La Vita e' Bella!

Life is Beautiful, a film

This week I write about one of the most tragic deaths from the cinematic universe. 

In 1999, a piece of art was released as a film called ‘La Vita è Bella’, an Italian film, that can be translated as ‘Life is beautiful’. It soon became a worldwide sensation, and the story and skill of both, the actors and the director were soon celebrated as phenomenal.

The film is based in the early 1930s, in a little town of Italy, where Guido, our protagonist (played by Robert Benigni), arrives to find work as a waiter in his uncle’s hotel. As the fates may have it, on the way to the hotel, he stops for a minute, and in his arms falls a beautiful teacher of the city school, stung by a wasp. “Goodmorning Princess!” He exclaims, and it’s love at first sight - for both. 

A serious of events lead to several ‘chance encounters of the same kind, an unexpected date, the most genial kinds of flirtation and the most romantic lines that the English subtitles can barely do justice to. 

He elopes with her before her wedding to another man, and the movie moves to the future, introducing their little son - the most adorable child actor/ role I have seen in any movie. The earlier romance transitions to a marvelous father-son relationship, that any viewer might admire.

Fates weren’t as generous on Guido’s litter, being born as a Jew. Guido and his son are soon caught for their Jewish blood, and taken to camp; and his wife decided to join them. While this all would be haunting for a kid, the rest of the story is how Guido makes it feel like a little game for his son, making him laugh, getting him to make friends with other German kids, promising his son that this was a vacation he planned for his birthday. He promised his son that if he gets through this game smiling, he would get a tank as a reward.

As the war came to an end, so did Guido’s journey. As we celebrate the freedom of it characters, he is shot by one of the guards, while his son is out in the city, hiding in a little closet for his father’s game. When he finally comes out, he is face to face with an approaching British Tank, with a smiling soldier who offers to take this lone child to his family. 

In the child’s mind, his father was always right. The ‘fun game’ his father created finally ended with a Tank! And you have nothing but respect for Guido and his love for his son. Guido’s death could make the toughest of persons cry, because his character warms your heart. It is a common fact among the viewers of this film, that this was one of the most tragic deaths in cinema, and to me, personally, it was the end of a brilliant being. For a man who can make a concentration camp fun for his son, I hold nothing but reverence.