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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mel O&#039;Drama" data-source="post: 434454" data-attributes="member: 23">La Vita È Bella (1997) a.k.a. Life Is Beautiful <img src="https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fi.pinimg.com%2F736x%2F06%2F59%2F8e%2F06598e4ed96b3d577aae62781304588d.jpg&f=1&nofb=1&ipt=aff3ba45849a24850898457a6e7b93a9a782a45952f40d28fab617c8f7d150c3" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" />When this came up as I scrolled through Prime its English name looked a little familiar. Then I realised I was thinking of Mike Leigh's Life Is Sweet (which I've also never got round to watching).As I watched, it felt familiar in other ways. It's beautifully shot and its aesthetics are reminiscent of many traditional genres, from Old Hollywood buddy comedies and Technicolor musicals to more recent period pieces (as contradictory as that sounds). It looks absolutely stunning. The ladies' colourful wardrobe pops against sumptuous backdrops, and none more so than Nicoletta Braschi. In many ways this film feels like an ode to her beauty from her husband (who is also the film's director, writer and lead actor).After a day easing back into work yesterday, I wasn't sure I wanted to watch a subtitled film, but something told me it would be mostly silent (in the style of Mr. Bean). Something lied to me. It was actually incredibly verbose and I don't mind telling you I was ready for bed by the end.I was curious to see how the concentration camp aspect would be worked into the film, and even more so as I watched the first half which felt worlds removed from it. I did find the opening act tedious. I've little patience for characters who seem to spend all their time mucking about and making  a three act play out of saying hello, and it's even worse with aggressively optimistic people. And this seemed to be the character's raison d'être. Thinking about it, it's similar to howI found James Stewart and his brother really annoying in It's A Wonderful Life, and only really enjoyed the film once things went down the crapper.Things did feel more balanced once a little of the darkness came in, but the film relies heavily on finding the main character endearing and I'm afraid this didn't happen for me. His continued pretence to his son that everything was all right and that this was a big game was the whole concept of the film, but to me it felt very self-indulgent: as though the character himself could not face reality. This would be understandable, but there's nothing psychologically interesting in how it's presented. He just continues to do silly crap in the camp as he did outside, putting everyone's life at risk. He completely lost me in the scene where he volunteered to translate for the German guard when they arrived at the camp. Despite speaking no German, he "translated" what was said into an extension of his silly game, which spared his son's feelings but left the dozens of other people in their cabin unaware of what was being asked of them.  And this was just the first of several transgressions which made me wonder how he wasn't simply shot on the spot.I don't know what it was about this film. The Sound Of Music could arguably be viewed as trivialising the backdrop of the Second World War. 'Allo 'Allo certainly did that. And yet I greatly enjoy both of those. In this film,, though, the frivolity and rebelliousness frustrated me, and I wanted more harsh reality.I also felt I was overlooking something that everyone else could see. The film was fine, but Prime had made a big deal of this being a BAFTA winner, and I'd seen that it had accumulated numerous other International awards as well, so perhaps I expected more.</blockquote>

Verification: Who played JR Ewing?