The storyline of Life is Beautiful is strangely divided into two distinct parts. The first hour of the film is a light-hearted, comic romp through Benigni's pursuit of the delightful and lovely Nicoletta Braschi. Much like Charlie Chaplin, or Buster Keaton in his tamer work, Benigni performs some well-choreographed pratfalls and acts with a comic naivete that endears his character to the viewer. As the second hour of the movie begins, Benigni finally marries Braschi (off-camera at that) and the two have a child. Suddenly, Benigni and his son, played with wide-eyed innocence by Giorgio Cantarini, are carted off to a concentration camp. Braschi, who isn't Jewish, demands to be put in the concentration camp as wellóreally, I'm not making this upóand, without warning, this sweet, warm, romantic comedy turned into an 'overcoming the injustices of the world' type of film. At the concentration camp, Benigni is shown constantly lying to his son, trying to convince him that they are there by choice, and that life is still beautiful.

There were two major problems I had with Life is Beautiful. One was the film's rhythm, or complete lack thereof, the other was the historical inaccuracy depicted on-screen.

Written and directed by Italian screen veteran, Benigni, I expected Life is Beautiful to be a smooth and cohesive film. However, as it stands, Life is Beautiful is virtually two independent movies spliced, crammed, together to create the illusion of one unified film. The differences between the plot, pacing and style of the first and second hours of this movie are so vastly different, and change in such a short span of time it caught me off-guard. Literally, in the span of two minutes, some six years have passed and Benigni has gone from 'getting the girl' to being taken to a concentration camp. One might assume that, as was the case in Poland and Czechoslovakia some years earlier, that there may have been a slight prelude before the Nazis began corralling the Jewish portion of society and transporting them to concentration camps where one might have been able to pack his bags and move toward more tolerant pastures.

Also quite bothersome was the presence of Benigni's son in the male portion of the concentration camp. Bothersome for the simple reason that the other children on board the train that brought Benigni and Cantarini to the concentration camp were instructed to go with their female companions. Women and children were unloaded on one side of the train, the men on the other. I suppose if you're Roberto Benigni though, a few historical liberties can be taken for the purpose of telling a more compelling tale. On the flip side of the coin though, the entirety of the second hour of the film was ultimately based on what was, seemingly, a historically inaccurate depiction of the situation at hand.

Of the five nominees for best picture in 1999, Life is Beautiful stands out as being the most undeserving of a nomination. The material is occasionally comedic and occasionally touching, but, for the most part, too muddled and hard to fathom to be considered even the darkhorse of the bunch. To think that Happiness and Pleasantville were overlooked in favor of this film is quite hard to swallow.