‘Beautiful’ Indeed

Mona S. Edwards fears that audiences will misinterpret “Life Is Beautiful” (Letters, Feb. 28). She refers to the film as a taste of “Holocaust Lite,” candy-coated to manipulate audiences away from tragic reality and “back into levity” and comfort.

With all due appreciation of Edwards’ concerns, I believe that, by and large, audiences will not watch this movie with the wrong idea. The artistry and genius of “Life Is Beautiful” is in the remarkable fabric whose interwoven threads are both comic and tragic. Without being graphic or gratuitous, Benigni depicts the Nazi horrors and ugliness while spinning a life-affirming tale about the power of love.

Benigni’s character is not trying to “cajole his way to the end of the war” through his “comedic antics.” That he is an indomitable spirit who has the gift of humor does not mean that he is unaffected by the “assault” that occurs in his life; he is clearly affected, so much so that he gives of himself in the most dire of circumstances--doing everything in his power to protect the life and spirit of his child and wife.

It is not a sugarcoated fantasy that one takes out of the theater after watching this movie. Instead, it is the knowledge that there is both darkness and light in the world, and, in spite of everything, life can indeed be beautiful.

DANNY BIEDERMAN

Calabasas Hills