The five year old greatly reminds me of Toto in Cinema Paradiso, and plays an equally important role in his prospective film (though in Paradiso's case it is at the beginning of the movie). In this period he and Dora (Braschi) have had their son Giosue (Cantanarini). Guido (Benigni) moves events on from Tuscany in 1939 to the last year of the war in a concentration camp. Various incidents related to the rise of anti-semitism and fascism in Italy show that there are sinister forces at work which come to the fore in the second segment. The way he ties together little strand in the film to create comedy elements shows a great writing ability, and a mastery of timing when it comes to their execution on screen. Unlike so many films nowadays there is nothing crude or course, his is simple innocent humour, which is all the more effective. It is the first half where the audience can laugh the loudest and delight at the immense comedy talent of Benigni.

In the first section we follow the delightful romance that will eventually lead to marriage and the creation of the wonderful Giosue (Giorgio Cantarini). The first half of this film has been seen by various critics as being inferior to the second, but this is certainly not the case. Romance ensues with his real life wife Nicoletta Braschi. Benigni initially accesses the emotions of his audience through simple comedy, which is a pleasant mix of Keaton and Chaplin.

Both are comic attacks on fascism, but the former's is the more successful. Roberto Benigni's Vita e bella, is in many ways similar to Chaplin's Great Dictator.

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