Life Is Beautiful Film Happiness,

Life Is Beautiful Film

Happiness, Schopenhauer, and working climate in Roberto Benigni's Life is Beautiful

The 1997 movie Life is Beautiful is a reference to the magnificence and the tension felt during the interwar period and the suffering caused by the Holocaust. Nazism is something most film directors take into consideration when making a drama, with the ideology being less likely to be adapted in order to provide inspiration for a comedy. Roberto Benigni used a real-life episode as a source for his movie, making La Vita e Bella display the interwar period and the Holocaust in an entertaining way. With the film focusing on the era previous to the Second World War in the first part and on the conflict and its aftermath in the second, audiences are presented with two diverging worlds, which are extremely different and yet very similar. The movie succeeds in putting on view, contrasting, and comparing happiness, Schopenhauer, and working climate.

Happiness is a topic one can see from the perspective of a young man fighting for his "principessa" or from the point-of-view of a man who is solely interested in the well-being of his son. The first part of the movie shows this feeling as it generates enjoyable occurrences, strengthening the relationship between Guido and Dora. Guido is happy throughout the first scenes because he manages to find true love because of his strong (and rather ridiculous) determination. Dora learns that one should not fall victim to the unhappy happenings he or she comes across during their lives and that people should fight in order to be happy. The second part of the film presents what seems to be a less happy outlook, one where people are tormented and happiness is lost. Surprisingly, Guido does not give up hope and while he was initially motivated by his love for Dora, he is now interested in providing a happy life for his son, Joshua. He eventually triumphs in this endeavor, making it possible for Giosue to be extremely happy and taking his thoughts away from the unwelcoming landscape they are presented with during their stay in the labor camps.

Ferruccio's response to Guido's question regarding the reason for which the former is able to go to sleep even with the fact the latter is trying to influence him is essential in understanding Guido's attitude in wanting to entertain Dora and Giosue. "I am what I want to be" stands as motivation for everything Guido covers as a means to get to his wife and son. This statement initially assists him in declaring his love for Dora and in taking her away from what seemed to be her inevitable fate. Later on in the movie, it is partly because of Schopenhauer that Guido has little difficulties in making his son believe that the Holocaust is nothing more than a game. To Guido's delight, Giosue is taught that he can be what he wants to be and gets through the Second World War without actually realizing the threat his ethnicity represents.