Anthropology | Assignment 01 | Movie Review

Noemi G. Chan

BSAR5B

18 July 2011

TITLE: Life is Beautiful or La vita bella in Italian a. HOOK The title gives a hint where in, at first, viewers may think that the movie simply describes how beautiful and positive life is all about. This implies that there is a positive outlook about life no matter how hard it would be. In such, people tend to say What a beautiful life! when they are experiencing a not-so-good day, or unlucky state in life, describing it on opposite meaning. The title may guaranty real Beauty of Life stands on how people cope with the problems and trials, and from miserable into a positive outlook for it, is still may say Life is Beautiful indeed. This may be compared to the Pursuit of Happyness movie (Will Smith), describing that the reality intended by the life of Chris Gardner came into a point of homeless being but stand up to face the problems and find his way up. Life is a choice and is just as flowers that are kept watered, as life has to be made in good decisions to attained the Happiness and it Beauty of it. b. SYNOPSIS The film opens with an atmospheric shot of a profiled figure traveling through dense scene. "This is a simple story," the narrator says, "but not an easy one to tell. Like a fable, there is sorrow, and like a fable, it is full of wonder and happiness." The shot then brightens, and see a simple country road. It is 1939 in Abrezzo, Italy. Life is Beautiful opens on a note of laughter as the protagonist, Guido Orifice (playd by an award-winning actor Roberto Benigni), and his best friend, Ferruccio Papini (Sergio Bustric), rocket down a slope and the brakes on the old car having given way and no brakes. The car barrels down the road, through the woods, and into a parade, where the passenger worried arm movements to the waiting crowd appear to be "Heil Hitler" gestures. The crowd eagerly responds, raising their right arms in kind. When the army official who was actually supposed to be honored in the parade passes the crowd, everyone was confused. While Ferruccio attempts to fix the car, Guido met Dora (played by actress Nicoletta Braschi) who literally falls from the sky into his arms. Guido and Ferruccio find lodgings with Guido's uncle, Eliseo ( played by Giustino Durano), who recently has come under attack by Fascists. Eliseo also helps Guido to get a job as a waiter in a fancy hotel. Guido visits a moneylender in an effort to secure a loan to open up a bookshop. Amico (Claudio Alfonsi) who refuses his loan is also the involved of the woman named Dora. The
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Anthropology | Assignment 01 | Movie Review

following series of events demonstrates what a truly extraordinary character of Guido is that he is uniquely capable of manipulating his surroundings so that events that are "coincidences" take on the aura of fairylike magic. Dora decided once and for all to run away with the mysterious man who keeps appearing out of nowhere. Then they have a son, Giosue (Giorgio Cantarini). There is a part of the story which became darker. People begin to be harassed by the Fascists and are taken away on a train to a concentration camp of Nazis. At the camp, Guido decides that he will create an elaborate trick to protect his son from the horror of their situation. He tells Giosue that his own father took him on a "trip" just like that one when he was a boy. He also said that if he stays silent and will not cry or ask for his mother and obeys all the rules he will earn point. 1,000 points will make the first prize, a real tank. Giosue was excited at the idea and approaches as a game rather than what it really is: a prison. Eliseo is taken to the showers while Dora goes to the women's camp and fears for the safety of her husband and son. Guido and Giosue go to the barracks, where Guido continues to imbue the darkness of the camp with humor and joy. He even takes the loudspeaker so that he and Giosue can cry out to Dora that they miss her and love her. His hope for escape arrives when he is asked to be a waiter at an event where Doctor Lessing (Horst Buchholz) will be eating. He is an old friend of Guido and now a doctor in the Nazi army, but ignores Guido. Then, Guido takes Giosue back to the barracks. Soon the war is over, and the camp is thrown into a state of confusion and panic. Guido tells Giosue to hide in a cabinet until everyone has gone, the child obeys him. But as Guido sneaks to his wife, he has been caught. Guido marched off to his death (by firing squad), but manages to give his son one last moment of joy: that as he walks by the cabinet where Giosue is hiding, he throws his son a wink and does a funny little walk--playing the game into the bitter end, without the boys knowledge on his death. When morning arrives Giosue, seeing that everyone has gone, shyly crawls out of the cabinet. His eyes light up: a real tank is rounding the corner. An American soldier pulls him up into the tank, and they ride out of the camp. As they pass the crowds of escaped prisoners, Giosue recognizes his mother and runs to her. She wraps him in a tight embrace. "We won!" he shouts out. "Yes, we won," Dora says. This is an Italian film noted 1999, an award-winning movie for every single part of it, from different awarding ceremony. The film techniques used enhances theme and setting such as: Fantasy: Guido creates fictitious worlds for those around him. He calls Dora "princess" and claims to be a prince himself. His fictions are a form of escapism, a way for him to cope with reality and imbue it with beauty. In Life is Beautiful, it appears, fantasy can become reality.
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Anthropology | Assignment 01 | Movie Review

