Life is Beautiful Blu-ray delivers great video and audio in this excellent Blu-ray release
In 1939, Guido, an Italian Jew, falls in love with Dora, who isn't Jewish. He woos her away from the Fascist official she has been dating, and they get married. Their son Giosue grows up among growing anti-Semitism. As the war progresses, Guido and Giosue are arrested and taken to a concentration camp. Dora goes too, determined not to separate the family. In the midst of the horrors of the camp, Guido protects his son by pretending that survival in the concentration camp is an elaborate game with which Giosue must play along or be sent home.
Winner of more than 40 international awards, Roberto Benigni's "Life is Beautiful" (1997) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Canadian distributors Alliance. The supplemental features on the disc include a standard making of featurette, Academy Awards TV commercials, and the film's original U.S. theatrical trailer. In Italian and German, with optional English and French subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".
Now you see me, now you don't
It takes a lot of courage and talent to make a good comedy film set during the Holocaust. Italian actor/director/writer Roberto Benigni had plenty of the two – which is how his La vita è bella a.k.a. Life is Beautiful came to exist. The film was released in 1997 and went on to win numerous awards, including the Grand Prize of the Jury at the Cannes Film Festival, as well as Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film, Best Actor in a Leading Role (Roberto Benigni), and Best Music, Original Dramatic Score (Nicola Piovani). Not everyone, however, liked Life is Beautiful. In Italy, many prominent right-wing politicians condemned it, while at the Cannes Film Festival influential left-leaning journalists spoke against it.
Life is Beautiful begins with Guido (Benigni, Down By Law), a young Jewish man, arriving in Arrezzo, Tuscany to open up a bookstore. There he meets Dora (Nicoletta Braschi, The Monster, The Tiger and the Snow), a beautiful schoolteacher who is getting ready to marry the Fascist town clerk (Amerigo Fontani, Settecento), and falls madly in love with her. While trying to impress Dora, Guido becomes a waiter, and befriends a German doctor (Horst Buchholz, The Magnificent Seven) with a passion for riddles. Time goes by, Guido wins Dora's heart, and the two run away. Then they marry and have a kid, Giosue (Giorgio Cantarini).
A couple of years later the Nazis arrive in Arrezzo. Eventually, all Jews are loaded on a train that will transport them to an unnamed death camp. When Dora, who isn't Jewish, learns that Guido and Giosue are on the train, she joins them.
At the death camp Guido begins pretending that everything that is happening around him is a game – to save his son, who does not understand what is underway. Giosue likes the game. Because Dora is in a different section of the camp, Guido and Giosue can't see her, but they still manage to stay in touch. Eventually, the Americans arrive in Italy, and the camp is abandoned by the Nazis.
Life is Beautiful is a film of two contrasting halves. The first has the look and feel of a light romantic comedy, while the second has dark overtones that bring it closer to a classic period melodrama. Both halves, however, are united by a common theme – love and faith conquer all.
Benigni is undoubtedly the star of Life is Beautiful - everything he does is magical. The game he invents to save his son transforms the entire second half of the film, giving it sublime lightness, infusing it with a much needed sense of hope. The death camp is an eerie, lifeless place, but every scene with Benigni oozes humanity and warmth.
Life is Beautiful is an unrealistic film - it is hard to imagine that in a real death camp a character such as Benigni's would have survived for as long as he does – but it wasn't meant to be. Its message is so powerful precisely because it is delivered in an unusual way.
The supporting cast is also impressive. Braschi, Benigni's real life partner, delivers a wonderfully nuanced performance as the brave Dora. Buchholz has a limited time in front of the camera, but the character he plays is very important.
Lastly, Life is Beautiful is complimented by a beautiful soundtrack courtesy of Nicola Piovani, who has contributed to such critically acclaimed films as Marco Bellocchio's The Eyes, The Mouth, Federico Fellini's Intervista, Bigas Luna's The Tit and the Moon, and Nanni Moretti's The Son's Room.
Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Roberto Benigni's Life is Beautiful arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Canadian distributors Alliance.
This is a surprisingly strong high-definition transfer. Fine object detail is very good, clarity pleasing, and contrast levels consistent throughout the entire film. Color reproduction is outstanding, and arguably the key area where the high-definition transfer impresses the most - there are a variety of rich yellows, greens, reds, blues, browns, grays, and blacks that look beautiful. This being said, some traces of mild edge-enhancement are occasionally easy to spot (for example, there are quite a few during the wedding announcement); macroblocking, however, is not an issue of concern. There are also traces of mild denoising. The fine film grain, however, is mostly intact. There are no serious stability issues. I also did not see any large damage marks, cuts, scratches, debris, or stains to report in this review. All in all, Alliance's Blu-ray release of Life is Beautiful represents a substantial upgrade in quality over the old R1 SDVD version of the film Miramax produced in 1999. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray disc. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free PS3 or SA in order to access its content).
There are four audio tracks on this Bu-ray disc: Italian DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, Italian Dolby Digital 5.1, English Dolby Digital 5.1, and French Dolby Digital 5.1. For the record, Alliance have provided optional English and French subtitles for the main feature.
The Italian DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track is excellent - it has a wide range of dynamics and pleasing fluidity. Throughout the entire film the dialog is crisp, clean, stable, and exceptionally easy to follow. There are no serious balance issues with Nicola Piovani's terrific soundtrack either. Lastly, while viewing the film I did not detect any disturbing pops, cracks, hissings, or audio dropouts to report in this review. The English translation is also very good.
"Making Life Beautiful" Featurette - a standard featurette with footage from the Cannes Film Festival, various other festivals where Roberto Benigni's film won awards, the shooting of the film, etc. The featurette also contains a number of comments from cast and crew members, renowned actors, film critics, etc. In English, not subtitled. (24 min, 480/60i).
Academy Awards TV Commercials - a collection of short TV commercial for Life is Beautiful. In English, not subtitled. (6 min, 480/60i).
Trailer - the original U.S. theatrical trailer for Life is Beautiful. On English, not subtitled. (3 min, 480/60i).
Roberto Benigni's Life is Beautiful is an exceptionally bold, magical film that captivated the hearts and minds of audiences around the world. It is not yet available on Blu-ray in the United States, but this Canadian release, courtesy of local distributors Alliance, looks and sounds very good. It is also very attractively priced. Of course, we HIGHLY RECOMMEND it.
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