Intermission

by Jim Wunderle

"Life Is Beautiful"

Directed by: Roberto Benigni

Starring: Roberto Benigni, Nicoletta Braschi, Giorgio Cantarini

Rated: R

It's hard to accurately describe "Italy's national treasure" to those who haven't seen him in action. Roberto Benigni combines physical comedy, a face that looks like a caricature of itself, sweetness, warmth and grace; and comes out being one of the finest actors working today.

Mostly unknown in the United States, Benigni made his stateside debut in Jim Jarmusch's 1986 comedy "Down By Law." In 1991, he made a dent in the Hollywood scene with "Johnny Stecchino," a mob spoof that he starred in, wrote and directed. "Johnny Stecchino" went on to become the highest grossing movie in Italian film history and firmly cemented Benigni's standing in his native country.

It's been a little harder row to hoe here in America, but his latest film will probably and deservedly change that.

"Life is Beautiful" is a challenging, funny/serious, poignant and heart-rending film that won the Grand Jury Prize at Cannes last year and has been nominated for seven Oscars, including best picture, best director, best foreign language picture and best actor. Not bad, considering it's a film that many in the industry advised Benigni not to make.

To be sure, setting a comedy amid the Holocaust is not an easy undertaking. Oh, yeah, we bought those lovable Nazis and wacky prisoner-of-war escapades in a popular TV series, but Hollywood demands a somewhat different decorum.

Thankfully, Benigni's film never approaches the bizarre banality of "Hogan's Heroes," and I'll also note that I have not seen such a stunned and reverent audience since the one I was part of at a screening of "Schindler's List." I don't remember crying nearly sobbing at a film this much, either, and I can only suspect it must be all the more gut-wrenching for people who have children.

Please don't take this the wrong way. In its entirety, "Life Is Beautiful" is an extremely life-affirming, uplifting story; but like many epics that connect with our collective psyche, there is a fair amount of pathos involved.

Benigni's screenplay, direction and acting skills combine to make this an utterly perfect film, and while it probably won't win the best picture Oscar (another WWII epic seems to have that sewn up), it will be looked back on and revered by generations of movie lovers to come.

It is hoped it will gain Benigni some respect in an industry that deems any performance by Jim Carrey worth $20 million. (Carrey, by the way, was not nominated for his much-anticipated "award-winning performance" in the wildly overrated "The Truman Show," so maybe there is some justice in Hollywood.)

As "Life Is Beautiful" opens, we're introduced to Guido (Benigni), a wide-eyed optimist who moves from his small town to become a waiter in the big city. The love of his life literally falls out of the sky on him, and through a hilarious series of misadventures and some trademark Benigni slapstick moments the two finally wed, have a child and seem poised to live happily ever after. World War II and the fact that Guido is Jewish will interrupt this bliss.

As the rise of Nazism engulfs Europe, Guido and his young son, Joshua, are put on a train bound for a concentration camp. Dora, Guido's soulmate, stops the train at the last second and demands to be boarded also.

By now we know that Guido is an enchanted eternal optimist, and from here on the story deals with his attempts to shield his young son from the horrors at hand. They have been rounded up on Joshua's birthday, and Guido convinces the boy that all of the things coming to pass are part of an elaborate scheme. The final outcome could be Joshua winning a fabulous prize.

"Seats on a train? Don't be silly," is just the first of many fabulous fibs that Guido comes up with to divert his son's attention from this seemingly hopeless situation.

Upon arrival at the camp, Guido continues to concoct his fantasy. His sole purpose is to shield his son from the horror of reality, but his fantasy helps him deal with their fate, as well.

It's not an easy task to bring humor into something like the Holocaust. Benigni finds a way to not so much satirize, but show the utter absurdity of the situation, and he's come up with a powerfully effective film.

In this last year of the millennium, Oscar is looking at no less than three movies dealing with the biggest event of the century, World War II. "Saving Private Ryan" will get the most notice, "The Thin Red Line" is a better film, and "Life Is Beautiful" is the one that will end up a classic.

(Jim Wunderle works at Associated Video Producers and is a Springfield free-lance writer and musician.)

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