Life Is Beautiful

Prompt-Based on the Holocaust literature and poetry we have read, what connections can be made between Life is Beautiful and our reading?  What events, scenes, or situations are similar or different? What is similar or different about the mood or tone of the pieces? Analyze how differences in points of view of characters create suspense or humor. How is life shown as beautiful throughout the film. Pull out at least two examples from different parts of the film and explain your rationale.

'Life Is Beautiful' and 'Night' are two pieces about the topic of the Holocaust. Despite both detailing experiences of the Holocaust they both take on very different roles to describe the experience of the Holocaust.

The film 'Life Is Beautiful' takes the role of comedy and drama to explain a family's journey through the Holocaust. To contrast that, the novel 'Night' by Elie Weisel, uses seriousness and bluntness to describe his experiences. Despite having differences in tone they both carry very similar events. Some similar events between the film and novel include the separation of families and the gas chamber 'showers'. An example of similarity in both works is that both go through the act of separation at a concentration camp. In 'Night', Elie and his father are separated from his mother and younger sister. While in the the film, Guido and Joshua are brutally separated from Dora, Guido's wife and Joshua's mum. Another example of similarity between both film and novel is the representation of gas chambers to the Jews. In 'Life Is Beautiful' Joshua among all the other children at the camp are commanded to undress and go take a 'shower', which would have ultimately led to the children to their death by gas. When Joshua escapes the Nazis he goes to his father Guido and explains to him that he ran away due to his hatred of showers, to which Guido responds by telling him to take the shower. A command that Joshua disobeyed. Guido only responds in this way to Joshua because of lack of knowledge about what 'showers' actually are at the camp. This is similar to Wiesels novel in the way that when the Jewish people and others being persecuted arrived at the camp they had no prior knowledge about the true terrors of the camp. Despite the Jews never knowing about these terrors Wiesel also fails to mention the existence of the gas chambers in any way throughout the entire piece of writing.

As previously stated, in the film 'Life Is Beautiful', Guido uses a comedic tone throughout the film to convey a sense of security to his son through out their time in the concentration camp. This is different than in the novel by Wiesel due to his blunt and honest tone. An example of a comedic act is when Guido is being taken away by a Nazi. In this scene Joshua is hidden in a small cabinet outside as he sees his father, who happens to be dressed as a woman, being marched away by a Nazi. Guido then proceeds to march goofily when he spots his son. Guido uses comedic actions to show support to this son that he isn't actually living in fear. On the other hand in Night and other Holocaust writing we see many Jews and other living in constant fear of making a mistake in front of the Nazis. Another example of comedy that shows a large difference between the two is how Guido addresses the camp to his son. In 'Life Is Beautiful' Guido explains to Joshua that the camp is actually a game where if he is quiet enough and survives that he will be awarded with a tank. When Joshua gets fed up with being at the camp Guido turns to comedy and tells Joshua that he can leave whenever he would like. Guido then proceeds to comedicly tell everyone goodbye and marches into the rain. Afterward Joshua re-quotes Guido by saying 'I can't go out in the rain! I'll catch a fever of 110!'. After this Joshua decides to stay. While in 'Night' Elie and his father never attempt to lift the spirits of anyone at the camp or each other in a comedic way and simply just try to survive. Many people in 'Night' simply want to live but do not try in any emotional way to do so. For example when the older people are terrified for their children's lives they simple tell them advice such as 'You must never lose faith, even when the sword hangs over your head...'. In Night there is simply blunt advice given to those losing faith but never an attempt as emotional as Guido's.

The film 'Life Is Beautiful', does it's job well, not only by showing an amazing story but by also living up to its title. Through out the film there are many examples of the beauties of life. One example of how life is beautiful in the film is when Guido and Joshua are taken away by the Nazis. This scene shows how life is beautiful because when Dora realizes what has happened to Joshua and Guido she immediately goes to the cattle car and asked to be sent away with her family. This shows how life is beautiful because it shows that the love you can feel for others can extend so far that you would be willing to be treated as a slave just to be remotely close to them. It shows how humanity can extend to the darkest depths of life.

Another example of how life is beautiful that is shown in the film is the sacrifice of life. In the end of the film Guido is shot and killed while trying to reach his wife and keep his son safe. This shows the beauty of a humans life because it shows how one can love another so deeply as so sacrifice their life for them. Guido sacrifices himself and his own emotions just to keep his son happy. Guido like everyone else at the camp was filled with fear, despair and sadness. Yet Guido sacrificed his feelings just to show his son that life would go on even during such dark times. 

A final act that showed us the beauties of life is the marriage of Dora and Guido. Guido is an Italian Jew, while Dora is simply Italian. When the two fall in love we can all assume that it was all viewed as taboo in Italy, due to Guido's religion. This showed us that life was beautiful because it can show that love can extend social norms. It shows how life is beautiful because we can see that despite social pressures and current events (i.e the persecution of Jews) that a non-Jew could find herself in love with someone who was deemed as less than human. Dora and Guido definitely show us how life is indeed, beautiful.