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I just watched Life
is Beautiful for my Social Theory class. First, I'd have to say that
I've seen nothing but good movies in this class. It took me awhile to
figure out what the movie was before I watched it. I got it confused
with It's a Wonderful Life, which I wasn't particularly thrilled with.
Once I realized that they were two different movies, vague memories
of the foreign movie sweeping the academy awards surfaced in the dark
recesses of my brain; the cute foreign director/actor who was positively
thrilled to win the coveted American award.
I was afraid that
it would be a sad movie, being about the Holocaust and hearing that
the father was going to die, but it wasn't. In a way, if it was sad
then the main character's (Guido) actions were for nothing. Basically,
Guido is an Italian Jew living in Italy during WWII, he wins over a
well-off Italian woman and rescues her from getting married to a man
she didn't care for. He's a spontaneous and happy-go-lucky wanderer.
The second half of the movie, Guido and his son and uncle are taken
to a concentration camp, and his wife demands to be taken as well. To
protect his son from the horrific reality he convinces him that it is
a game and takes huge risks to protect both his son and wife.
It's a remarkable
gift to be able to take control of your environment by having a positive
attitude. He had a clear goal, to protect his son and wife, and he succeeded
in the worst of conditions. He didn't want to just protect their lives,
but their hope and happiness as well. There were times when he wanted
to give up, but never in front of his son. The game he created, helped
keep him going, and gave him the courage and energy to do daring things
like talk over the PA system to his wife. He lived his life by his own
rules, he didn't run from things, rather took what he got and spun it.
It's foolish and admirable at the same time.