Roberto Begnini, "Life is Beautiful"
Credit:Sergio Strizzi
The Holocaust is no laughing matter, to put it mildly, so any comedy centered on an optimistic Jewish clown (Benigni) shielding his son from the horrors of a Nazi death camp by creating an elaborate game is treading awfully thin ice. But Benigni emphasizes the character’s fierce paternal devotion, and, in his offscreen role as director and co-writer, suggests that if Hitler’s eradication of the Jews can be compared to a child’s game, then it’s an act of power so removed from real-world logic as to be cruelly absurd.
Does he go too far?: The only group noticeably appalled by the film are those who think Benigni stole the Best Actor Oscar from odds-on favorite Ian McKellen (“Gods and Monsters”).
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