Movie Minx

Starring: Roberto Benigni, Nicholetta Braschi, Giustino Durano
Directed by: Roberto Benigni

Plot: An Italian man uses humour to win over the love of his life, then a few years later that humour comes in handy again as he must steer his young son through the horror of a Nazi death camp.

But is it any good?

Roberto Benigni must be one of the world’s most hyperactive stars - he shakes his way through a scene of Jim Jarmusch’s Coffee and Cigarettes and it ain’t the caffeine talking. He also took to the stage in ecstatic leaps and bounds at the Oscars where he won Best Actor for Life is Beautiful.

Unlike Robin Williams, whose puppy-dog energy can irk after about five seconds, Benigni’s joi de vivre is contagious. (And let’s face it, he’s pretty much playing himself in this movie.) The title sums it up. It’s telling us that you can find joy and love in any situation - any. And personally I can’t think of any situation much worse than being dumped at Auschwitz, but that’s where much of the movie is set.

It opens a few years earlier, with the mischievous Guido falling for Dora, and Dora returning the favour after a few slapstick encounters. You like them both immediately. Fast forward a few years and they have a cute little boy called Giosue. It seems too good to be true, and it is. Guido’s rights shrink and shrink as he copes with being a Jew in an increasingly hostile atmosphere. He tries to protect his family, but it soon comes to a head as he, and his young boy, are carted off on a train.

You’d think the humour would end right about here, but it doesn’t. Because Guido is still determined to protect his son from the horror around them and does it by turning the experience into a game. The prize at the end is a tank, and to win they must keep playing.

The rest of the film, without spoiling the ending, is a genuine emotional trip. I would challenge anyone, even someone with the stiffest upper lip, to remain dry eyed throughout this movie. What separates it from other war movies, such as Schindler’s List, is that it shows beauty and humour can exist in the ugliest of places. Even more amazingly, it does this without making you feel manipulated, or as if you’ve had a truckload of sugar dumped on you.

Highly recommended if you haven’t seen it before, but it’s not the kind of film that bears repeat viewings.

IMDB’s rating: 8.4/10
My rating: 9/10

Next movie to be reviewed: Raging Bull (ooh, lots to say about this one)

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