Production Company: Cecchi Gori Group
Release Year: 1997
Summary:
This Italian film directed by Roberto Benigni is a story about the power of love and imagination set in the dark context of World War II Europe. At the center of this story is Guido, a unique individual with big dreams. With humor and joy Guido and his friend experience life in a Tuscan town in 1939, ignoring the anti-Semitism and growing fascism. Then Guido meets Dora and a fairy-tale romance ensues. The two have a child and in a tragic turn of events, the whole family winds up in a concentration camp. It is here Guido's never-ending positivity comes to light as he convinces his young son this is all a competition and they can win a tank at the end. An unforgettable tale about an amazing individual and the love he has for his family.
Qualitative Analysis:
This film could be categorized as Very Complex. As far as organization, the movie is mostly clear. The events occur chronologically although there is a big time jump that occurs near the middle of the movie. Its language features are fairly complex and quite a bit of figurative language is used through Guido's art of joke-telling. Most other vocabulary is familiar and conversational although the movie is in Italian so the viewer must be able to keep up with the subtitles. There are definitely multiple levels of meaning to the theme which is slowly revealed over the entire course of the film. There is a definite knowledge demand to understand what life was like in Europe during the Holocaust. The experiences portrayed are common to that time period and many of them are quite upsetting. The media-content is advanced as it is necessary for the viewer to actively analyze the message of the film throughout as well as pick up on many subtle details. As well, the media-literacy is advanced just on the basis of having a comedy about the Holocaust and what that implies for the viewer and how that can be best interpreted.
Content Standards:
This film connects well with an English unit on the Holocaust or a history unit on that same time period.
CA Social Science Standard Grade 10
10.8 Students analyze the causes and consequences of World War II.
a. Describe the political, diplomatic, and military leaders during the war (e.g., Winston Churchill, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Emperor Hirohito, Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, Joseph Stalin, Douglas MacArthur, Dwight Eisenhower).
b. Analyze the Nazi policy of pursuing racial purity, especially against the European Jews; its transformation into the Final Solution; and the Holocaust that resulted in the murder of six million Jewish civilians.
c. Discuss the human costs of the war, with particular attention to the civilian and military losses in Russia, Germany, Britain, the United States, China, and Japan.
CA English Language Arts Standard Grade 8
2.3 Write research reports:
a. Define a thesis.
b. Record important ideas, concepts, and direct quotations from significant information sources and paraphrase and summarize all perspectives on the topic, as appropriate.
c. Use a variety of primary and secondary sources and distinguish the nature and value of each.
d. Organize and display information on charts, maps, and graphs.
Personal Response:
This is a moving, excellent film that touches the viewer's heart and is not easily forgettable. It will definitely create a lasting impression on students. I have used this film numerous times partnered with the book "Night" by Eli Wiesel for 8th grade and the students are always very engaged. It is a fairly complex film so they have many questions but they like the movie and are drawn into it even though it is in Italian. This film really leads to great discussions and good written analysis.
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