Goals

 

Details

Duration: 120+ minutes

Assessments: Student reflections/journals, Student writing

Materials: Film of "Life is Beautiful" by Roberto Benigni

 

Description

"This is a simple story...but not an easy one to tell."-- Giosue Orefice

LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL (LA VITA E BELLA)
Director: Roberto Benigni (1997)


In this film, you will find an example of a man who believed in living life, at all costs, and hopefully you will gain an understanding of the moral strength and will required to live this way. The main characters you will meet are Guido, Dora and Giosue (Guido and Dora's son). Although this film seems to begin as a comedy and is filled with wonderfully complex fantasies that Guido develops for Giosue's benefit:

Guido plays a game with his son Giosue after they are placed into a Concentration Camp: The object is to get 1000 points; the winner gets a real tank, not one of the toys Giosue is used to playing with. The rules constantly change, but they usually involve a lot of hide-and-seek, plenty of make-believe, and something called "silence." The police aren't really bad guys; they're just acting that way because that's how they win. Anyone complaining about not having enough food is disqualified and has to go home.

Guido is able to make 'light' of a terrible situation, in face of mass fear, for the good of others... be sure not to forget where the characters are and what their fate may be...

Overall, I'd like for you to sit back and 'take in' this film. However, I would also like for you to pay attention to some things in particular:

INTERPRET AND ANALYZE:
1. What is important to Guido?
* Identify examples of Guido doing whatever is necessary to protect what is most dear to him:

2. In what ways does Guido:
* Keep 'hope' alive?
* Risk his own safety and well being for the good of others?
* Make others feel good about their situation?

3. Consider how Guido played out the last months of his life:
* How could Guido make light of such a horrible situation for the well being of others? Why did he do it?


MAKE CONNECTIONS:
As you view the film, identify events/situations/choices/behaviors/etc... that explore the following ideas:

1. "He who has a why to live, can bear with almost any how" –Nietzsche

2. "...to live it to suffer, to survive is find meaning in the suffering. If there is a purpose in life at all, there must be purpose in suffering and in dying. But no man can tell another what this purpose is. Each must find out for himself, and must accept the responsibility that his answer prescribes." -- Gordon W. Allport

3. "...everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms – to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way." --Viktor Frankl


REFLECT (for homework after finishing the film)
Write a 2 page reflection that addresses the following questions:

* What did you think about and feel while viewing this film?
* What do you think the message of this film is?
* What is the significance of the title, "Life is Beautiful"? Why did they choose this title?

'Life is Beautiful' student viewing handout
Download (38K)

Author Reflections