Marshall Anne Caswell
Dr. Manuel A. Perez Tejada
12 March 2009


Life is Beautiful and Schindler’s List: A comparison of films breaking conventions

The Holocaust. One of the most detrimental periods in history that affected millions of people. It was an event that was so horrible that people rarely, if ever, spoke about it, much less made movies about it. In general, movies made and books written about historical events are most popular immediately after their occurrence. It was profoundly different with the Holocaust; it was repressed by America for thirty to forty years after the event (Novick, 1). Two contemporary directors, Roberto Benigni and Steven Spielberg, made films about the Holocaust. They decided that it was an important event in global history, one worth remembering. They broke the social convention that the Holocaust is not referred to, especially not in forms of entertainment such as films. The approaches, on the other hand, used by these filmmakers differ greatly. Benigni uses more of a comedy to show the underlying horrors of the time while Spielberg’s film is a drama. Although the styles of these two directors differ greatly, both are effective in conveying the director’s point.

First of all, Life is Beautiful, Roberto Benigni’s film, is about a Jewish man, Guido, his Gentile wife, Dora, and their son, Giosue. When the father and the son are sent to a concentration camp, the mother follows because she refuses to be separated from her husband and son. Throughout the film, the father pretends that all of the concentration camp is a game to keep his son’s spirits lifted. The result is a heart-warming story set in the midst of tragedy and humor despite the horrible conditions. At the end of the film, however, an adult Giosue recognizes the struggles his father went through in order to save him from realizing what was actually happening to them. In his film review “If only life were so beautiful,” Leibman writes, He “solemnly declares that he now understands the “gift” his father gave to him” (Liebman). The humor Giosue’s father was able to keep with him throughout their stay in the concentration camp is what saved Giosue.

This picture shows Guido and Giosue in the concentration camp; Guido is telling Giosue the secrets of the “game” so he will be safe

In addition, Benigni’s film was one of the first to be about a “comic character in an extreme situation.” It did have a predecessor, however, and that was Lina Wertmuller’s Seven Beauties. Wertmuller’s film was highly criticized, so Benigni was considered brave to attempt another such film (Liebman). Even though there were so many humorous elements to the story, the viewer is still able to realize how horrible concentration camp was. Guido is made to carry anvils all day, and if he so much as slightly slackens his pace, he will be killed. He also accidently stumbles upon a mountain of carcasses one night in the fog. The viewer knows what Guido is trying to keep from Giosue; the children are not disappearing because of the “game” they are all playing to win a ride in a tank, they are being killed. The showers are not showers meant to clean, but to kill. Dora must sit in the women’s camp day after day, not knowing if her husband and son are among the survivors or those who were killed. And even though Giosue eventually takes a ride in a tank, the first prize of the “game” he and his father played, a Nazi soldier shoots Guido.

Consequently, however sad the film seems, the theme that one person can truly make a difference in the life of so many is apparent. Guido does not just keep the spirits of his son lifted throughout their stay in a concentration camp; he also entertains the other residents of the shelter in which they are living. Also, by getting to the “PA” system of the camp, he is able to speak to his wife and reassure her of his and Giosue’s safety. The film also shows the sacrifice parents make for their children, a theme seen all over the world. Guido risked his own safety for the life of his son time and time again, and Dora, who did not even have to go to concentration camp, went to ensure the safety of her husband and son as best she could.

Similarly, Spielberg’s Schindler’s List shows how much impact only one person can have on the lives of many, even in the midst of tragedy. The main character of Schindler’s List is Oskar Schindler, a German businessman and Nazi party supporter who saved the lives of more than one-thousand Jews by employing them in his factories. He originally goes to Poland in order to make money by becoming a war-profiteer, but eventually spends his entire fortune bribing Nazi officials to save as many Jews as he could. As Schindler flees the Red Army, who was liberating the Jews, with his wife, he cries, as he considers how many more lives he could have saved.


Here Oskar Schindler is shown working with his Jewish accountant one of the many men he saved by employing him

Furthermore, Spielberg’s film has broken the conventions and awakened this subject as a topic of an entertainment form. The honors awarded to this movie “suggest that only the world’s most commercially successful director could have risked tackling this subject, deemed unfilmable, and made it successful”. The movie was filmed in black and white, giving it the feel of a documentary, which allowed the events to seem very real to the viewer. The darkness of the film also conveys the suffering felt by so many by symbolizing a “dark world.”


This picture shows the use of black and white in the film, as also gives the feel of the dreary world in which the Jews are living

The technique of a hand-held camera used throughout the film also makes the content of the film seem like more of a reality. The shakiness provided by the cameras also symbolizes the way the lives of the Jews became chaotic after the Nazi regime began their rule (White). After the Nazi party began their rule, the Jews’ rights quickly diminished, life as they knew it was over. They found that they had no options; there was nowhere for them to go to escape the oppression.

However, even amidst all the darkness, there is hope. There is a Christ-like figure who has made it his goal to save as many Jews from the horrors of concentration and death as possible. It would have been much simpler for Oskar Schindler to simply make as much money from his factories as he could; this would have meant letting all the Jews who were not crucial to the good of the war be shipped off to concentration camps. Instead of keeping his money for his own pleasure, he uses it to bribe a large number of Nazi officials to keep all these unnecessary workers. He saved over one thousand Jews, which is quite a large number. Seeing the impact that just one person can make on the world is inspiring, even in the present where no tragedy of such large proportions is taking place.

In conclusion, the Holocaust was a taboo topic for many years. However, the introduction of films whose main topic is such has ended the standard that the Holocaust should never be talked about. On the other hand, it then became admirable for directors to take the risk of talking about such a horrible subject, because the world needed to be reminded of the suffering that took place. The viewer is shown the dreadfulness of the time period. Even though both films contain this element, Schindler’s List is more effective in portraying this through the use of black and white and use of the hand-held camera. These techniques are more successful in conveying the fact that the Holocaust was a reality for many people. However, both movies are effective in showing that there can be positive lessons learned from such movies, as seen in Life if Beautiful and Schindler’s List. In both films, one can see the positive effect that one person can have on so many, through providing humor in what seems like a hopeless situation and through sacrifice to help others.




Works Cited:
Liebman, Stuart. "If Only Life Were So Beautiful." Cineaste 24.3 (June 1999): 20. MAS Ultra - School Edition. EBSCO. Georgia Institute of Technology Library, Atlanta, GA, 3 Mar. 2009 <>.
Novick, Peter. The Holocaust in American Life. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2000.
White, Les. "Schindler’s List: My father is a Schindler Jew." Jump Cut: A Review of Contemporary Media 39 (June 1994): 3-6. MAS Ultra - School Edition. EBSCO. Georgia Institute of Technology Library, Atlanta, GA, 3 Mar. 2009 <>.