Life Is Beautiful (1997)
This is one of those films that I haven’t seen in about 25 years, but I still remember the general feeling of very mixed emotions with Begnini’s comedy and the horrors of the holocaust. That still holds true with this almost fairytale like depiction of a concentration camp and Begnini’s silent movie era style of Chaplin shenanigans. But the ending also makes it pretty clear that this story is told from the boys perspective, with all the real horrors happening out of frame. In my mind it is clearly not trying to make light of the holocaust or downplay it in any way, but it is a bold move to make a whimsical movie about such a topic. It relies on the viewer knowing about the real events, which just keeps the contrast of the child perspective much stronger without having to show it directly. If this is the only reference point one has on the holocaust, then it would of course be an extremely wrong outlook of the true horrors - but will likely also miss the entire impact of what this movie does instead. The comedy is not meant as a coping mechanism or distancing from it, but another way of showing the same thing as something like Schindler’s List.
Rating: 4