Rhetorical Analysis Of Roberto Benigni's Life Is Beautiful

By 1945 over 6 million Jews were killed as a result of the genocide launched by Nazi Germany. The Holocaust has been documented and depicted by various visual images revealing the atrocities of this tragic period. The film posters of Roberto Benigni’s Life is Beautiful produced in 1997 and Steven Spielberg’s Schindler’s List produced in 1993 utilize various rhetorical appeals to present starkly different visual arguments about the Holocaust. For the purpose of this rhetorical analysis, viewing these images from the standpoint of a viewer who is exposed to these posters for the first time, with the acute knowledge that these posters are related to the holocaust is necessary. From this standpoint, it is clear to see how images that depict that

same event can have such different meanings.

The poster for Schindler’s List, directed by Steven Spielberg, was considerably simple considering the enormity of the issue being conveyed. Despite the fact that the poster is simple, it still conveys a profound message. The whole poster consists of an adult’s hand grasping the frail hand of a child. The child’s sleeve is a bright red, which stands out to the viewer against the dark background and pale skin of the child’s arm. There is a faint inscription of a list printed over the union of hands and along the entire poster. However, it is not legible. The only text that is legible to the viewer is the title, “Steven Spielberg’s Schindler’s List”.

Spielberg appeals to pathos through color by choosing to make that color red. The red color immediately draws the viewers mind to blood, forcing the viewer to understand the gruesome reality of the Holocaust. Furthermore, color red is often associated with loss of innocence, blood, and known as a color that evokes emotions of anger or unease due to its association with blood. This image uses that to foster those emotions of anger and compassion within the viewer. The viewer might feel provoked because of the inhumane atrocities that the Holocaust is known for and compassion for the suffering of another human being; in this case it might be more profound since it is a child. Children are often viewed as innocent and the distinct red sleeve is a comment on the loss of that child’s innocence due to the horrors that the child experienced in the Holocaust. This further evokes emotions of anger and sympathy for the child.

Spielberg appeals to his character as a director and person by placing his name in the title of the poster. This is an appeal to ethos since the viewer will clearly see that Steven Spielberg created the film. By placing his name over the poster, it comments on his credibility and reputation as a filmmaker as well as his Jewish background.

Spielberg’s appeal to the viewers rational and logic is the main rhetorical tactic used in the poster.

The posters appeal to logos is deeply intertwined with an appeal to pathos due to the poignant nature of the subject matter. Spielberg’s decision to not use faces in the poster emphasizes the gravity of the Holocaust. This coupled with his use of color as well as his omission of color make a poignant statement: The black and white portions of the poster represent the masses of people who will remain unknown as they are merely a name on a list; whereas the red sleeve on the child is like a blatant mark signifying importance of one person who might have otherwise been lost in the sea of people. By marking and highlighting the value of one person, Spielberg comments on the immense bloodshed of the Holocaust as well as emphasizes the value of human life. The firm grip that the adult’s hand has on the child’s hand symbolizes hope despite the strife and carnage that the Holocaust produced. It represents the strong will that many Jewish people had who, even in the face of the crisis, still looked to the future with hope.

The poster for Schindler’s List illustrates the magnitude of the Holocaust through appeals to pathos, ethos, and logos by showing the significance of each human being, and commenting on a broken peoples hope for the future. The simplicity of the Spielberg’s poster amplifies the message being conveyed. Spielberg, through this poster, urges viewers

to connect on a human level and see the Holocaust as a tragedy of the loss of individuals instead of tragedy of a mass of unidentifiable people. This is a call on the viewers humanity.

Roberto Benigni’s Life is Beautiful, presents a radically different tone and argument through visual appeals.The poster illustrates a strong family bond. A man is kissing his wife while at the same time embracing their child who is sitting on a bicycle. The expressions on their faces are euphoric and sincere. They are on an empty street, surrounded by tall buildings. Unlike Spielberg’s poster, however, Benigni’s poster does not convey the brutal massacre that is the Holocaust. Instead, this image shares a more of a lively and light-hearted story.

Benigni appeals to his character, in a similar way to Spielberg by placing his name and picture on the poster. Benigni presents a cheerful tone in the image. His reputation also adds credibility to the posters visual argument. The relationship between the husband and the wife stirs up various emotions within the viewer. The viewer might vicariously feel joyous by seeing a carefree, happy couple enjoying their modest family stroll through the streets of Europe. However, although the image has a joyous tone, it also conveys an ominous tone. It causes the viewer to feel anxious in anticipation of what is to happen to this beautiful family. The knowledge that a concentration camp would soon break this family apart and test their bond is infuriating and causes a feeling of bitterness. Nonetheless, the poster illustrates the strength that a family’s bond has to be able to withstand a crisis. There is a common saying that goes “family is all you have” and this image propels that argument by commenting on the fact that material possessions and their rights may be stripped away by the Nazis but their love for one another is unrelenting and can not be taken away.

The image forces the viewer to compare the happy image of a family with the atrocious tragedy of the Holocaust. This creates a greatly juxtaposing image in the viewer’s mind depicting the puzzling motives of the Holocaust that causes the viewer to question why someone would want to break apart the happy image as well as the unbreakable bond that a family shares.

These two movie posters illustrate the same event in a significantly different way using different rhetorical techniques.

Spielberg and Benigni exhibit the significance of perspective in visual rhetoric. By analyzing their two differing depictions of the same event it is clear to see their arguments based on their perspectives. Through a simple yet effective image, Spielberg accentuates the immense tragedy of the Holocaust and commenting on the importance of recognizing the suffering of individual human beings. Benigni uses a completely different image to show the importance of love and family, the one thing that can never be stripped away from a human being. Spielberg’s image mainly appeals to the viewer’s logic while Benigni’s poster appeals to emotion as the main rhetorical appeal. Each was effective in their own way, delivering differing arguments and representations of the

Holocaust.