Benigni Outlook

Comedy is perhaps the most devastating form of social commentary. What makes it so effective is its seeming innocuousness; people aren't expecting to learn anything from a good laugh. When used correctly, humor can hint at deeper meanings without taking on the sermon-like drone audiences dread. It's no coincidence that history's most popular and influential commentaries are usually produced by its greatest humorists, from Geoffrey Chaucer to Voltaire to Russell Baker. Today, the extraordinary reach of the media has made it virtually impossible for any subject to avoid the comedic microscope, whether in literature, feature films, stand-up routines, or even comic strips. There are, however, several sacred cows that every would-be quipster wisely avoids. Leave it to Italian comedian Roberto Benigni, whose outlandish movies (including Johnny Stecchino and Il Mostro) have brought him international recognition, to take on one of these forbidden topics: the Holocaust.

A comedy about the worst crime of the 20th century may appear to be in dubious taste, but the idea remains intriguing. After all, humorists have successfully applied their comedic touch to dark events before. In 1955, Joseph Heller published Catch-22, a viciously funny satire of World War II that is considered one of the century's greatest novels. Similarly, Robert Altman's black comedy M*A*S*H was hailed as a powerful anti-war statement when it was first released in 1970, at the height of the Vietnam War. As it turns out, Benigni has different intentions. His film, Life Is Beautiful (La Vita è Bella), is ultimately not a comment on the Holocaust, but on the relationship between fathers and sons. In short, it is a human comedy that takes place in the inhuman environment of a concentration camp. This approach is bound to have its champions and its critics. One thing is certain: Benigni has produced his most distinctive and challenging comedy yet.

The idea for Life Is Beautiful grew out of a paradox that the filmmaker had been mulling over for some time. As he explained in an interview with FJI, "I wanted to put myself, a comedian, in an extreme situation. The extreme situation par excellence is the extermination camps." Benigni expanded on this premise in a series of improvisations with his screenwriter, Vincenzo Cerami. From these sessions, the pair fashioned a story around the character of Guido (Benigni), a free-spirited young man who journeys to Tuscany in 1939, just as war is breaking out on the continent. Soon after arriving, he falls in love with Dora (Nicoletta Braschi, Benigni's wife and regular co-star), whom he quickly woos and weds. Flash-forward to 1944: The couple have a young son, Giosu?, and Guido has realized his dream of owning a bookshop. Without warning, though, the family is captured by the Nazis and sent to a concentration camp. To protect Giosu? from the horrors surrounding them, Guido pretends