I'd go so far as to say this is the best film I've seen in 10 years (yes I liked it even more than La Vita è Bella), and I'd put it alongside the classics of the 40s & 50s which I enjoy so much.
Why did I like it so much? The profound wisdom in some of the dialogue. You have to pay close attention to what he says and how it relates to the events that occur later. And it helps to know a little Italian, I'm sure. The scene where he's lecturing his class is absolutely brilliant ...and hilarious at the same time.
The scene where he pleads with the Iraqi apothecary is one of the most powerful monologues I've heard since Shakespeare.
"If she dies,
they can close this whole show of a world,
they can cart it off, unscrew the stars,
roll up the sky and put it on a truck,
they can turn off this sunlight I love so much ...
they can take everything away
[etc]"
Benigni himself is a true poet in clown's disguise. I can't fathom why the critics hated this film (and dumbass me, I almost skipped it because of them). But yet again, the critics are dead wrong. My guess is that they didn't like the film because it didn't have a bang-pow-wham finish. Instead, it sinks in slowly but more powerfully.
Btw you gotta see the Benigni interview on the DVD. He's such a positive, inspired human being with much wisdom to share. He chooses comedy as the best artistic medium to convey suffering & strife "to make the unbearable bearable." The scene in the classroom says it all. "To convey happiness you must be happy. To convey pain you must be... happy! To be happy you must suffer. Don't be afraid of suffering."
P.S. How about that music? Best use of a song in film since "As Time Goes By"
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