Film Analysis: Life Is Beautiful

The holocaust occurred in the 1940’s and was a mass murdering of Jewish citizens under the Nazi Regime. This resulting in more than six million deaths and the only reason people were killed was because of their religion and way of life. Life is Beautiful is a comedy about a family that is involved in the Holocaust. When this movie premiered it was very controversial because critics felt it was not appropriate to depict the Holocaust as a comedy and that the humor takes too much away from the understanding of the constant danger the Jewish people were under during World War II. I disagree with these critics because without the humor Guido’s son would have never survived. Despite the fact that the Jewish people were surrounded by constant danger
This “game” was crucial in the survival of Guido’s son because of the guidelines Guido set to “win” the “game”. For example, one of the rules was to not let anyone see you once Guido left to do his tasks for the day, not to complain about hunger and not to cry. If he had done any of these things they would lose points causing them to be farther away from the thousand they needed to go home and win a tank. Because of the “game” Guido’s son stayed out of the sight of the guards that would have sent him to the showers, was adaptive and able to blend in with the Nazi general’s children and hide until the United States Military tank entered the camp. In addition, to saving Guido’s son, the fact that the movie was a comedy made the movie presentable to children. The movie rarely showed graphic scenes and never used vulgar language which makes it easier for parents to display this movie to their children. The movie does depict a few scenes such as when it shows the pile of bodies, the uncle being brought to the showers and Guido’s death which show children the seriousness of the situation without scarring them for life with constant depressing