Life is Beautiful is a 1997 film that focuses on the challenges of the Holocaust caused by the Nazi movement on the Jews. Achieving the purpose of the film is done in a soft manner, with the film being dominated by the positive element of humor (Benigni, p. 22). Based on a traditional setting, the human elements that make life beautiful, as the title portrays, are efficient in making the movie captivating to its modern audience. The conflicting aspect of Nazism against one’s love for the family facilitates the embracement of desperate measures to cater to the difficult situation that presents to Guido Orefice (Jaza, p. 54). This movie is relevant towards the realization that the beauty with which life should be perceived can act as an important weapon against the enemy of challenge.
The movie starts with the identification of the character who takes the main role in the film, Guido Orefice. This individual plans on setting up his own book store but due to financial incapability has to start off working in his uncle’s hotel. The director at this point leads the audience to the identification of the character’s traits, including a good sense of humor and allure. These traits earned him a good reputation among the people he lives and relates with and are critical in earning him the love of his life. It is from this point that the audience is introduced to the second major character, Dora, a beautiful schoolteacher coming from a rich family. Guido manages to win the love of Dora, and it is from this point that the theme of conflict emerges.
The mother to Dora needs her daughter to be married off to a wealthy civil servant, and retain her family’s reputation. The man she is supposed to marry to is however arrogant and lacks the tenderness that Dora deserves (Hughes). The theme of conflict is framed in such a way that the positive traits of Guido conflict and win over antagonism, as Guido steals Dora during her engagement party with her fiancé. Events that follow are characterized by a perfect combination of romance and humor, leading to a near-perfect relationship that yields in the marriage of Guido and Dora. This section is relevant in yielding the realization that happiness, which beautifies life, is much more important than riches coupled with arrogance.
The second section of the movie starts with birth before the movie’s climax is eventually incorporated into the storyline. The birth of a son, Giosué into the lives of the couple is marked with joy and appreciation, while simultaneously; the birth of violence takes a toll on the lives of the Jews in Italy. It is at this point that the relevance of ethnicity in the film is realized. Most importantly, the fact that Guido and his uncle are Jews in a society where they are discriminated against by the Nazis yields the relevance of ethnicity in the film (Benigni, p. 54). It turns out that these individuals, together with Giosué and in the absence of Dora are captured to be taken to a death camp. For the love of her family, Dora offers to be carried with her husband, but she is dropped by the way. It takes Guido’s efforts to convince Giosué that he had everything under control. The strategy that he uses yields happiness to Giosué who is convinced that the turn of events in the process is a game and that his father would win. From this aspect, we learn to appreciate happiness in Giosué’s life as Guido’s weapon to win comfort.
Life in the concentration camp comprises the better part of the remaining part of the film. Guido continually uses his compelling power to prevent his son from crying, convincing him that his game required him to stay calm in the hiding place. Guido keeps his son with the hope that the two would eventually win a live tank only if they followed the strategies he suggested. While this is a fundamental strategy in the protection of Giosué, it is framed in such a way that it lessens the intensity of the challenges that faced the individuals that faces Guido and his son in the camp (Hughes). This situation derives the sympathy of the audience considering the situation that was awaiting Guido. It follows that Guido is murdered by German soldiers who had managed to hide his son’s safety. The whole truth is only revealed to Giosué much later in life. He realizes that his father engaged all effort possible in making life beautiful for him, even at the darkest point of life, hence protecting him from the death that threatened his childhood in the hands of the Nazis.
The movie summarizes the storyline with a recapitulation of the whole chronology of the death. The physical death of Guido impacts negatively on his family which would need a treat of humor to stay happy. Having left a fiancé that did not meet her expectations, Dora needed Dora throughout her life. However, the physical death of Dora also marks the end of suffering for his immediate family members who can no longer be discriminated against for ethnicity. The memories of the individual would also be significant in making the characters appreciate that Guido encountered a heroic death, through demonstrating selflessness to die for the security of his family.
The battle between good and evil is fundamental in the entire storyline. The film makes a critical analysis of human characteristics and the influence that these characteristics have on the life of the characters. For instance, the character of ruthlessness demonstrated by the Nazis against the Jews is a limiting factor towards the achievement of a good life (Benigni, p. 107). It is their animosity that leads to the death of Guido, an innocent individual who does no wrong but makes people’s lives better. In a similar way, the discrimination against the Jews, reinforced by the fact that Guido was not financially well up hindered him from being the preferred choice of Dora’s mother. With this aspect in consideration, it is possible to realize that the challenges of life required a strong personality to withstand the pressures and still bring about happiness. This forms the basis of appreciating the beauty of life, as is the core purpose of this movie.
Conversely, the conflicting attributes of Guido were sufficient in outdoing the challenges that were strongly presented in the film for a good livelihood to be attained. The character of Guido represents the opposite extreme from that of the Nazis and the mother to Dora. The fact that he appreciates the simplicity of life, and defies the intensity with which challenges present to him is fundamental in eliminating boundaries that would otherwise impact his family. Protecting his son from reality is the greatest gift he gives to his family, and doing it with the beauty only creates a good life for his son even after his death. Even with the realization that his father had to engage lies to save his life, Giosué only learns to embrace the character of his father, and hope is brought about by the fact that the young Giosué would yield the goodness of his father throughout his life.
The victory of good against evil is also evident immediately after the death of Guido, when a live tank appears, just as Guido had promised his son (Hughes). However, this is not a result of the victory in Guido’s game, but assistance to the suppressed Jews by the American government. The fact that Giosué and Guido’s uncle and a couple of Jew survivors would enjoy the rest of their lives in freedom is sufficient in signifying the victory of goodness against evil. It, therefore, becomes possible for the beauty of life to act as an efficient tool to fight the challenges that threateningly hinder good livelihood.
The realization that the beauty with which life should be perceived can act as an important weapon against the enemy of the challenge is fundamentally evident throughout the story. The life of the main character, Guido, is a celebration, as he takes the most fundamental role in the better part of the movie, entertaining while protecting his family. Even after his death, his son would always have the fact that his father was a hero to him and his entire family to appreciate. The beauty of life was by itself a sufficient tool in outdoing all challenges that emerge in the movie.
Work cited
- Benigni, Roberto. Life is beautiful. Düsseldorf: Faber and Faber, 1998
- Jaza, Mylia. Life Is Beautiful: La Vita E Bella. iUniverse, 2003
- Hughes, Anthony. Internet Movie Database. 1998.