Life is beautiful, a film about overcoming adversity

Life is Beautiful It is probably the most recognized and internationally acclaimed Italian film. The script, the soundtrack and the performances of the actors make it an unforgettable film, capable of going from laughter to tears and transmitting countless emotions. In short, a masterpiece of cinema loaded with messages, directed and starring Roberto Benigni in 1997.

The plot of Life is Beautiful

This film is inspired by the work Alla fine ho sconfitto Hitler by Rubino Romeo Salmoni, an Auschwitz survivor who narrates his experience in said book. The movie is about the story of Guido Orefice, an Italian Jew who moves to Arezzo to work at his uncle’s hotel. Soon, he will run into Dora, a teacher from a wealthy family related to the fascist regime. Guido will do everything possible to win over Dora, he always appears to her unexpectedly and will try to surprise her in every possible way.

Finally, love between them triumphs, and they will have a son, Giosuè; It seems that life smiles on Guido. However, World War II will cause his entire life to fall apart and they will end up in a concentration camp.

Life is Beautiful It takes us to an Italy immersed in fascism and takes us to the horrors of the concentration camps. He does it in a different way, This story is presented to us as a kind of story with a bittersweet ending..

Life is beautiful, from the comic to the tragic

Life is Beautiful It begins in a happy, comical and fun tone; In fact, from its first scenes, we hardly intuit that we are facing a drama, although we do witness the rise of fascism in Italy from the beginning.

The comedy in Life is Beautiful We find it in small details, in small moments that lead to a comic wink. However, what is really interesting is how From an unpleasant and scary situation he manages to make us smile.

The fascist ideology that prevailed at that time led to the publication in 1938 of the Race Manifesto, text signed by Italian scientists who endorsed the existence of human races. These races were divided into small and large races, where the Aryan was, of course, the large race. A pure Italian breed.

Is it possible for a Jew to circumvent these racial laws? Is it possible for a Jew to dismantle an entire fascist theory in one moment in front of a group of children? Yes, it is, at least in Life is Beautiful.

Guido’s brilliant scene

Guido poses as a ministry inspector who must give a talk to the children about the Race Manifesto. In reality, what Guido wants is to get Dora’s attention, but what the scene shows is that we are all equal.

Guido points out his navel like an authentic Italian navel, his ears, etc. The children, upon seeing him, imitate him and laugh. Thus, Guido manages to demystify those differences that the manifesto appeals tosince he is Jewish and does not present any physical characteristics that distinguish him from those “purely Aryan” Italian children.

This scene, without a doubt, makes us all smile, but it is a bittersweet smile if we take into account the true meaning that that talk had.what it meant for those children to listen to a man from the ministry talk to them about human races.

Guido mocks all these beliefs, dismantles all racist ideology with witty and funny comments. He is a character that conquers us from the beginning, he is carefree, very creative and his fight to conquer Dora fascinates us. Nothing stops it, not even fascism.

The lives of Guido and his family are cut short by the Holocaust., Guido leaves with his son and his uncle for a concentration camp. Dora, being Italian and not Jewish, is not obliged to go, but she decides to go voluntarily to try to be with her family.

From this moment, The film takes a radical turn, from the happy and carefree tone it moves towards tragedy. But Guido does not lose his smile for a moment, he always tries to fight for his survival and that of his family and begins to invent a story that will prevent little Giosuè from suffering.

Guido’s fight and sacrifice

A phrase, a belief or an idea can make a person’s world change completely., that our way of seeing life is transformed and that everything makes sense. Ferruccio, a friend of Guido, tells him at the beginning of the film that according to Schopenhauer “with the will you can do anything.” This phrase will mark Guido forever. At first, he will use it in a comical way, but over time, we realize that it will be his way of life.

Guido has a purpose, he wants to survive, but, above all, he wants his son to do so.. She will fight until the end, trying to ensure that her son never loses his smile, that he is happy in hell. She will sacrifice her own safety so that her son does not see the horrors of the concentration camp, she will do everything possible to find Dora and send him signs of her so that he knows that they are still alive.

Guido is an example of fighting and overcoming adversity. Your great imagination and your will will make you create a false reality so that your child is not aware of what they are experiencing. She will make them believe that everything is a game, that they are free and can leave whenever they want, but if they hold on and manage to earn a thousand points, they will be rewarded. On the other hand, Giosuè has always dreamed of having a real tank, so Guido will make him believe that the prize will be that and, in this way, generates in Giosuè a will to live.

Guido does not know if they will survive, he does not know how long they will have to remain in the field, but his desire to survive is stronger than any uncertainty. He doesn’t let his son see him devastated, sad or lacking the will to live. Life is Beautiful It shows us that happiness, sometimes, is in our way of looking at life, of accepting and facing adversity.

The importance of the meaning of life

Despite the great extermination that occurred in the concentration camps, there were also survivors, people who managed to face torture, hunger and injustice. An example of this is the psychiatrist Viktor Frankl who, after his survival in a concentration camp, published Man’s Search for Meaning.

According to Frankl, in the concentration camp, lThe prisoners most likely to survive were those who could find meaning in life and continue to preserve their human dignity. Quoting Frankl: “man can retain a vestige of spiritual freedom, of mental independence, even in the most terrible circumstances of mental and physical tension.”

This author was convinced that Many of the prisoners managed to survive in the Nazi concentration camps and clung to hope.. Whether it was the idea of ​​seeing a loved one, the illusion that they had a mission to accomplish, or a task that only they could perform when they left there.

Conclusions

In the film life is Beautiful we see precisely what Guido’s meaning or purpose is: his family. ANDThe protagonist does not give up because he has something to fight for, which goes beyond himselfand clings to it to be able to move forward and grow in the face of adversity.

Life is Beautiful It is an example of overcoming, it makes us see the beauty in horror and freedom even where there is none, it makes us laugh and cry. Guido had a reason, a will, and he managed to create that feeling in his son. In this way, despite the crudeness of the film, we could affirm that his struggle and effort were rewarded by him.

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