i digress.
as i was saying, this is an entry about La Vita e Bella which is italian for Life is Beautiful. (click to read a proper full on review. what you will read here is merely my own opinion which is obviously rather biased.) The movie is the product of Italian comic sensation Roberto Benigni, who wore three hats for Life is Beautiful: director, co-writer, and star.
this movie holds some sentimental value for me in fact. for i bagged my 1st ever girlfriend watching this movie at TGV 1U at the tender age of 16. it is rather unfortunate that the ensuing relationship was far less memorable if compared to the movie. haha.
at any rate, i believe that this movie is excellent. you could split this movie down in half because there are 2 very separate tones to the movie.
the 1st half would be about Roberto's character, Guido travelling to the city. i myself grew fond of his character for his 'life' and energy. believing he could do anything simply because he wanted to. life was - in a sense - just that simple for him. Guido was a very intelligent and yet very modest man who only needed a few things to be happy. all he wanted was his own bookshop, a woman whom he could love as a wife and a child whom he could love and care for as well. and he wasn't settling - that's just all he wanted - and you gotta respect that.
whilst you get to know Guido - you also become witness to how he meets with his love interest Dora who is played by Nicoletta Brashi, who happens to be Roberto's real life wife. how he then continues to woo Dora off her feet may come across as rather corny and even perhaps 'lame' at some points because of the 'unrealistic' nature of how things seemed to just 'happen' for him. i think it was done rather tastefully and 'just right'. it is after all just a movie and the intended effect of this particular part of the movie is (i would imagine) to make you smile to yourself and go 'hmm...' wistfully - knowing full well that it is totally unbelievable but it would be nice if something like that actually did happen. and actually, why not right?
the slapstick comedy and played out skits that i can only describe as 'Mr.Bean-ish' because of their elaborate nature may make you roll your eyes but i think it never crossed the line of 'lame-ness' and remained funny. intelligently so even.
then, once he successfully woos Dora, you fastforward a few years later to 1945 - and you arrive at the 2nd half of the movie - where the whole tone changes entirely. it becomes more serious, although in a light sort of way - there are many sub-text to be revealed if you think about it while watching. Guido now has his bookshop, a wife he loves and a 5 year old son. WWII is coming to an end and Jewish families were all being rounded up and being sent to concentration camps. the too young and the too old were sent to their deaths while the able bodied men and women were made to carry out 'slave' work.
Guido then feeds his son an illusion that they were actually all playing a game - so that the reality of the situation didn't sink in. Guido maintains this facade throughout their stay in the concentration camp while hiding his son from their captors since children were put to death as well. he does so even in the most dire of circumstances, even after he had a full days worth of 'slave' work and at the same time he reaches out to his wife, Dora whenever he got the chance. you see, men and women were separated in this camp and weren't allowed to see each other. Dora didn't even know whether Guido and her son were dead or alive. but Guido made sure that she knew - by stealing moments on the public announcement system or playing her favourite opera music and making sure the women's quarters could hear it.
it's truly an inspiring movie. Guido keeps up the facade right up to the very end - giving his wife, Dora and his son one of the most important things one must have but struggles to hold on to under such circumstances - hope.
i won't spoil the movie for you - if you haven't watched it - you should. let me re-iterate that - you simply must.
because despite all of life's flaws and tribulations - life can be truly beautiful. La Vita e Bella.
signing off, the commonjack.
p/s: memorable lines: off the top of my head right now...
"...we may be waiters who serve but we are never servants. just as God is the ultimate servant, He serves us but is not our servant. remember that."
there are more - but i can't remember the exact words at the moment - heh - will add them on later.
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