Life is beautiful
“Life is Beautiful” through the lens of faith and reason
By: Bridget Sweet, Jordan Pieper, Elisabeth Nichols
Roberto Benigni’s film Life is Beautiful is a heartwarming yet devastating fable of a father (Guido) and a son (Joshua) who must use their faith to survive in a concentration camp. To preserve Joshua’s innocence and to help him survive, Guido convinces Joshua that life in the concentration camp is a game. Guido gets his son to believe in the game because Guido has faith in his son’s trust in him. Guido also has faith that he can truly protect his son. This film advocates for faith, even in the darkest of times, because faith allows love to triumph over evil regardless of the results. Reason, by contrast, does not allow for love. In the film, the ideology of the Third Reich and the Nazis is based on reason. This belief does not allow for love; rather, it leads to destruction and the defilement of life. Life is Beautiful has had a great impact on and appeal to popular culture because it displays faith in the face of the seemingly impossible. This self-sacrificing faith triumphs over reason because it is faith more than reason that allows life to be beautiful.
Guido has a constant faith in the future that the seemingly impossible is possible. Guido has a desire to protect Joshua from the true horrors of their situation. Joshua has faith in his father and the idea of the game; both of these faiths preserve his innocence and, ultimately, save his life. Even though Guido is surrounded by a demoralizing environment, he still has faith that he can save his son. Guido has faith because his life has proven the value of faith. In the first half of the film, which is a comedy, Guido vies for his future wife, Dora. Even though Dora and Guido clearly do not belong together—she is of a higher social status and a non-Jew while Guido is a Jewish waiter—Guido still has faith he can win Dora’s love. Eventually, he does. This provides Guido with the confidence in himself that is needed to save Joshua later in the film.
The ideology of the Aryan race and the character of Dr. Lessing display perverted reason in the film. This perverted reason is incompatible with Guido’s faith. The Third Reich and the Nazis desired to create the elite, Aryan race, which they believed would be proven superior. When this perverted reason is followed, the destruction of human life occurs. Dr. Lessing, who is a friend of Guido’s when he is a waiter, proves this distorted reason does not allow for humanity. Dr. Lessing sees Guido in the concentration camp and invites him to wait table at a Nazi dinner party. Guido hopes that Dr. Lessing will save Guido and his son; however, Dr. Lessing only contacted Guido to help him figure out a riddle that only reason can answer. Dr. Lessing does not offer to save Guido and his son. Reason does not allow Dr. Lessing to see the humanity in Guido and behave self-sacrificially towards him, which is a sharp contrast to Guido’s self-sacrificing love that results from his faith in a better future.
Guido’s faith that a better future is possible is exactly what makes the film appealing. The film won three Academy Awards: Best Music, Best Foreign Language Film, and Best Actor, along with Grand Prize of the Jury at Cannes Film Festival and more than 50 other awards. The film is the 1,116th highest grossing film in US History—no mean accomplishment for a foreign films.
Life is Beautiful had the greatest effect on popular culture because it displays that faith in what seems to be impossible is not always hopeless. It seemed impossible for Joshua to believe the concentration camp is a game, but, at the end of the film, he is leaping for joy since he believes he has won a tank. However, saving Joshua’s life was not without sacrifice: Guido was killed in an attempt to ensure Dora’s and Joshua’s safety. The ending of the film is heartwarming. Joshua is in his mother’s arms after the Americans have liberated the concentration camp. Guido’s faith in the seemingly impossible allowed for this happy ending, because he had faith he could save his family and he dared to do so. This is contrary to the perverted reason in the film, which does not produce self-sacrificing love. This reason yields the destruction of human life. Thanks to Guido’s faith, the film’s audience is reminded that life is beautiful despite the horrors that exist in the world.
