La Vita e Bella: Buongiorno Principessa!

What words come to mind when describing a Holocaust movie? Probably something along the lines of sad, haunting, morose, painful, etc. I doubt anyone would say beautiful, charming, whimsical, or enchanting, but that is how I would describe one of my favorite movies, “Life is Beautiful”. In most of my past movie-watching experience the movies that are showered with praise from prestigious film festivals and the Academy turn out to just be plain weird, however I will however take this judgment back after seeing “Life is Beautiful”.

For those of you that have not heard of this incredible movie, it is an Italian masterpiece directed by and starring Roberto Benigni, receiving seven Oscars and winning three along with an endless stream of praise. It is about an irresistibly charming Italian man named Guido with an charismatic sense of humor and how he sweeps the woman of his dreams of her feet (by his simple but classic line Buongiorno Principessa). They have a son and it looks like happily-ever-after until the reality of the Holocaust starts to catch up with them. When Guido and his family are taken to a Nazi concentration camp, he does an incredible job of turning the horrifying reality of their situation into a simple game to save his son through his unwavering optimism. The ending will restore all of your faith in humanity.    


Guido's actions and ideals hold true with the whole Putnam's "social capital" and "pay it forward" ideals. Throughout his life, he always did the right thing and was always kind and even though he himself did not reap the benefits, his wife and young son did.

This film is truly a modern classic; in forty years I have complete faith that “Life is Beautiful” will hold the same weight that “Casablanca” holds today. Many people think that the only films that will go down in history are from Hollywood’s “Golden Age” of the 1940’s, and decent movies hit their peak in the 1960’s and 70’s and it has been downhill since then. I wholeheartedly disagree.  Even though most films made in the past twenty-or-so years have been mindless fluff, there have been many truly remarkable movies with stunning originality and artistry (that are still very entertaining). “Life is Beautiful” is one of them. Don’t let the subtitles deter you, “Life is Beautiful” is definitely worth watching. More than once.