Life is Beautiful: A Movie Review

Rarely do I read a book or watch a movie twice, but I will certainly be watching "Life is Beautiful" again and again. It's no wonder it garnered so many Academy Awards.

Stephen and Ben and a bunch of other young people rented it in the Outer Banks last week, and came home with rave reviews, so Paul and I watched it last night with Stephen and Joel. (Stephen knew the one part where Joel would need to "go get us some popcorn and refill our drinks.")

"Life is Beautiful" is the story of an Italian Jewish waiter who uses his wit and brilliant imagination to romance a princess, marry her, and then save his family's life from German Nazis during World War II. A war movie, you say? No thanks? Well, this movie has very little real violence, but rather hints at it in the most moving ways--an antiquated concept in modern cinematics, and tremendously powerful. The main character, played by Roberto Benigni, has an ADHD personality which makes for hilarious physical comedy, but it's his quick one-liners and facial expressions that had me guffawing throughout. His leading lady, whom he always calls "principessa" (princess) is an adoring wife and an endearing mother. The little boy, with his large brown eyes and sweet mouth, is a darling child; you just want to pick him up and squeeze the stuffin' out of him.

Though the dialogue is almost completely in Italian, the script is so enchanting and poignant that following along with English subtitles was not a drawback for me whatsoever. Benigni also wrote and directed the screenplay, making his portrayal as true to his vision as he could have hoped.

There was no foul language and no nudity (though there were a couple times when the man says to his wife-to-be something like "I want to make love to you tonight, two--maybe three times-- if I can.") Nothing offended me except for history itself. No one can "bleep out" history, complete with smoking gas chambers, swastikas, and diabolic dictators. Hitler and Mussolini slaughtered millions of people and left a trail of blood and pain that continue to this day in the memories of my Jewish ancestors--and in my own heart. As the credits rolled, I couldn't stop the rivers of tears. Joel kept asking, "Mom, why are you crying? Dad, why is Mom crying? Mom! Please tell me why you're crying!" I finally choked out the words, "Because it's true, honey. Have you ever heard of Adolph Hitler? He was a very wicked man! He hated people just for being Jewish. He wished everyone could have blue eyes and blonde hair. " I thought how my boys look Aryan but have clearly Jewish roots; which "camp" would Hitler have put them in--the Hitler Youth or a death camp? I can only wonder if their daddy would have had the God-given imagination that this man did which kept his family alive through concentration camps and metal meltdowns.

Anyway, "Life is Beautiful" should go on your short list of must-see movies. I'm gong to check it out again this summer. It's that good.

Bella, the Movie--and Other Good Flicks

Ironically, I'm not a movie buff, but the last few I've watched a few with Paul lately were so good I want to recommend them.

By far, the best movie I've seen in a long, long time is "Bella." I'm not even sure what to say about it, because every time I start to write part of the plot, I feel like I'm going to give away the best parts. Let me just say it's about sacrificial love, family loyalty versus family splits, and the abiding joy of doing the right thing. We all needed Kleenex during this one--even the guys. When it was over, I went up to my room and had a really good, hard cry that no film since "The Hiding Place" has evoked from me. There was comic relief in it, don't worry, but the agape love I felt overwhelmed me. I don't remember any bad language (if there was, it obviously hasn't lingered in my mind) nor was there anything overtly sexual. It was clean enough to watch with my teens.

Two thumbs way up.

Other good ones we've seen:

"Music Within"--based on the true story of a young man, Richard Pimentel, who loses his hearing in a bunker blast in Vietnam, but the injury forces him to learn to read lips and gives him selfless passion for the rights of the disabled. He befriends a brilliant young man in college
who has a sharp wit and severe CP. (No one else can understand him.) When they go to a restaurant for pancakes on the friend's birthday, a waitress tells him he is the ugliest, most disgusting thing she has ever seen and that they should leave since his very presence bothers the other customers. Yes, there actually was an Ugly Law on the books back in the 60s. I had never heard of it but was repulsed to discover such a thing. The two fight relentlessly for the reversal of this law and the making of the Americans with Disabilities Act. (The DVD has a section where Pimental himself gives a witty, intelligent testimony of his experiences that inspired the movie.)

Warning: As with all war movies, bad language is inherent. The guy with CP is pretty crude at times, and there are some sex scenes that could've been cut out. But this movie was so good, I want to see it again. That says a lot about it, let me tell ya! One and a half thumbs up.


Another good one is The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. Also based on a true story, it's about an editor of "Elle" magazine who has a sudden and rare kind of stroke that leaves him completely paralyzed. Not only paralyzed but--because of an eye surgery that he didn't have the voice to protest--he has vision only in one eye. He says the accident took everything from him except his imagination and memory. A very patient, loving, and attractive speech therapist teaches him to spell using blinks. She runs through letters (all in French) and when she says the one the word starts with, he blinks. He dictates letter by letter this way until he has written the book he had promised to write prior to the accident.

Warning: the first 15 minutes (or so it seemed) the camera view is that of what the patient himself sees. He's lying in a hospital bed, so the angles are upward. When the doctor sews his right eye shut, you see the sutures from inside the eye. Yes, gross and scary. When the doc leans close to his eye with a scope, you feel as if you are the patient himself. This movie made me very thankful for my health, my mobility, my family, for the ability to control facial muscles for expression. It convicted me of complaining about stupid stuff. It inspired me to chase my dreams with perseverance. Had the movie done a better job of introducing the main character, as opposed to relying on flashbacks, I would've been more emotionally connected to him. I shed a couple of tears, but didn't need tissues. To me, that means the movie gets just one and a half thumbs up.

We got these movies at either Redbox or the library.