Life Is Beautiful Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.0

Life Is Beautiful Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov March 26, 2012

Winner of more than 40 international awards, including the Grand Prize of the Jury at the Cannes Film Festival, Roberto Benigni's "La vita e bella" a.k.a "Life is Beautiful" (1997) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Studio Canal. The supplemental features on the disc include original theatrical trailer; raw footage from the shooting of the film; interview with Roberto Benigni and Nicoletta Braschi; making of featurette; and Dominique Maillet's documentary "Revisiting Life is Beautiful 15 Years Later". In Italian, with optional English and French subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".

I have a good one for you

It takes a lot of courage and talent to make a good comedy film set during the Holocaust. Italian actor/director/writer Roberto Benigni had plenty of the two – which is how his La vita è bella a.k.a. Life is Beautiful came to exist. The film was released in 1997 and went on to win numerous awards, including the Grand Prize of the Jury at the Cannes Film Festival, as well as Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film, Best Actor in a Leading Role (Roberto Benigni), and Best Music, Original Dramatic Score (Nicola Piovani). Not everyone, however, liked Life is Beautiful. In Italy, many prominent right-wing politicians condemned it, while at the Cannes Film Festival influential left-leaning journalists spoke against it.

Life is Beautiful begins with Guido (Benigni, Down By Law), a young Jewish man, arriving in Arrezzo, Tuscany to open up a bookstore. There he meets Dora (Nicoletta Braschi, The Monster, The Tiger and the Snow), a beautiful schoolteacher who is getting ready to marry the Fascist town clerk (Amerigo Fontani, Settecento), and falls madly in love with her. While trying to impress Dora, Guido becomes a waiter, and befriends a German doctor (Horst Buchholz, The Magnificent Seven) with a passion for riddles. Time goes by, Guido wins Dora’s heart, and the two run away. Then they marry and have a kid, Giosue (Giorgio Cantarini).

A couple of years later the Nazis arrive in Arrezzo. Eventually, all Jews are loaded on a train that will transport them to an unnamed death camp. When Dora, who isn’t Jewish, learns that Guido and Giosue are on the train, she joins them.

At the death camp Guido begins pretending that everything that is happening around him is a game – to save his son, who does not understand what is underway. Giosue likes the game. Because Dora is in a different section of the camp, Guido and Giosue can’t see her, but they still manage to stay in touch. Eventually, the Americans arrive in Italy, and the camp is abandoned by the Nazis.

Life is Beautiful is a film of two contrasting halves. The first has the look and feel of a light romantic comedy, while the second has dark overtones that bring it closer to a classic period melodrama. Both halves, however, are united by a common theme – love and faith conquer all.

Benigni is undoubtedly the star of Life is Beautiful - everything he does is magical. The game he invents to save his son transforms the entire second half of the film, giving it sublime lightness, infusing it with a much needed sense of hope. The death camp is an eerie, lifeless place, but every scene with Benigni oozes humanity and warmth.

Life is Beautiful is an unrealistic film - it is hard to imagine that in a real death camp a character such as Benigni’s would have survived for as long as he does – but it wasn’t meant to be. Its message is so powerful precisely because it is delivered in an unusual way.

The supporting cast is also impressive. Braschi, Benigni’s real life partner, delivers a wonderfully nuanced performance as the brave Dora. Buchholz has a limited time in front of the camera, but the character he plays is very important.

Lastly, Life is Beautiful is complimented by a beautiful soundtrack courtesy of Nicola Piovani, who has contributed to such critically acclaimed films as Marco Bellocchio’s The Eyes, The Mouth, Federico Fellini’s Intervista, Bigas Luna’s The Tit and the Moon, and Nanni Moretti’s The Son’s Room.

Life Is Beautiful Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Roberto Benigni's Life is Beautiful arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Studio Canal.

From the three releases of Life is Beautiful that I've seen (the other two being the Canadian and U.S. releases), this one uses the least processed high-definition transfer. This is not to say that it is substantially stronger than the other two releases, but there are various small improvements that are certainly worth mentioning.

First, there are still traces of mild noise corrections, but definition is clearly better on the Studio Canal release (compare screencapture #9 to screencapture #12 from our review of the Canadian release and see how the red shawl looks on both). Second, most close-ups convey marginally better depth. Third, while on the Canadian release there are various traces of mild edge-enhancement, on the Studio Canal release there are absolutely no traces of post-production sharpening. Generally speaking, color-reproduction is also marginally better. The film still looks relatively soft though, with the nighttime footage occasionally also appearing somewhat flat. To sum it all up, each of the three Blu-ray releases has issues, but the Studio Canal release offers arguably the most organic presentation of the film. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray disc. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free PS3 or SA in order to access its content).

Life Is Beautiful Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are three audio tracks on this Blu-ray disc: Italian DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, English, DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, and French DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. For the record, Studio Canal have provided optional English and French subtitles for the main feature.

The Italian DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track opens up the film in all the right places. Admittedly, surround activity is somewhat limited, but there is a good range of nuanced dynamics which DVD releases of the film were never able to reproduce. (This becomes quite clear whenever the music becomes prominent). The dialog is crisp, clean, stable, and easy to follow. Also, there are no sync issues or audio dropouts to report in this review. The English translation is very good.

Life Is Beautiful Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - U.S. trailer for Life is Beautiful. In English, with optional French subtitles. (3 min, PAL).

• B-Roll - raw footage from the shooting of the specific sequences. (You could see how Guido's horse, Fiorello, was painted green). In Italian, with optional English and French subtitled. (10 min, PAL).

• Interview - in this video interview, Roberto Benigni and Nicoletta Braschi discuss the characters they play, the message of the film, its success in Italy and abroad, etc. In English, with optional French subtitles. (10 min, PAL).

• Making of - a standard featurette with footage from the Cannes Film Festival, various other festivals where Roberto Benigni's film won awards, the shooting of the film, etc. The featurette also contains a number of comments from cast and crew members, renowned actors, film critics, etc. In English, with optional French subtitles. (24 min, PAL).

• Revisiting Life is Beautiful 15 Years Later - in this documentary film, directed by Dominique Maillet for Studio Canal, director Martin Scorsese, cast and crew members, and prominent critics and historians discuss Life is Beautiful and its success, as well as Roberto Benigni's career. In English and Italian, with optional English and French subtitles. (55 min, PAL).

Life Is Beautiful Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I think that this new Collector's Edition of Roberto Benigni's Life is Beautiful, produced by Studio Canal, is currently the best release on the market. It is not flawless, but I personally think that it looks slightly better than the U.S. and Canadian releases. It also has the best selection of supplemental features. If you are planning to add it to your collections, please keep in mind that it is Region-B "locked". HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.