By: Bridget Sweet, Jordan Pieper, Elisabeth Nichols
Roberto Benigni’s film Life is Beautiful is a heartwarming yet devastating fable of a father (Guido) and a son (Joshua) who must use their faith to survive in a concentration camp. To preserve Joshua’s innocence and to help him survive, Guido convinces Joshua that life in the concentration camp is a game. Guido gets his son to believe in the game because Guido has faith in his son’s trust in him. Guido also has faith that he can truly protect his son. This film advocates for faith, even in the darkest of times, because faith allows love to triumph over evil regardless of the results. Reason, by contrast, does not allow for love. In the film, the ideology of the Third Reich and the Nazis is based on reason. This belief does not allow for love; rather, it leads to destruction and the defilement of life. Life is Beautiful has had a great impact on and appeal to popular culture because it displays faith in the face of the seemingly impossible. This self-sacrificing faith triumphs over reason because it is faith more than reason that allows life to be beautiful.
Guido has a constant faith in the future that the seemingly impossible is possible. Guido has a desire to protect Joshua from the true horrors of their situation. Joshua has faith in his father and the idea of the game; both of these faiths preserve his innocence and, ultimately, save his life. Even though Guido is surrounded by a demoralizing environment, he still has faith that he can save his son. Guido has faith because his life has proven the value of faith. In the first half of the film, which is a comedy, Guido vies for his future wife, Dora. Even though Dora and Guido clearly do not belong together—she is of a higher social status and a non-Jew while Guido is a Jewish waiter—Guido still has faith he can win Dora’s love. Eventually, he does. This provides Guido with the confidence in himself that is needed to save Joshua later in the film.
The ideology of the Aryan race and the character of Dr. Lessing display perverted reason in the film. This perverted reason is incompatible with Guido’s faith. The Third Reich and the Nazis desired to create the elite, Aryan race, which they believed would be proven superior. When this perverted reason is followed, the destruction of human life occurs. Dr. Lessing, who is a friend of Guido’s when he is a waiter, proves this distorted reason does not allow for humanity. Dr. Lessing sees Guido in the concentration camp and invites him to wait table at a Nazi dinner party. Guido hopes that Dr. Lessing will save Guido and his son; however, Dr. Lessing only contacted Guido to help him figure out a riddle that only reason can answer. Dr. Lessing does not offer to save Guido and his son. Reason does not allow Dr. Lessing to see the humanity in Guido and behave self-sacrificially towards him, which is a sharp contrast to Guido’s self-sacrificing love that results from his faith in a better future.
Guido’s faith that a better future is possible is exactly what makes the film appealing. The film won three Academy Awards: Best Music, Best Foreign Language Film, and Best Actor, along with Grand Prize of the Jury at Cannes Film Festival and more than 50 other awards. The film is the 1,116th highest grossing film in US History—no mean accomplishment for a foreign films.
Life is Beautiful had the greatest effect on popular culture because it displays that faith in what seems to be impossible is not always hopeless. It seemed impossible for Joshua to believe the concentration camp is a game, but, at the end of the film, he is leaping for joy since he believes he has won a tank. However, saving Joshua’s life was not without sacrifice: Guido was killed in an attempt to ensure Dora’s and Joshua’s safety. The ending of the film is heartwarming. Joshua is in his mother’s arms after the Americans have liberated the concentration camp. Guido’s faith in the seemingly impossible allowed for this happy ending, because he had faith he could save his family and he dared to do so. This is contrary to the perverted reason in the film, which does not produce self-sacrificing love. This reason yields the destruction of human life. Thanks to Guido’s faith, the film’s audience is reminded that life is beautiful despite the horrors that exist in the world.
In this clip, Guido is marching to his death, but he still has Joshua in mind. He chooses to keep composed and make his reality into a joke because of his self-sacrificing love for Joshua.
This film clip shows Dr. Lessing asking Guido's help with a riddle. Guido thought that Dr. Lessing was going to help the family out of the concentration camp. Dr. Lessing only sees reason; he does not have faith in humanity, so he does not even think of helping Guido and his family.