LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL

NICOLA PIOVANI

Rating:

Original Review: Italian funnyman Roberto Benigni has pulled off a real coup with his film La Vita È Bella, or Life Is Beautiful. The only fitting description for the movie is "a romantic comedy set in a concentration camp", but this does not do the film justice, and seems almost tasteless. In reality, Life Is Beautiful is a tremendously moving, uplifting and charming movie that truly restores faith in the human spirit and the power of laughter and imagination.

Benigni plays Guido, an idealistic waiter who begins to woo a beautiful schoolteacher named Dora (Nicoletta Braschi) in the gorgeous Umbrian town where they live. Guido's comic antics eventually win Dora's hand, but not before he has upset her fascist boyfriend after an unfortunate incident with some eggs. Guido and Dora marry and have a son, Giosué, but their fairytale life is shattered with the onset of W.W.II. You see, Guido is Jewish, and he and his son are sent to a concentration camp. In order to shelter his child from the horrors of life under the Nazi regime, Guido creates a fantasy for world for his son to inhabit, and pretends that they are both on a wonderful adventure holiday, where points are gained for not being afraid of the guards, cutting down on food and, above all, keeping quiet. As well as forming an effective barrier between his son and the harsh realities of the Holocaust, it also allows Guido to distance himself from the horrors he sees around him.

Although he has been a film music composer for over 20 years, the name of Nicola Piovani is not well known outside his native Italy. In fact, despite having written for arthouse successes such as Golden Balls, Jamón Jamón and The Tit and the Moon, as well as the American drama A Month By The Lake, at one time Piovani was thought to be a pseudonym used by Ennio Morricone, similar to the way he used the name Dan Savio in the 60s! His score for Life Is Beautiful is the one which has finally brought him international acclaim, and is sure to lead to a further career in Hollywood, where his star will sit alongside such famous European names as Morricone, Maurice Jarre, Pino Donaggio and Philippe Sarde.

Piovani's two recurring main themes open the album: 'Buon Giorno Principessa' is lush, romantic and steeped in the musical traditions and sensibilities of stereotypical Italy, with an idyllic, pastoral nature enhanced by the charming addition of a tinkling mandolin. The second theme, 'La Vita È Bella', is much lighter and more playful, with an almost tango-like Latin rhythm that seems to capture the essence of Benigni's character and the generally carefree lifestyle he enjoys. The main themes are repeated throughout the album, but there several other cues which also stand out. 'Grand Hotel Valse' is an opulent waltz that Strauss himself would have proud of, and has a sense of grandeur, regality and sumptuousness which makes for wonderfully indulgent. 'Grand Hotel Fox' and 'Krautentang' are performed solely for laughs, and underscore two of film's most memorable scenes. The former is performed in the style of a bouncy Charleston, while the latter is the musical embodiment of slapstick, with swirling strings and honking trumpets. The atmospheric 'La Notte Di Fuga' is the closest Piovani ever gets to writing action cue, as it underscores the scene in which Guido is scouring the concentration camp for his beloved Dora. In it, Piovani works in some urgent stringwork, and a very clever rattling woodwind effect. Similarly, the morose-sounding 'Il Treno Nel Buia' has some haunting percussion elements which seem to replicate the terrible sound of the train taking Guido and Giosué away.

Life Is Beautiful recently became the most Oscar-nominated foreign language film in the history of the Academy Awards, getting a total of seven nods, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Original Dramatic Score. It's not entirely unfeasible that Piovani could walk away with the win either, if the voters decide to do a repeat of Il Postino and The Full Monty and give the score award to a worthy film which stands no real chance of winning anything else. If Piovani were to win, though, it would be completely deserved, for no score this year has as much heart and character as this one.

With thanks to Guido Aversano and Luigi Lozzi for taking the time to translate the track titles for me.

Track Listing: Running Time: 41 minutes 18 seconds

Virgin Records America 7243-8-47402-2-1 (1998)

Music composed, conducted and orchestrated by Nicola Piovani. Performed by Orchestra Dell'Academica Musicale Italiana. Recorded and mixed by Fabio Venturi. Album produced by Nicola Piovani.


Home Page | Reviews A-M | Reviews N-Z | Composers | Links

Movie Music U.K is designed and maintained by Jonathan Broxton (c) 1999. All opinions and views expressed on these pages are my own and are in no way intended to reflect those the University of Sheffield. All photos and album artwork used on Movie Music U.K. are only for the non-profit making promotional purposes and no copyright infringement is intended.