Paola Servin

Miss Stone
English 1010 Period 1
2 November 2015

The Holocaust

Life Is Beautiful is a film directed and starring by Roberto Benigni an Italian actor,
comedian, screenwriter and director. Benigni as Guido Orefice, is a comical librarian Jewish
man. Guido immediately falls in love with Dora, a beautiful school teacher. After winning the love
of Dora they get married and have a son named Giosue. The cinematography of this movie is
very effective as they portray a beautiful and funny scene when they fall in love by having a
brighter screen with vivid colors it helps the audience to set a happy mood. We later learn that
tragic is about to come as the image becomes darker and the music intensifies because the
Orifice family becomes victims as the holocaust hits Italy in 1939.

Guido doesnt want his son to know about the place, so hides the true situation to his
son and he sets a complicated game, which Giosue has to follow any order his father gives him,
if he wants to win a real army tank. He does all this to get through the journey. Giosue is
convinced because of his fathers amazing performance and his own innocence. The magazine
New York Times an article by Janet Maslin says "Mr. Benigni effectively creates a situation in
which comedy is courage. And he draws from this an unpretentious, enormously likable film that
plays with history both seriously and mischievously. Piety has no place here, nor do tears until
the final reel. ''Life is Beautiful'' plays by its own rules." This film is A wonderful mixture of will,
love, humor, and a lot of imagination." I love how the article expresses the feeling that you can
also experience as you watch this film.

At the end, Guido makes an attempt to find Dora, but is caught by an officer, which he
decides to execute him while Giosue is hiding inside a sweatbox. Guido continued his game
until the end because of his love to his family. Giosue is reunited to his mother. The story is
narrated by an older Giosue recalling his fathers story of sacrifice and love for his family. My
question is "How can someone find humor in the middle of the holocaust?" Guido for sure knew
how to do find it.

The genre of this movie is tragicomedy and drama, which is the perfect mix to cry and to
laugh. The release date of the movie in the United States was October 23, 1998 (USA). This
movie is rated PG-13. I truly recommend this movie to those that want their hearts to be touch
with one of the best movies I have ever seen, but parents need to understand that throughout
this movie there are a lot of hard topics and images such as war, loss of a parent, hate and fear,
although there is no graphic violence. You can't just watch this movie and not be affected by it.

In contrast with Life Is Beautiful, there is a movie titled The Pianist. These two films are
made to take you on the journey of Jewish people that were victims during the holocaust. The
Pianist is a film under the direction of a French-Polish director, producer, writer and actor,
Roman Polanski. This movie is the story of Szpilman Wladyslaw. During the holocaust the
Warsaw Jews are moved in the year of 1939 to be established in the Warsaw ghetto, which
starvation, overcrowded, loss of social structure made it really hard and almost impossible to
live. After Szpilman is separated from his family he became a slave labourer. On the magazine
New York Times the reporter A. O. Scott says "the film's climax offers the most dramatic
paradox of all: a glimpse of how the impulses of civilization survive in the midst of unparalleled
barbarism." As you can see this film is more dramatic and realistic social events of world war ll.

Later on the movie, Wladyslaw is opening a can to eat while he learns that he is not the
only one in the building where he is now hiding. After talking to the german officer, he demands
him to play the piano. The officer is surprised by Wladyslaw's amazing piano skill and his heart
is moved through the music. The officer becomes his friend and brings him food. The Pianist
sees the German office for the last time before the officer departs. The officer offers Wladyslaw
his coat, which will almost cause his own death because the polish thought he was a german.
After realizing he is Polish they save him. At the end of the movie Szpilman works for a Polish
radio and continues to live in Warsaw until his death at the age of 88 in the year 2000.

This is an extraordinary true story of the survival of a Polish-Jewish radio station pianist.
The genre of this movie is historical dram, and the release date was December 4, 2002 in the
United States. The sound in this movie was very effective. The piano music sets the tone of the
tragedy and intensifies every time a problem arises. We can also feel what they pianist was
feeling as we hear the music playing inside his soul.

On both movies the cinematography also helps to clarify the tone. They mostly use
darker colors and the costumes are very sad and shows the trials that they went through. We
can also notice how convincing these movies are as the main characters physically changes
from the start to the end. On The Pianist the main character looked very skinny, sad and wan at
the end. The physical appearance reflects his suffering as events go on. Also on both movies it
is very important that they included the David star on the costume which symbolises that they
are Jewish. According to the Holocaust Memorial Center web page "In September 1941, the
Nazi regime, at Goebbels's urgent request, ordered Germany's Jews over the age of 6 to sew
on their clothing a yellow Star of David with the word Jude (Jew) in bold, Hebrew-like letters.
The following year, the measure was introduced in France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Slovakia,
and other lands under German control." On the Life is Beautiful the costumes were more vivid at

the beginning, however when they got to the camp all prisoners used the same dark and sad
colors. Colors that can make your depressed.

The music choice of the director of Life is Beautiful is without lyrics and more of an
upbeat , such as the song titled Grand Hotel Valse by Nicola Piovani. The music can have such
a great impression on the audience on both films. Of course most of the music that we hear on
The Pianist comes when Wladyslaw plays throughout the movie. The songs always start slow
and the build up in a very dramatic and sad way.

The pianist is rated R, even though both movies end with the magnificent sense of hope
The Pianist has a darker and strongest graphic violence. Life is beautiful is more of an upbeat,
humorous and romantic film. I recommend people of 18 years of age and older and to watch the
film The Pianist, younger audience might not see or fully understand the point of this fil. If you
decide to watch this film you will cry as you get exposed to the realities of life and war. Don't
forget that thi is a powerful engaging movie.

The acting of Life is Beautiful allows the characters to explore and be more energetic
and humorous. We feel and see their emotions as they laugh or cry on the film. In contrast The
Pianist has an acting that require the main character to be more serious and without much of
expressions on his face. We can experience most of his feelings and emotions through the
music, but not for his acting. The actor Adrien Brody has been the youngest actor to receive an
Academy Award for best actor.

I hope you enjoy both movies and you can embrace them and let them change your
point of view of life. Enjoy excellent acting as well as a high quality cinematography from both
movies.