Abstract
Roberto Benigni’s 1997 fi lm La Vita è Bella (Life is Beautiful) was metwith mixed reactions, from popular acclaim evinced in the fi lm’s 1998Academy Award, to accusations launched by both academic historians andthe popular press of sentimentalising the Holocaust. This article situatesBenigni’s movie within its fi lmic context and explores La Vita è Bella incomparison with Claude Lanzmann’s Shoah, Linda Wertmuller’s SevenBeauties and Steven Spielberg’s Schindler’s List. I argue that far fromsentimentalising experiences of the Second World War, Benigni developsthe cinematic structure of a fable to purposefully avoid representing theworst atrocities. Absence is an essential element of La Vita è Bella,allowing Benigni to present a fi lm which resonates with the idea thatnon-representation is the most signifi cant strategy a fi lm can deploy andthat when used to its fullest effect it emphasises the idea that ‘Silence isthe most powerful cry.’ In effect, the fi lm thus develops a consistent moraland epistemological argument that the horror of the Holocaust is beyondrepresentation.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 70-80 |
| Journal | Limina |
| Volume | 10 |
| Publication status | Published - 2004 |