While the title of this film does suggest that it will be a wholesome and enjoyable watch, La Vita è Bella (Life is Beautiful) adds a layer of complexity to the film itself, implying the many ups and downs, highs and lows, and good and bad that accompany us throughout our lives and adding the intricacy and value they are remembered for. Roberto Benigni’s 1997 film, La Vita è Bella, captures this aspect of this notion through the life of Guido Orefice, played by Benigni himself, a Jewish Italian man who navigates his life through fascist Italy in the 1930s-40s while the presence of antisemitism only increases. 

The film provides a diverse sense of joy through its clever humor, wholesome romance, and determined optimism in the face of diminishing hope. While the beginning of the movie starts in the beautiful, serene, and inviting countryside of pre-war Italia, it gradually becomes the disturbing, rugged, and hostile environment typically associated with that of the European Axis states during the Second World War, turning what was once a home of joy to Orefice to a prison that intends for his demise. But Orefice does not give up hope, he cannot, as his son, Giosué, is by his side throughout it all. Orefice understands their grim situation and sets out to protect his son from the horrors of it, even if they are in the midst of the Holocaust. At every turn, even if it gets in the way of their plans, Orefice finds a way to turn an uninviting and distasteful sight into one of tolerability or delight, even if it is at his own expense. Unlike other movies that feature or focus on the Holocaust, such as Schindler’s List directed by Steven Spielberg, which portrays the depravity and horrors of the Holocaust where innocence is stamped out by the oppressive hand of the Nazis, La Vita è Bella emphasizes the importance of innocence in that of a tragic and brutal world as those who maintain it are the future of a better world. 

But despite all that, La Vita è Bella is a movie that will surely make you laugh at its most wholesome moments and cry at its most brutal. With an audience score of 96% on Rotten Tomatoes and an 8.6/10 on IMDb, La Vita è Bella is certainly worth watching and one that will make your day.