Life Is Beautiful Movie Analysis

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Christina Smith English 101 Hollis Mallory 2 October 2013 Movie Analysis for Life Is Beautiful The film “Life is Beautiful has many different critics based on the meaning of the story line. Guido, the main character, resists anti-Semitism in a way to make concentration camps seem less disturbing to his son. Guido explains to his son that everything is a game to win a big tank. He explains features of the concentration camp this way because otherwise it would be frightening for a young child. He does so by explaining that the guards are mean only because they want the tank for themselves; the dwindling numbers of children who are in reality being killed by the camp guards are only hiding in order to score more points than Joshua so they can win the game. Guido puts off Joshua's desires to return home by convincing him that they are in the lead for the tank and only have a short while to wait before they can return home with their tank. Regardless of being surrounded by the desolation, sickness, and death at the camp, Joshua does not question this fiction because of his father's persuasive presentation and his own innocence. The representation of “Jewishness” is very unique in Life is Beautiful. It is almost like it is ignored in the film. While everything is being played as a game in this concentration camp, the Jewish religion fades away as the game goes on in the film. Guido maintains this story right until the end when, in the chaos of shutting down the camp as the Americans approach, he tells Joshua, his son, to stay in a sweatbox until everyone has left. Guido tells Joshua that this is the final competition before the tank is his for winning the game. Guido tries to find Dora, his wife, but is caught by a soldier. As he is marched off to be executed, he maintains the fiction of the game by intentionally marching in an exaggerated “goose-step” as he
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