In the italian film, ​Life is Beautiful , director and actor, Roberto Benigni, illustrates life during the Holocaust in a concentration camp. He portrays this through the characters: Guido Orefice (father), Dora (mother), and Giosue Orefice (son). Guido is a Jewish Italian who wins over local school teacher and soon to be wife, Dora, with his charm and humor. Eventually, they fall in love, get married and have their son, Giosue. Years later, they receive news that all jewish residents are being sent to a concentration camp, including Guido and Giosue. Although, Dora is not Jewish, she still joins them to the camp to be closer to her husband and child. In an effort, to shield Giosue from the horrors of the camp and to protect his innocence, Guido convinces his son that they are in a game in which the ultimate prize is a tank. Rules include hiding from the officers, staying quiet, no crying, or complaining of hunger. Gudio is successful with this to the end where American soldiers come to the camp and rescue all survivors, in which Giosue is able to ride a tank and finally see his mother. So is this what makes life beautiful?

The idea of life being beautiful can be taken in various ways depending on perspective. Benigni’s aim through the film is to convey that “even under the most desperate circumstances, life can be not only meaningful but even profoundly beautiful” (Gunderman 3). He does this by adding humor into the scenes, “convinced that laughter can save us” (Viano, 29). However, how can life be beautiful under an oppressed dictator, fearing your last meal? Therefore, Benigni’s film, ​Life is Beautiful ​, attempt to screen the Holocaust as a child’s game in order to emphasize the idea that “life is beautiful” once you see past the negative​, loosley portrays this distressing event; ultimately, depicting the Jewish identity and life during these times in a faulty manner.

However, several critics agree with Benigni portrayal of the film using humor as, according to Abraham Foxman, American lawyer and activist, “it is so poignant, it is so sensitive, it is so informed by creative genius, that the answer is – I give it a wholehearted endorsement” (Kotzin 45).  Maurizio Viano, in his article, “Life is Beautiful: Reception, Allegory, and Holocaust Laughter”, further supports this claim by arguing that, “ Fog makes the vision difficult and a voiceover reminds us that the film we’re about to see is a fairytale and therefore demands suspension of the rules of realism.” How can we not abide by the rules of realism when discussing a sensitive subject such as the Holocaust? American film critic, Gerald Peary, argues that Benigni is a “revisionist”, indicating his lost perception in regards to the event. The lack of truth given towards the Holocaust not only directs some to a false perception of the event, but also inaccurately depicts the occurrences during these times by making light of grave situations.

Peary continues to support the idea of “Holocaust misrepresentations” in the film, by revealing how Benigni only focuses on the living as he did by showing the survival on “many, many from his camp (too many!)” when in reality several unfortunately died and only a few survived to tell their stories. In addition, he notes how at the end, once all who survived are rescued, is depicted with “sunshine, green fields, and flowers, and instantly reunited families” as if the Holocaust ended with a happily ever after. This portrayal, lacked to show the sorrow and depression instilled within many after the event, such as PTSD, or the fact that many weren’t able to reunite with their families after several months or even years of searching. The idea of treating the camp as a game raises many concerns. As Peary sarcastically says, “the hiding out and forced starvation are actually kind of … fun.” Guido and his family must have spent months or even years at the camp, yet he successfully convinced Giosue that he was in a game for this long; an impossible task in reality. During the holocaust, no one was safe, especially children. According to the article, “Children during the Holocaust | The Holocaust Encyclopedia”, “As many as 1.5 million children, about 1 million of them Jewish, were killed by Nazi Germany and its collaborators,” not counting those who died from starvation or exposure. As result, rarely any child was safe and if not many, all, at one point had encounters with the horrors of the camp.

The comedy in the film misleads the historical events dealing with the Holocaust and only adds mockery to this unfortunate event. In today’s society, multimedia is intensely broadcasted throughout the world. As generations pass, we become more inclined to believe everything we see behind a screen. From this, the truth behind every story and news can be misguided, as a result, spreading fallacious reports on a subject. Media’s influences now greatly focuses on entertainment rather than veracity, due to public demand. This is particularly shown through the film which, ironically enough, “won the Best Jewish Experience Award at the Jerusalem Film Festival” (Peary). With no doubt, the film was beautifully produced with amazing exhibitions of the scenes. Even so, the inaccurate representation of historic events, such as the Holocaust, can serve as offensive media to some, especially to those who identify with it one way or another.

Depicting periods like the Holocaust can be problematic for any director, especially if not experienced at first hand. Therefore, establishing truth behind the imaginative scenes in accordance to the reality can be sensitive to manipulate. However, bringing humor into a traumatic event like this, travilizes the subject, ultimately, causing it to lose meaning and significance. As a result, the film, ​Life is Beautiful, ​ doesn’t truly depict the horrors behind the Holocaust and misguides its audience into believing that this period in time was in fact not dreadful due to the comedy incorporated through some of the grave scenes. Life under dictatorship, while laboring for the enemy, hoping your life would be spared, must have been grueling and horrifying; certainly it was “No Laughing Matter” (Peary).

Work Cited

Benigni, Roberto, director. ​Life Is Beautiful ​ . Miramax Home Entertainment, 1999.

Gunderman, R. B. (2015). Life is Beautiful. ​Academic Radiology, ​ ​22 ​ (3), 408-409. doi:10.1016/j.acra.2014.11.002

Peary, Gerald. “No Laughing Matter?” Weekly Wire, 2 Nov. 1998.

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/children-during-the-holocaust.

Viano, Maurizio. “‘Life Is Beautiful’: Reception, Allegory, and Holocaust Laughter.” ​Film Quarterly ​ , vol. 53, no. 1, 1999, pp. 26–34., doi:10.2307/3697210.

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