Finding the Beauty

In the Italian film Life Is Beautiful (directed by Roberto Benigni, Miramax, 1997), an optimistic, charismatic, charming Jewish Italian father, Guido, must shield his son from the dreadful realities of the Holocaust. Using humor and imagination, Guido sows joy into his son’s life in the midst of a disheartening and dehumanizing situation. Like Paul, Guido is a man who emanates hope and joy within the very conditions of pain and suffering—imparting a transcendent hope and a resilient, defiant ...