After 23 years, the 4K restoration version of the Oscar's best foreign language film "Beautiful Life" has been released!
is true, in your lifetime!
says it is the first must-see movie in 2020, and no one will object.
"Beautiful Life"
"Beautiful Life" is an Italian film written, directed and acted by Roberto Benini, and was released in 1997.
As a film classic that spans time, the film caused a sensation at the beginning of its release.
When the film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival that year, all the audience stood up and applauded for 12 minutes, and without any suspense, they won the jury prize in the main unit competition.
In addition, "Beautiful Life" has also swept through major international film festivals such as European Film Festivals, and won 70 international awards, including Best Foreign Language Film, Best Actor, Best Original Soundtrack, and 51 nominations.
Although it has passed 23 years, it still ranks 6th in the top 250 on Douban (up to 5th after re-screening), 1.14 million fans scored a high score of 9.5, and it also maintained a high of Top 23 on IMDb. It has even been rated by the media as "one of the videos that I have to watch in my life" countless times.
Anyone who has watched the video, even if you only watch it once, you must have several unforgettable pictures.
For example, Guido and Dora had the same opening remarks: "Good morning, princess."
was used in the square kiss of a family of three on the movie poster;
Guido wrapped in a blanket and was escorted away by Nazi soldiers when his skirt was carried away by Nazi soldiers, but he left his son with funny steps.
There are also freeze-forming scenes of Guido and Joshua blinking from the air and Joshua and Dora in the end.
Now, these blurry pictures left in our memory have been restored on the big screen after 4K repair.
It is worth our ticket to it for the first movie of 2020!
"This is a simple story, but it is not easy to explain clearly. Just like rain and thunder, there are both sorrow, miracles and joy."
After this opening remark, the protagonist Guido and his friends appeared.
Guido is an Jewish young man. He came from the countryside with his friends to the city, but unexpectedly, the brakes of the classic car they were driving failed on the way.
The two of them were driving all the way and stumbled all the way, and they actually broke into the king's guard of honor and were welcomed by the king.
This simple story begins with such a joyful accident.
In the absence of them stopping to repair the car, Guido meets a beautiful girl Dora in a barn tower.
Dola accidentally fell from the tower in order to burn the hornet's nest and happened to fall into Guido's arms.
Guido also said the most famous line in this film:
"Good morning, princess."
After the first meeting, soon, not long after, the day Guido applied to open a bookstore, the two met again.
This time, the way we met was still very dramatic. Guido, who was riding a bicycle, fell down and fell into Dora's arms.
After a while, Guido developed a love for Dora.
In addition to the words "Good morning, princess" that he would say every time he met, he was also working hard to create opportunities for chance encounters.
pretended to be a supervisor and went to Dora's school to patrol, went to the theater to watch the same opera with Dora, and even "set up a date" with Dora by chance.
But Guido's beautiful life didn't take long, and it ushered in a devastating blow.
He hosted a luxurious engagement banquet in the restaurant where he worked as a waiter, and the protagonist is Dora.
Dora made a brave decision when she saw Guido. She crawled under the table under the name of picking up things, kissed Guido deeply, and then said only: Take me away.
was just a joke, but I didn't expect Guido to really ride his uncle's horse to Dora.
In this way, the "prince" who came on a horse took the "princess"'s hand and the two escaped from the engagement banquet.
This brave escape also brought the two of them their respective " Beautiful Life ".
Guido runs a bookstore and lives an extremely ordinary life with his wife Dora and son Joshua.
But on Joshua's birthday, everything was broken.
Nazis caught Guido and Joshua, who were Jewish , and forced them to the train to the concentration camp.
In the car full of people, Joshua asked Guido, "Dad, where are we going?"
Guido pretended to be relaxed and said, "Didn't you always want to travel? Dad will give you a surprise."
When he was constantly being asked about the destination, Guido moved out "Mom won't let you say it", and finally let Joshua sleep peacefully.
They didn't know that at this time, in order to be with their husbands and children, Dora took the initiative to ask to enter a concentration camp with Jews.
When we arrived at the concentration camp, what Joshua saw was not the sunny beach suitable for travel, but a crowded room.
In order to appease Joshua, Guido made up another lie: this is just a game.
As long as you don’t cry or make a fuss, don’t think of your mother, and don’t shout for snacks, you can score points. Those who are the first to save up 1,000 points will win the competition and win prizes.
So the prize is a real tank.
In order to make this "game" more realistic, Guido has tried his best.
He issued the rules for concentration camps when the Nazi officer came to issue the rules. He pretended to be a translator who did not understand German, and changed the strict conditions mentioned by the officer to the "rules of the game" between him and Joshua.
If the Nazi soldiers scolded them loudly, Guido would explain it: That's because everyone is competing for the first place. The old man and the children in the camp
disappeared one after another. Guido would say that this is due to the rules of the game, and everyone is hiding and waiting for the final victory.
