Roberto Benigni's Use Of Comedy In 'Life Is Beautiful'

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Life is beautiful is a film about a man named Guido Orefice, his wife Dora, his son Giosuè, and Guido’s uncle Eliseo. His family is sent to a concentration camp. Guido uses his humor to hide the horror of the camp by playing a game with his son. Critics of the film say that the film is not showing the full picture of the holocaust. Proponents of the film said that the film is portraying the Holocaust, this way to have a broader audience. Roberto Benigni’s use of comedy is effective in portraying the Holocaust, while other work of writers about the Holocaust are grim, Benigni is about comedy. The main character Guido uses humor to lighten situation that the audience knows is serious. The director/actor Roberto Benigni uses the character Guido Orefice to portray someone who knows what is going on the world, but uses humor to lighten the mood. When Guido encounters fascism at the beginning of the film, he uses comic relief to make fun of something serious. Critics of the film, say that the film uses too much of humor instead of being a film about the Holocaust. That film is over the top, that the main character interrupts …show more content…

Benigni is criticized for choosing this route, but Benigni route had broader audience that found out about the Holocaust and its horrors. The audience did not have the full experience of the Holocaust, but it had glimpses of it, if the viewer had paid attention to the details. The viewer has the option to expand his/her knowledge on the subject. The viewer has options, such as: Night by Elie Wiesel, Maus by Art Spiegelman, and the film Night and Fog. Viewers after watching and reading may start to criticize the film, but the viewer can not forgot that the film Life is Beautiful brought them to view the horror of the

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