A poster for the film “Life is Beautiful.”
SARATOGA SPRINGS– The Saratoga Jewish Cultural Festival (SJCF) will present a panel discussion on Zoom of the award-winning film “Life is Beautiful” on Thursday, Aug. 22, at 7 p.m.
According to organizers, “Life is Beautiful,” directed by Roberto Benigni softens the Holocaust slightly to make humor possible, but it is not primarily about Nazis and Fascists. It is about the human spirit, about rescuing whatever is good and hopeful from the wreckage of dreams. It is about hope for the future and the human conviction (or delusion) that things will be better for our children than they are today.
The story begins in 1939, introducing Guido Orefice, a clownish young Italian Jew who comes to work in Tuscany and falls in love with Dora, a Gentile girl engaged to a government official. Guido wins her heart despite run-ins with her beau. They marry and have a child. The story moves to 1944. Nazi-occupied Northern Italy sends Jews including Guido and his son to a concentration camp.
The story takes a strange turn.
Guido, using his clownish creativity, creates all kinds of games to protect his son from seeing the horrors of the camp.
“This is the point at which criticism of the film exploded,” says Phyllis Wang, coordinator of the SJCF series. “There were many variations of critique, but the basic theme was that the filmmakers trivialized the Holocaust and engaged in historical revisionism.”
REGISTRATION for the Zoom panel discussion on Zoom may be obtasined at https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/sl/XRz7HGe/LifeisBeautiful.