Innocence: In Life is Beautiful, innocence is an outlook, not something pure that can be infected. Giosue is exposed to the same misdeeds, but Guido imposes his positive (although deliberately constructed) attitude on his son. Silence: Silence marks both bravery and cowardice in the film. Uncle Eliseo illustrates the concept of silence as bravery: when confronted with unusual hostility, he reacts stoically. When asked why he did not cry out, he explains that "sometimes silence is the best weapon." Doctor Lessing is also silent about the treatment of the Jews, but this silence is less noble. As a ranking officer, he has considerable power in the Fascist party. His words bear weight, and his silence allows the Fascists to continue their actions without opposition. His refusal to help Guido condemns him. While he does not actually kill anyone, his inaction contributes to the evils already taking place. His silence is cowardly, and his decision not to oppose the Fascist party and their treatment of the Jews (among them his own friend Guido) amounts to implicit consent. Riddles: Doctor Lessing tells Guido a riddle at the dinner party, shattering Guido's belief that the doctor is going to help him and his family escape, the gravity of Guido's situation is contrasted with the inherently trivial nature of the riddle. Before the Holocaust, life was far simpler, and the "problems" with which people occupied themselves were of a far lighter sort, involving dramatically lower stakes. Riddles (problems) seem unreal and mindless in comparison to Guido's present situation. Bravery: This is an abundant theme throughout Life is Beautiful. The pressures of antiSemitism, cruelty, and prejudice affect everyone in the film, and each character's reaction to these pressures is highly indicative of his or her personal beliefs and proclivities. Coincidence: Life is Beautiful uses coincidence to show that the things that cannot be controlled are not always negative. Sometimes, such events are quite magical in their own right. Also, at the very end, a real tank picks up Giosue and takes him out of the camp. Guido could not possibly have foreseen or controlled this lucky event. By pure coincidence, Giosue's dreams came true and Guido's game was completed.

c. THE MEAT

The first scene is probably with the entire first half of the film that viewers may forget about it entirely until the horrors of the second half begin. Yet, the first scene alerts us to the true complexity of movie. It is a light-hearted comedy, but has a dark side that must be figured.
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Anthropology | Assignment 01 | Movie Review

Indeed, an attentive viewer will catch glimpses of the darker side of the film throughout the first half, hidden may be by Roberto Benigni's brilliant comedic talents. Before the credits even begin, the audience is alerted to the dominance of fascism: when Guido, trapped in the runaway car, wildly gestures to the crowd to move out of the way, they interpret his wild waving as a fascist salute and eagerly respond in kind. Guido's trouble with Amico seems to have an anti-Semitic reason. And even though Life is Beautiful is not an clearly political film--politics are only directly discussed a handful of times. The first few scenes of the film not only introduce several major but they also incorporate additional elements that return later in the tale. Thus, Life is Beautiful is an almost magical tale. Situations arise that seem so coincidental as to have been directed by a supernatural force, that each seemingly extraordinary occurrence has its natural causes-even if the coincidence is orchestrated by the hand of an extraordinary man or some larger fate. Coincidences such as these imply that there is some divine force working to control life--is it somehow a kind of anti-Schopenhauer method that creates happiness instead of unhappiness? Individuals can take part in controlling their destinies, but they cannot control everything--yet, it often seems that something is doing so. The couple may have different views in life, Guido desires to make the ordinary into the extraordinary, and Dora longs to find something greater in life. In Dora, Guido finds a willing audience, and in Guido, Dora finds someone who thinks she is unlike anyone else. They both would do anything for one another, and they go to great lengths to preserve their romance. This makes the public see the real love to be adapted by people in this generation. In this story shows that father aims to protect his son. Telling him that the activities in the concentration camp are a game enables Giosue to survive and cope with a situation that he is too young to understand (one could argue that no one can understand such cruelty). He also teaches Giosue a lesson about finding a way to look at even the worst situations and make the best of them. Riddles also bring Guido and Doctor Lessing together on a common ground; they show that even people with dissimilar political beliefs can agree on some things. Riddles also are as a form of escapism; focusing on them allows each man to take his mind off of the traumatic events around him. Riddles also demonstrate Guido's desire to find solutions to difficult problems. Riddles also serve the plot when Doctor Lessing is reminded of a riddle by Guido but only asks about a riddle in return. The challenge of the film is making the comedy ring true in spite of the grim circumstances of the Holocaust. Benigni's physical comedy transcends the complicated and sensitive issue of the
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Anthropology | Assignment 01 | Movie Review

