Life Is Beautifil Analysis
Submitted by BiaLinhares on 06/30/2008 05:21 PM
- Category: History Other
- Words: 1081
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Life Is Beautifil Analysis
Casey Haskins brings to his article the controversy surrounding the movie Life is Beautiful, which is a comedy that has a concentration camp as background. The movie raises questions to which there are no conclusive answers: are movies obligated to be historically accurate? Is the Holocaust a sacred topic that should inspire only silence? Why is life beautiful at a concentration camp? Haskins tries to answer these questions with innumerous opinions about the movie and the controversy that it raised.
One of the first points Haskins makes is that Life is Beautiful is a tragicomedy because the plot is divided in two parts: the first focuses on happy days as Guido meets and marries Dora, and the second one is the tragedy of Guido and his family being sent to a concentration camp. It is on the second part that the controversy is raised. Guido makes his son Giosue believe that the concentration camp a game they must play to win a tank.
A strong argument Haskins mentions is the improbable idea of a young child being hidden in a concentration camp. According to one of the movie's critic, David Denby, Giosue would be killed for sure. "A young child entering Auschwitz would be immediately put to death." This comment is strongly denied by a respondent who has a friend who survived camp as a child. Also, there are a few documented cases of Jewish children who managed to survive (running away to forests or by being kept in catholic institutions). Another important point that Denby makes is related to how Benigni "protects the audience as much as Guido protects his son." In Denby's opinion, the audience is shielded from the cruel reality of a concentration camp. To this argument one can only hope that everyone knows what really happened in a concentration camp, and therefore, realize that the movie is not about that at all. And besides, as Haskins points out, the story is presented from a child's point of view.
A question raised by Haskins is the...
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