This movie is a great, fresh, original look at events surrounding the Holocaust. Mind you, this film does not look at the Holocaust itself, but at events surrounding it. It is an epitome of Jewish humor; anyone who finds this movie offensive does not understand this. The movie balances hope and honesty about tragedy beautifully, uses humor in a respectful context to make important deeper points (that is, it is not slapstick), and incorporates brief statements on love and theology. The various emotions that the movie evokes, often depending on the viewer's own mood at the time, allow the movie to be watched repeatedly and for new levels of meaning to reveal themselves. Roberto Benigni may have stolen the concept of "Life is Beautiful" from Mihaileanu's "Train de Vie," but the films cannot be compared. Whereas Benigni glibly believes that love and laughter can conquer all, even the Holocaust, Mihaileanu understands that they can only help one survive separately from the more practical and real danger of physical death. In other words, love and laughter are directly part of the point of "Life is Beautiful"--ends in themselves--a somewhat offensive concept. In "Train de Vie," on the other hand, they are on the side and only serve as foils, as means to ends. The ending of "Train de Vie" further eliminates any glib concept of easy survival that is present in "Life is Beautiful." A must see, especially for anyone who has seen and disliked "Life is Beautiful."
Review of Train of Life
