Johnny Swallow
Bad Daddy Johnny
This movie made me feel more emotion than any movie I've seen in a long long time. It's now on the short list of movies that made me cry. Amazing film.
Originally posted by Spiral_Staircase:
I loved this film.
But I did hear someone criticizing it recently (I can never remember where I read/see anything), going so far as to call it a very dangerous film. The person's beef with it was that it's portrayal of life in a concentration camp was so far from reality. It portrayed the camps as a place where children played games and people were well-fed. He/she said this diminished the memory of what these people sufferered through and that this kind of movie will make us less diligent about making sure it never happens again.
Any thoughts on this?
Originally posted by Spiral_Staircase:
I loved this film.
But I did hear someone criticizing it recently (I can never remember where I read/see anything), going so far as to call it a very dangerous film. The person's beef with it was that it's portrayal of life in a concentration camp was so far from reality. It portrayed the camps as a place where children played games and people were well-fed. He/she said this diminished the memory of what these people sufferered through and that this kind of movie will make us less diligent about making sure it never happens again.
Any thoughts on this?
At Cannes, it offended some left-wing critics with its use of humor in connection with the Holocaust. What may be most offensive to both wings is its sidestepping of politics in favor of simple human ingenuity. The film finds the right notes to negotiate its delicate subject matter. And Benigni isn't really making comedy out of the Holocaust, anyway. He is showing how Guido uses the only gift at his command to protect his son. If he had a gun, he would shoot at the Fascists. If he had an army, he would destroy them. He is a clown, and comedy is his weapon. The movie actually softens the Holocaust slightly, to make the humor possible at all. In the real death camps there would be no role for Guido. But ``Life Is Beautiful'' is not about Nazis and Fascists, but about the human spirit. It is about rescuing whatever is good and hopeful from the wreckage of dreams. About hope for the future. About the necessary human conviction, or delusion, that things will be better for our children than they are right now.
Originally posted by U2girl:
Oh come on... i don't think anyone would think concentration camps were like that after seeing this movie. Remember, Germans ate well and German kids played in that movie.
Besides, i'm sure there's plenty of books out there for those who want to know. Past/history isn't meant to be taught by movies.
I also saw Schindler's list (talk about a depressive movie), and while i do appreciate the raw approach, i also liked the way Life is beautiful maintained a positive message: the right side (make that "the only side") won, and the boy's life was saved. That was the goal.