WARNING: MASSIVE MASSIVE SPOILERS AHEAD
There are many connections between Life is Beautiful and Night. Both feature a father who saves his son and vice versa. The father does get killed shortly before the liberation of the camp (which is why I put the spoiler warning at the top). Elie doesn't have to hide himself, as Joshua did, but he did have to hide his age. Both feature towns who basically ignore the encroaching jaws of fascism until they're consumed by it, and each pair has a similar coping setup that involves one member doing something unusual and the other relying on the first for support (Elie's loss of faith and his father relies upon him, whereas in the movie Guido's gamifying the camp and relying on Joshua for support). The methods of the fascists are never truly explained, merely being a shadowy force in the background to cause the story's progression.
Despite the many similarities between the two works, there are differences between them as well. For one, the protagonist being Jewish is not outright said in Life is Beautiful, unlike in Night where it is mentioned basically on the first page of the book. For another, Guido's demise comes out of left field, whereas Elie's father's demise is foreseen, as it kind of uses that dread to recreate an atmosphere of the doom to come. Another difference is that Life is Beautiful takes place in the heyday of Italian fascists as opposed to the Nazis invading. Night also has much less slapstick than Life is Beautiful, but that is to be expected, given that it's an autobiography and the circumstances of Romania's invasion. There's also a time gap between the two works. Life is Beautiful has a gap from 1939 to 1944, then picks up around that time. Night starts in 1944 and ends in 1945. If the math is correct, the time skip ended around the same time Night began, give or take 1 month.
Most of the humor in Life is Beautiful comes from Guido being happy-go-lucky. This oftentimes clashes with the fascist regime and authority figures. For example, the scene in the school where Guido masquerades as a fascist inspector and starts dancing on the table. He knows he can break the system with crazy gambits and maneuvers, so he does. This, as always, clashes with the people in control of him, especially in the camp. This humorous attitude actually causes most of the suspense in the movie as well. If one of Guido's plots hits a wrinkle (Joshua saying "Thank you" for instance), he just improvises something to save himself (like teaching all the kids to say it so that the lady watching them has no clue who actually said it or gets distracted by Guido breaking the rules). This in turn amplifies the humor and happy-go-lucky attitude he has, until he gets to the point where his luck runs out.
One of the ways life is shown as beautiful in the film is the fact that Guido's slapstick behavior basically manages to inadvertently subvert a fascist regime, just by being himself. More specifically, it's beautiful that he manages to have a happy life full of laughter and love under a fascist regime, and fascist regimes aren't known for being rainbow happy disco party places. Guido manages to have an awesome life, mostly, and be a walking humor dispenser, as a member of a group targeted by fascists. This may be partly due to the more benevolent-ish nature of fascist Italy, and also partly due to Guido's own humorous optimistic nature. Any way you slice it, Guido's extremely lucky to have gotten that far. Another way life is shown as beautiful is in Dora and Guido's romance. It's full of cringeworthy pickup lines, cheesy declarations of love, more slapstick moments, and all-around realism. This is very similar to how most romances, at least before they gets to the stage of marriage, play out. If it were taped, the viewers would certainly view it as cringy, but the authenticity would certainly be there. And that's beautiful.
Despite the many similarities between the two works, there are differences between them as well. For one, the protagonist being Jewish is not outright said in Life is Beautiful, unlike in Night where it is mentioned basically on the first page of the book. For another, Guido's demise comes out of left field, whereas Elie's father's demise is foreseen, as it kind of uses that dread to recreate an atmosphere of the doom to come. Another difference is that Life is Beautiful takes place in the heyday of Italian fascists as opposed to the Nazis invading. Night also has much less slapstick than Life is Beautiful, but that is to be expected, given that it's an autobiography and the circumstances of Romania's invasion. There's also a time gap between the two works. Life is Beautiful has a gap from 1939 to 1944, then picks up around that time. Night starts in 1944 and ends in 1945. If the math is correct, the time skip ended around the same time Night began, give or take 1 month.
Most of the humor in Life is Beautiful comes from Guido being happy-go-lucky. This oftentimes clashes with the fascist regime and authority figures. For example, the scene in the school where Guido masquerades as a fascist inspector and starts dancing on the table. He knows he can break the system with crazy gambits and maneuvers, so he does. This, as always, clashes with the people in control of him, especially in the camp. This humorous attitude actually causes most of the suspense in the movie as well. If one of Guido's plots hits a wrinkle (Joshua saying "Thank you" for instance), he just improvises something to save himself (like teaching all the kids to say it so that the lady watching them has no clue who actually said it or gets distracted by Guido breaking the rules). This in turn amplifies the humor and happy-go-lucky attitude he has, until he gets to the point where his luck runs out.
One of the ways life is shown as beautiful in the film is the fact that Guido's slapstick behavior basically manages to inadvertently subvert a fascist regime, just by being himself. More specifically, it's beautiful that he manages to have a happy life full of laughter and love under a fascist regime, and fascist regimes aren't known for being rainbow happy disco party places. Guido manages to have an awesome life, mostly, and be a walking humor dispenser, as a member of a group targeted by fascists. This may be partly due to the more benevolent-ish nature of fascist Italy, and also partly due to Guido's own humorous optimistic nature. Any way you slice it, Guido's extremely lucky to have gotten that far. Another way life is shown as beautiful is in Dora and Guido's romance. It's full of cringeworthy pickup lines, cheesy declarations of love, more slapstick moments, and all-around realism. This is very similar to how most romances, at least before they gets to the stage of marriage, play out. If it were taped, the viewers would certainly view it as cringy, but the authenticity would certainly be there. And that's beautiful.
[Just pretend there is an image here. (It won't render regardless of what I do).]
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