Although he was forced to do physical work during the day and was so tired that he couldn't stand firmly, Guido would happily tell Joshua that these were all because he was playing games in order to win a lot of points.
So although life in the concentration camp is so difficult and the atmosphere is extremely terrifying, for Joshua, these are just games.
Guido used his lies to build an ivory tower for Joshua. As long as Guido is there for a day, Joshua will not be hurt.
Until the day before the war ended, the Nazi soldiers decided to evacuate, and before that, they tried to cover up the "crimes" they had done.
In order to survive, the family will be reunited. Guido cannot sit still and wait for death, so he can only take risks.
He lets Joshua hide in an iron cabinet first and tells his son the last lie: This is the final, as long as it is not discovered, we will win.
Then dressed up as a woman and prepared to inform his wife who was locked in the female camp.
I never thought that Guido was discovered by the Nazis on the way to find his wife.
The spotlight is on this Guido who is wrapped in a woman. How we hope this is really just a game.
When he was pointed at by a gun and walked past the iron cabinet where his son was hiding, he knew that the little Joshua must be looking at his father from the cabinet.
So, he pretended to be leisurely and funny and grimaced at his son.
Then, he walked over with big strides, and his exaggerated steps made his son laugh happily.
A gunshot was heard, and we thought Guido would still follow the soldiers with his funny steps, but until the end, Guido did not appear.
"Beautiful Life", when he grew up, Joshua said in a mature voice:
"This is the sacrifice made by my father, this is the grace given to me by his father. No matter what kind of disaster comes, as long as life is still there, life must continue. Living is the most beautiful thing."
starts with his story and ends with his voice. The beginning and end of the film express the theme of "Beautiful Life" through Joshua's lines.
This is a World War II film, but it is different from any previous film that reflects World War II theme.
It is a comedy and a tragedy. It cannot be defined simply by tragedy and comedy.
It will make people cry while laughing, and they will suddenly laugh while crying. Through the experience of the Jewish Guido family, the film indirectly reflects the true state at the end of World War II. After watching the
video, it is not difficult to find that the entire film director is divided into two parts with obviously different tones based on the Guido family being arrested in the concentration camp.
In the first half of the movie, it is in a typical Italian comedy style. Whether it is the characters or events, the dramatic effect is sufficient, and it even has a bit nonsensical feeling.
At the same time, in this part of the story, the scenes and tones in the film are bright and smooth. Guido's playful language and lively body movements will unconsciously make hilarious while watching.
can be used as their family slowly enters the concentration camp, and the tones of the whole picture become dark and gloomy.
is such a strong contrast between light and dark, which makes the tear-jerking effect in the second half of the video stronger.
Director cleverly uses game methods to express the cruelty of war. Compared with the bloody scenes of war, it is more touching and impressive.
No matter how many times you brush it, Lao Meng would say that this is a movie with a rich impression. It combines love, family and friendship, and does not forget to show its hidden description of war.
The comedy in the first half of the film is basically a portrayal of beautiful love, it is like a fairy tale floating in the air.
When we see Guido in a tuxedo and Dora in a pink dress, riding a "white horse" covered with green, parked in front of the flower room, this is the story of "Prince and Princess", although the prince is not riding a white horse.
When this beautiful dream grows bigger and bigger, it suddenly sinks into reality.
Whether it is the Guido family or as the audience, we all fell from fairy tales at once, falling to a situation that is even more terrifying than reality.
But in this terrifying concentration camp like hell, Guido once again created a "dream" for Joshua, a dream about the game.
So after Guido and Joshua repeatedly "play the game", there is the depth of fatherly love, that is, family affection.
The amazing thing about the film is that it has hardly talked about war from beginning to end, nor has the scene of war flying. Even the only part of the film is that the roommate was injured while "working".
The ruthlessness and cruelty about war conveyed in the video can make everyone who has seen it.
This foreshado was actually buried in the first half of the film. When Guido went to find his uncle, he ran into a group of people who were doing sabotage at his uncle's house. The uncle was painted green and a white horse with the words "Jewish horse" written on it. The officers saluted at the engagement banquet. Guido and Joshua passed by the shop with "Jewish people and dogs are not allowed to enter", and Guido was called to talk again and again.
The first half of the video also laid a hidden line for the war under the cheerful tone. After watching the video, you can even feel this cruelty and despair.
But just like the movie's name "Beautiful Life", the comedy atmosphere created by Guido's funny appearance from the beginning is just to tell all people who truly love life. Although the eyes are dark, the nightmare is temporary after all, and I believe that a beautiful life is forever.
We love "Beautiful Life" miserably, just like we love Guido.
Qingshi Movie Editorial Department | Lao Meng
