Life is Beautiful v. Night - Week of 4/14/15

   // What connections can be made between Life is Beautiful and Night?

What events or situations are similar? Different?

What is similar or different about the mood of the pieces?

How is life shown as beautiful throughout the film? //

 Based on what we have read in class and the viewing of Life is Beautiful, I can see many similarities and connections between the two, as well as big differences. One of the biggest similarities/connections that I see between Night and Life is Beautiful is the bond and importance between father and son. In Night, Elie's only priority is to stay with his father. In the text, Elie says that he would not be able to survive without his father. This shows that the only thing that kept Elie going was his father and without the support from his father, then Elie would not have lived through the Holocaust. In Life is Beautiful, it is more of the other way around where Guido can't live without his son. Now, Guido, the father, makes it his priority, and spends all of his spare seconds making his son happy and hiding the horrific truth from him. I think that because Guido is so protective of his son, if anything were to happen to Joshua, then Guido would never forgive himself. In both pieces of art, the audience realizes how big relationships were, especially father and son bonds. I believe that both Guido and Elie realized how important someone else meant to them, that without them, the life at a concentration camp would completely destroy them.
   
    One very big difference that I see between the memoir, Night, and the film, Life is Beautiful  is that moods seem to be, almost opposite, which leaves a very different experience for the audience. In Night, you cringe at everything that Elie had to experience, from the train ride to Birkenau, to the hanging of a little boy. In the film though, there are very few times where we actually saw explicit torment in Guido or Joshua. In Night, Elie certainly focused on all of the horrible things that he saw, and I think that this caused a very solemn, but also terrifying mood, personally. I believe that this has to do a great deal with the fact that Elie was an actual prisoner while in the movie, Joshua wasn't an actual, working prisoner, so he didn't go through as many traumatic events as Elie. Because Elie had to go through all of the traumatic events, i think that, those events are the ones that he would remember the most. Even though, Elie was also a prisoner, he did have his father, and he seemed to recognize quiet of few people, which in my perspective, makes gong through everything, a little less bad because you know you aren't alone. In Life is Beautiful, the mood always seems to be very optimistic and loving. Even when Joshua got told that people were being burned in the furnace, Guido found a way to turn that around and have a reaction that makes the audience smile. I believe that the movie had very different intentions than the novel. I think that the movie was meant, to inform about the Holocaust, yes, but to also show the power of love and connections throughout what is seen as some of the worst experiences of human history. The novel on the other hand, is not only a first-hand account, but I think that Elie wanted people to know what actually happened, and what happened to him, personally. I think that the biggest difference is that Night is an actual, primary source, while Life is Beautiful is a story made to give a message to the audience other than just experiences about the Holocaust.

    Life is shown as beautiful in the film, in my opinion, throughout the entire film. The first example being in the beginning of the movie. In the beginning, Guido has a very joyful and love filled life while chasing after his "Principessa". A few years later, Dora and Guido get married and have Joshua, and everything is great and the family is very close together. Guido is always playing around with Joshua, whether it be by driving his bike really fast or by helping Joshua hide from his mom when it's time to take a shower. After this, a few things take a turn and cause some difficulties like people vandalizing Guido's uncle's horse and when Dora announces her engagement with another man. Even through this, Guido is very optimistic and uses the horse to capture the attention of Dora and take her out of the venue and away from her fiancee. Guido used what was thrown at him to create a funny and romantic scene for the audience. Forwarding, when Guido was in the concentration camp, he created an entire game for his son, so that Joshua wouldn't have to lose his innocence at such a young age. Guido made his son laugh and become excited while in the place where millions of people suffered and died every day. In my eyes, I see this as such a great love and it makes life beautiful not only for Joshua, but for Guido because I'm pretty sure that seeing his son thrilled in that place really made him smile. Later, the second time that Guido sense a message to Dora, really shows how life is beautiful because Guido uses something that the audience had forgotten about to tell his wife that everything is okay. By playing the song, Dora was given this huge push of hope and happiness, and Guido also was filled with hope and love while imagining his wife, still alive. In the end, I think that it was the most powerful form of beauty in the movie. I think that Guido's death helped to show the beauty in love. Of course, Gudio's death was tearjerking, but I also believe that it helped show that Guido's goals were fulfilled; protecting his son. Guido would be content with his life because his son was safe, and I think that his death helps show that life is all about love, which is all Guido had throughout the movie.