LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL

ANALYSIS: GUIDO
Extensive PowerPoint on Guido Vs Masculinity
 1. Costume/Appearance
This first image shows Guido’s reverse-masculine personality, dressing as a
That, in contrast with these images below, things such as their massive
woman to save his wife and son. He’s paired with your stereotypical male
muscles, rugged handsomeness, dark/clean clothes, weapons, either long
character in this shot, a big, gruff army man with a large gun, heavy armour,
hair, quiffs or none at all, facial hair. Guido has little to none of these
wearing black, etc. but the real hero of the scene is the man trouncing around
traits, yet is a successful hero in what is essentially a war movie.
in a headdress and skirt.
2. Performance- Body language + Facial
expressions
Roberto Benigni’s performance is not only compelling, but incredibly
telling of the character he is playing. He’s energetic, funny, charming and
all around kind, the opposite of the typical rough, aggressive fighter
This is changed in the concentration camp, as he tries his hardest to save Joshua.
He’s nervous, careful, risky and sneaky, crouching and skulking about. But even
in this scenario, he puts his sons nerves to rest using his physicality
3. Attitude/The indomitable human
spirit
The indominable human spirit is Guido in a nutshell,
Guido, as a character, is a jolly, fun-loving, excitable middle aged man, possibly
what most male hero’s are like pre-trauma. But Guido is different, he doesn’t stop
unbreakably optimistic and bright, a light in the
promoting comedy, joy, charm. Not after his uncle is killed, not after being darkness. The indominable human spirit is the innate
abandoned in the crowd by his wife, not even when he’s about to get shot, He’s in an
deadly one-man show and the punishment for coming out of role is his sons sanity sense and urge to never lose hope, and only a few
and possibly death characters in fiction have been described to embody it.
4. Guido’s role in his family
Guido is by far the most active parent in Joshua’s
survival in this movie (not Dora's fault) to the
point where we see him being more maternal
rather than typically paternal. As he further
subverts what it stereotypically means to be a
father, we see that Guido isn’t the main provider
in his family, having his main income come in
from a passion project book store that doesn’t
really make profit due to the discrimination he
receives daily. In fact, the most of the families
money comes from Dora on a teachers salary.
Guido is also seen looking after Joshua more
outside of work.
Summary Question: 'To what degree does your character challenge
traditional stereotypical representations of gender?'

• In conclusion, I think that Guido fully subverts and changes what it means to be a male lead in a war
movie, through all his actions, his ideals and goals, his passions and motivations all involve him being
the light, lifting the people who need it up as opposed to the typical dark goal of “take those who caused
the pain down”. He uplifts and supports, only wishing for the safety of his son and wife above all else
and unintentionally makes himself the perfect role model, because whilst he’s not a cool, muscly strong
action protagonist, he is a perfect hero.