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How Satirical Techniques Used In The Film Life Is Beautiful

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The Academy Award winning film, Life is Beautiful, tells the story of Guido--a Jewish man living in 1930’s Italy as World War II begins. After courting his future wife and having a child just five years later, Guido and his family are shipped off to a concentration camp. Inspite of the film’s setting and circumstances, Life is Beautiful is a comedy. This is mainly due to the comedic relief from Guido as the viewer joins him on his journey from a bookstore owner to a prisoner.

The comedy begins right off the bat. But, so do the slight dramatic elements of the film. For example, in one of the early scenes, Uncle Eliseo’s (Guido’s kind uncle) horse is vandalized. The horse is covered in bright yellow paint and has Anti-Semitic slurs on its sides. Uncle Eliseo is shocked by the act, yet Guido brushes it off and figures the only thing worse would be if he suffered the same fate. Instead of having a sense of shock and disbelief, Guido prefers to laugh it off. Of course, this sense of humor is carried on by Guido even in in the most hellish of circumstances. …show more content…

For instance, in order to protect his five year-old son, Guido creates this childish lie that everyone at the death camp is apart of a huge game. Then, the prisoners are told the rules of the camp, in German, and Guido “translates” (Guido explains that everything is just one big game, the same way he did for his son). Guido tells this sweet,tragic lie in order to protect the innocence of his son as they are forced to live under the Nazi’s

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