I finally rented Life is Beautiful yesterday. I was disappointed - and I wasn't expecting too much.
As a comedy it fell flat to me. The movie leading up to the characters' imprisonment bored me to tears - I did not find the slapstick funny, and I normally love slapstick. I found the main character (the father) annoying.
Once the plot moved to the concentration camp, I still did not find it funny, but that's fine with me as I would probably be mildly concerned if it was funny. The only thing I found very unique or interesting about the film was the made-up "game"... but that wore very thin and got boring, too.
Any genuine feeling I felt while watching this film came from inside me, from how I already feel about the Holocaust - the movie didn't move me at all.
SPOILER --
Well, I was moved a little, at the end. Moved to wonder "oh, my god, who is going to explain to that kid what REALLY happened, when and how will they explain it, and how will that make him feel??" But those were totally hypothetical questions, because I never really bought it that the "game" ruse would work.
END SPOILER--
From looking at the comments, it looks like I'm in the minority here. The movie didn't impress either of my housemates, either, though.
As a comedy it fell flat to me. The movie leading up to the characters' imprisonment bored me to tears - I did not find the slapstick funny, and I normally love slapstick. I found the main character (the father) annoying.
Once the plot moved to the concentration camp, I still did not find it funny, but that's fine with me as I would probably be mildly concerned if it was funny. The only thing I found very unique or interesting about the film was the made-up "game"... but that wore very thin and got boring, too.
Any genuine feeling I felt while watching this film came from inside me, from how I already feel about the Holocaust - the movie didn't move me at all.
SPOILER --
Well, I was moved a little, at the end. Moved to wonder "oh, my god, who is going to explain to that kid what REALLY happened, when and how will they explain it, and how will that make him feel??" But those were totally hypothetical questions, because I never really bought it that the "game" ruse would work.
END SPOILER--
From looking at the comments, it looks like I'm in the minority here. The movie didn't impress either of my housemates, either, though.