Holocaust. His energy, quite evident in the first half of the film, is also a noticeable counterpoint to the resigned and accepting attitudes of the other prisoners in the film. d. EDUCATIONAL IMPLICATION Society already implies and disapproves Nazis civilization and creates a better understanding that during those times of Adolf Hitlers Nazis, Jewish community are being tortured and killed. Hitler hates to see Jews (who are known to kill Jesus and crucified Him to death). In this manner, it may seem that dictator like Hitler has a heart of a Christian, that he believes in Him, but never opens his mind that this is against the Will of God. Guido loves being able to control his surroundings. The idea that one can make something happen through sheer force of will is thus highly appealing to him. The film does not confirm or deny the usefulness of the method, but it leaves open the possibility that love is such a strong force that it can help one defy the laws of the natural world and make extraordinary things happen. Guido's unwavering commitment to keep up his son's spirits is inspiring to the other men. No one calls his bluff or labels him a liar. Discussing Schopenhauer Method (from Arthur Schopenhauer, a German philosopher who lived in the late 18th and early 19th centuries), in The World as Will and Idea, deas in the film are puzzling for several reasons it is ironic that Guido uses the Schopenhauer Method with idealism and hope. Some critics say that Schopenhauer's philosophies were part of the inspiration for the fascist regime, which makes Guido's use of the Schopenhauer Method to fight against fascism a deeply ironic move. The story is a model of bravery, and dilemma in the film mirrors the dilemmas faced by countless inhabitants of Italy in the 1930s. A disaster such as the Holocaust is much more complicated than a natural disaster such as a hurricane. Natural disasters test an individual's bravery but are initiated in ways that normally are wholly external to humanity. The Holocaust, in contrast, was the direct result of individual choices and decisions society against itself. During the Holocaust, each person had to analyze the situation and decide whether or not to embrace society's new values. According to books, after World War I, Italy became in a state of chaos (and most likely not the result of an impersonal Schopenhauer-like "will"). Whereas a natural disaster can be seen as a battle between society and nature, disasters such as the Holocaust pit and also political groups such

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Anthropology | Assignment 01 | Movie Review

as communists and anarchists were striving for attention and influence, and King Victor Emmanuel III was losing control over his country. Angry, bitter soldiers had returned to a broken country. Benito Mussolini gave these soldiers direction into "Blackshirts," the groups of armed peacekeepers ready to do his bidding. In this way, Mussolini cultivated martial strength and eventually overthrew the weak government of Italy. The Fascist party ruled Italy until its fall. There has been declared a manifest that says there is a hierarchy of races and that the Jewish race is inferior to the Aryan race. In the wake of this publication, many Jews experienced persecution, lost their homes and jobs, and eventually were shipped to concentration camps. This is not surprising, however, because Italy's history of persecuting Jews extends back before Mussolini and the Fascist party (as long ago as the early years, Italian Jews were being placed in ghettos; recall also Shakespeare's play Merchant of Venice). Thus, the lack of state anger at these new anti-Semitic laws is clear. The people, though uncomfortable at the harshness of these laws, were not uncomfortable enough to do anything to stop them from being implemented. Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany joined hands as the Axis Powers in World War II. They not only joined forces on the battlefield, but they also worked together to send Jews (as well as other "problematic" citizens) to concentration camps. Many prisoners died from malnutrition, disease, exhaustion, or execution. These camps were scattered throughout Germany and Poland, with some in Italy and elsewhere. A program of euthanasia called "The Final Solution" was created during the final years of the war. This program called for the annihilation of all "undesirables." Extermination camps were set up in Poland for the purpose of killing off Jews, gypsies, and whomever else the state had a political or personal animosity towards. The extermination camps, including Auschwitz and Treblinka, killed millions. Men and women were shipped from Poland, Germany, Italy, and elsewhere to these camps. A Jew living in Italy during this time was likely to be shipped to a concentration camp or even an extermination camp. The survival rate was very low, though some survivors of these horrific camps are still alive today. Life is Beautiful seeks to convey, for one thing, the reality of life during this period, especially life in a camp for one family in particular. But it simultaneously injects a new spirit into a story that has been told many times. This story of some of the horrors of the Holocaust includes a unique, almost lighthearted element, something beyond the material reality that on its face is so horrible. e. CLINCHER SCENARIO

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Anthropology | Assignment 01 | Movie Review

Any critics have noted that the film feels like two distinct pieces: the first, a lighthearted comedy, and the second, a dark tragedy with comedic elements. Will they survive in the Holocaust? This question demands at frist on how they will be able to survive a bitter-sweet situation in the camp, that excitingly creates different reasons and stories by the viewers What will the family of Guido feel when they realized that he is dead? This hanging question delivers an understanding that viewers have their own limits and stories in the back of their minds. In this case, it may be sad for them to bare a dead father and husband, but on the latter part, Dora and Giosue may lead to inspire themselves the sacrifice of Guido. They may continue their lives and become braver like Guido was. The settlement of the war leads into conclusion that man during those times had survived. f. END OF THE PARAGRAPH The film is one great masterpiece that delivers different walks of life of a person. It enables the people see and then reflects that history remains not rewritable. This opens that during World Wars I and II, people are tend to be prisoners, and in reality people are having different ways of coping problems. The story shows love of a father to his son, and a man to his wife, as well as son to his father and woman to her husband. This also shows how true friendship is being created through helping hand and trust. This also implies that life is a serious thing to do, and it will take a long journey to cope with it. There is also a reality about this movie, that life is not about happiness itself, it is about how an individual can cope with its problems and sufferings just to attain the greatest Beauty of Life.

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