Buon giorno, Principessa!
Roberto Benigni plays Guido, a Jewish waiter, eternal optimist, and lover of life. He meets and falls in love with Dora (Nicoletta Braschi, his wife in real life) and eventually marries her. Their happy life with their son is interrupted when the family is sent away to a concentration camp, and Guido must go to astonishing lengths to protect his young son from the horrors of World War II.
This film is, you guessed it, beautiful. It doesn’t really get into the true horrors of the concentration camp, but it’s a view that Guido wants his son to see. To his little son, it’s just a game. Not a fun game, but certainly one that he’s safe inside. Guido does everything in his power to reach his wife anyway he can, to let her and his son know that he loves them and would do anything to keep their spirits up. Benigni’s Guido has a Chaplin-esque quality to him: funny, a little mischievous, and quick on his feet. He won an Oscar for his role, and it was well deserved.
Yes, this film is sad (there are a couple of scenes that absolutely WRECK me), but it’s life-affirming too. The music, the sweet little boy, the way everything comes together...it’s perfect. What a wonderful movie!
Enjoy, and don’t forget the tissues! Oh, and watch it in Italian. Grazie!
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