Life is Beautiful, by Roberto Benigni

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“Life is Beautiful” is a movie that is characterized for its comedy in the entire first half, which is meticulously portrayed by Roberto Benigni. Roberto wrote and directed the movie by himself and successfully tells the story of a Jewish Italian. The struggle experienced by both son and father remains similar in the movie and book 'The Road.' The second half of the movie reflects the struggle of World War II. Guido and his son who were captured by the Nazi guards make several attempts to escape from the camps. Guido makes a lot of effort to hide his son from the Nazi guards like the father in ‘The Road.’ The father and son journey and their struggle depicted in 'The Road' post-apocalyptic landscape remains same in the movie. The drastic impact on the civilization that affected the normal lives of the people creates strong pessimistic overtones throughout the movie and the book. Both of them end with a ray of hope and improvement in their lives, yet there is innate prior to this end.

Several contrasting features include the comic overtones that are prevalent in the initial part of the movie. The movie seems to be quite unpredictable in the beginning with the comedy that is dominated in the first half of the film. The struggle and the capture by the Nazi camps that appears in the second half of the movie that cannot by estimated with the comedy that prevails in the first part of the movie. ‘The Road’ does not present this contrast of the comic and the tragic. Such an intermingling heightens the tragic effect. The father was always worried about his son surviving this disaster. This story remains serious throughout.

The struggle and the capture by the Nazi camps that appears in the second half of the movie is similar to the atrocities mentioned in ‘The Road’. When compared to 'The Road' there is a considerable amount of optimism that is there in the movie. The story overtones right from the beginning where the son and father are left in the most undesirable circumstances of civilization. The setting of the book is barbaric with the presence of cannibals whereas 'Life is Beautiful' does not portray much deeper barbarity when compared to that of 'The Road.' Though both of them project the ruthless side of human beings, the extent to which this is represented differs.

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