but soon falls for his humorous charm.
He steals her away (from her soon to be husband) during their engagement party. They run off together.
The movie jumps ahead about seven years, when the couple is married and has a son about six years old.
The sons names Giosue. The light heartedness of the beginning is soon swept away as you see the family
start getting persecuted for being Jews. Soon Guido and his son Giosue are taken into a concentration
camp. When Dora finds out she comes with them, not wanting to let her family go, but they are separated
once they get to the camp. The entire way Giosue is asking where they are going and why everything is
happening. Guido tells him it is all planned for his birth day; it’s all a big game. When they get there
Guido tells his son that they are competing to win a real tank; hiding from the Nazis you get points, not
crying when you are hungry you get points trying to make the horrible situation seem normal, to not
worry the child. Later towards the end of the movie Guido tells his son to hide in a box and to not come
out till everyone is gone; if he does they will win the grand prize. Guido than leaves, sneaking around
trying to find his wife Dora. He is unable to find and is caught by a guard and killed. All the Nazi leave
and Giosue comes out, soon an American tank comes around the corner and he rides with them. The story
ends when Giosue is reunited with his mother Dora.
7) Analyze the social and philosophical issues the film addresses. Make sure you include the point of
view of the movie, the context of the movie, what audience the movie is targeting, and why. (i.e. you
should address and reflect upon the “argument” or “meaning” of the work. This should be analysis,
not just summary of issues in the movie) {your answer should be at least 500 words}
The main social issue in this film is obviously the holocaust; when millions of Jewish people were
taken from their homes, their ordinary lives, and put into camps, to work or to be killed. They were
persecuted for no reason but for being Jewish. This movie really shows how happy the family was before
they were taken away. The movie starts off very funny, and light hearted, showing how they met and
lived there lives. You slowly see hints of what Jewish families went through till the point where they are
taken off in the train, in the middle of their ordinary day. I like how the director did this. It starts off
playing it to a very broad audience; you don’t really know at first that they are Jewish. Its just a guy trying
to win a girls heart. So when they are taken away, and split apart it hits you a little harder because you can
see how happy they were and you can actually relate to them even if you are not Jewish yourself.
I think the really bit philosophical issue that this film addresses is if you would tell your kid what
was happening in the concentration camp. This film is all in the point of view of Guido. When him and is
son are taken away he doesn’t tell him what exactly is happening. He tells his son it’s all a big game.
When they Nazi guards come into the barracks when Guido and his son first arrive, Guido translates to
his son the “rules” of the game. Everything you do will either earn you points or you will lose points.
Whoever gets to 1000 points first wins; the winner gets their very own real life size tank. (The son earlier
in the movie was playing with a toy tank). I think the philosophical question that this movie raises is
weather you would do this with your kids, would you keep them totally and utterly in the dark or would
you tell them bits and pieces of the truth or would tell them exactly what was going on? I think for me I
would like to do what Guido did with his son, but I don’t think I would be able to. He was really strong to
be able to come back to there bed every night after working really hard all day and keep a happy face on
and tell his son about this game and points they had earned. I would want my kids to be happy, but at the
same time I feel like they would need to know the seriousness of the situation. I feel like if I was hiding
my kid I would want to tell them that if a guard saw you they would kill you, because the kid would be
scared enough to stay put. I feel like if you tell a child it’s just a game they wouldn’t understand how
important it was to stay hidden. At the same time I wouldn’t want them to be completely scared for their
entire lives, and be miserable during the entire experience.
8) What is your response to the message of the film? Why do you respond this way? Show that you are
thinking about your own thinking here and the biases/assumptions about the world you bring to your
viewing. Did the film change the way you view the subject? Why, or why not? {at least 250 words}
I personally really enjoyed this film. Well I didn’t enjoy it but I think that it was a very well
put together film; it showed a different part of being in a concentration camp than any others that I have
seen. Most show them being killed, gassed, and tortured. This showed that but it concentrated a lot on
their life before, and the relationship between father and son during. I think I really noticed the part about
how he was trying to win this girl over because I can relate to it. I’m in a serious relationships and getting
ready to get married and eventually start my own family. So in a way I was putting myself in his shoes,
and than they were taken away to the camp. This really changed the way I looked at this because I saw
myself as having to go through that instead of “oh this is what these people had to go through”. It makes
me think how I’m just going about my life right now, happy as can be, and it can all just be taken away
from you in the blink of an eye. I couldn’t even begin to imagine how hard that would be. Someone
comes to your home and just takes you away, you have absolutely no choice. You are shoved into this
miserable world where you are working your hardest, starving to death, and everyone you know is
missing or dead. Living years like this. This movies did a very good job of helping me somewhat imagine
what it would be like and the choices I would have to make. I’m not saying that I know at all what it was
like because you wouldn’t ever know unless you went through it. The movie just puts it into a more
understanding perspective.
9) What cultural differences did you notice in the film (philosophical outlook, humor, architecture,
customs, clothes, cities, weather, food, music, dancing, lifestyles, etc.)? What did you learn about
history, economics or politics? {There are always differences; look for them} [at least a 250 words]
At the beginning of this movie I noticed the humor is very different from American humor. A lot of it
I felt was kind of childish. Stuff I would find funny when I was four or five. There is this one part when
Guido accidently put eggs in a guys and the guy puts the hat on. I honestly didn’t find it laugh out loud
funny. A lot of it was more physical humor, or overly planned. It didn’t seem like he just happened, it was
very predictable kind of humor. I didn’t really like this aspect of the movie. I didn’t laugh once at the little
jokes that Guido would play or say. Maybe I didn’t like it as much because they have a different way of
talking than we do. One of my favorite shows is the office. I really like the humor in that show, it doesn’t
seem planned at all. I feel like I’m actually watching a real documentary not a movie where they tell the
actor to do exactly this and everyone will laugh. Although I like the American Office I do not like the
original UK Office. I find their humor very dry, sarcastic and kind of rude. I think it might just depend on
where you live, and what your family and friends think is funny. In the film there were a lot of historical
references. I didn’t know that people from Italy were so effected from the Holocaust. I also noticed that
when he was trying to start a book store that they told him it would take years to get the right papers and
permits. As far as I know that isn’t how it is here, it normally takes people months maybe a year to get
permission from the government.
10) What techniques did the filmmaker use that were different from what you see in the films you
normally watch? Think about lighting, dialogue, atmosphere, setting, music, and how the filmmaker
might play upon your own biases, etc.{150 words}
One of the major techniques in the film was the lighting and atmosphere. During the first half
when the family was happy they used lots of bright colors, happy atmosphere, bright lighting
everywhere. Nothing was dark. When they were put on the train and through the rest of the movies
everything was grays, blacks and browns, dark lighting and a dreary atmosphere. Bright colors tend to
bring happy emotions and the dark colors play on your emotions to bring more sadness.
One thing that I noticed that was very different was the hotel and the restaurant. Everything,
the walls the workers clothing, the stair, the front desk, the tables were all white. When the
engagement party was in the dining room all the people attending were wearing bright colors so they
really stood out. I think this is so that you don’t really pay any attention to where they are at, giving
you just a generic area so that you put all your attention on what was happening with the scene and to
be able to keep your eye on certain people.
11) Why do you think I assign a foreign film?
I think you require us to watch a foreign film to get a different perspective. Obviously people
who make foreign films see things a lot differently than film makers in America. They have different
things influencing their lives than we do. It’s important to not just know your own perspective but to
know about many different ways of thinking about one subject. You don’t have to agree with other
people’s opinions but its important to know where they are coming from. It is also important to
understand different cultures and what they value and the differences they have from us.