Hustler wrote:[I consider him a cheater in political terms. He intended to subvert a genocide, to soften it up. That´s unforgivable. It´s a shame when you try to manipulate the history.
By the way, I didn´t find this performance comic at all.
Trust me - you didn't understand the movie and you probably don't understand much about comic cinema (and theatre).
One is allowed not to like Life is Beautiful, of course. But one can't say that there are subject that a comic can't touch, in comic terms - death, sex, religion, food, French Revolution, Hitler, Popes, and so the Holocaust, too - as Dario Fo has said, even just the idea that there are "sacred" subjects that can't be dealt with in a comic, or humorous, way, is an act of censorship.
If you have guilty feelings, it's not Benigni's fault.
Trust me, I respect Darío Fo so much and I´m also against any act of censorhip. I share many of your thoughts as you certainly were reading my posts.
But in that case, I don´t think at all that Benigni was trying to deal with a "sacred" subject in a humorous way. That´s not the point.
I´m refering to him as a Director of that film. The way he conceived the film, (he also co wrote the story). His political tendencies are all exposed in it. I don´t consider him a "naive" person. His movie is far distant from an humorous way of thinking the Holcaust.
Hustler wrote:[I consider him a cheater in political terms. He intended to subvert a genocide, to soften it up. That´s unforgivable. It´s a shame when you try to manipulate the history.
By the way, I didn´t find this performance comic at all.
Trust me - you didn't understand the movie and you probably don't understand much about comic cinema (and theatre).
One is allowed not to like Life is Beautiful, of course. But one can't say that there are subjects that a comic can't touch, in comic terms - death, sex, religion, food, French Revolution, Hitler, Popes, and so the Holocaust, too - as Dario Fo has said, even just the idea that there are "sacred" subjects that can't be dealt with in a comic, or humorous, way, is an act of censorship.
If you have guilty feelings, it's not Benigni's fault.
ITALIANO wrote:He's a comic actor, that's why he always plays the same character.
And "cheater" is a word which doesn't have anything to do with artist expressions - it's a moral judgement in the honored (here) tradition of "cheap whore", etc.
No, you didn´t understand at all. I wasn´t refering to his talent. I consider him a cheater in political terms. He intended to subvert a genocide, to soften it up. That´s unforgivable. It´s a shame when you try to manipulate the history.
By the way, I didn´t find this performance comic at all.
Benigni is a cheater, that´s why I don´t like him. I think american were capivated by his work because they didn´t know him. If you take a look at his filmography you´ll see that every character is a carboncopy from the other. On the other hand he took a serious and painful fact of our recent history with incredible lack of respect.
This comment is pretty unfair. He's not a "cheater". It's easy to play revisionist history and, yes, Benigni's win was a victory of hype even though you could make the argument that McKellan and Nolte were in small Lion's Gate films that didn't have very wide appeal, Hanks already (recently) had two, and Norton's film was already a fluke nominee (though his nomination is one of the sweetest of the decade). At this point, we as a blogging planet need to get over this FUCK BENIGNI! horseshit. I love Ian McKellan's performance in 'Gods and Monsters' as much as anybody but it's been a fucking decade.
McKellan deserves better than to see his obituary read: R.I.P. Sir Ian McKellan - 1939 - 1999 when he was robbed by Roberto Benigni and nobody could talk about anything else.
And Benigni deserves better than to see his obituary read: R.I.P. Roberto Benigni - 1952 - 1999 when he robbed Sir Ian McKellan and nobody could talk about anything else.
He's a comic actor, that's why he always plays the same character.
And "cheater" is a word which doesn't have anything to do with artist expressions - it's a moral judgement in the honored (here) tradition of "cheap whore", etc.
Steph2 wrote:That's a great comment Josh, and I think you're absolutely right, but I can't select Whitaker with all the crap in the performances of the lesser actors you mentioned. I'm actually gonna go with Foxx.
And how is poor Roberto winning this poll by a wide margin? Seriously, do you people remember Russell Crowe and Jamie Foxx??
Benigni is a cheater, that´s why I don´t like him. I think american were capivated by his work because they didn´t know him. If you take a look at his filmography you´ll see that every character is a carboncopy from the other. On the other hand he took a serious and painful fact of our recent history with incredible lack of respect.
As for those who attack Crowe, please run to watch 3:10 To Yuma!
That's a great comment Josh, and I think you're absolutely right, but I can't select Whitaker with all the crap in the performances of the lesser actors you mentioned. I'm actually gonna go with Foxx.
And how is poor Roberto winning this poll by a wide margin? Seriously, do you people remember Russell Crowe and Jamie Foxx??
Here's why I'm giving this one to Forest Whitaker...
Roberto Benigni is fine for what he is doing. I don't dislike his performance. I just find him in superior company.
Russell Crowe also is fine for what he is doing. It's not Oscar worthy but the film wouldn't work without him. That's more of a threat than anything else, but there it is.
Kevin Spacey's performance was hugely unchallenging and I don't find him entirely successful, but he has some good moments.
Jamie Foxx's impersonation was adept but unexceptional.
Lots of performances that I don't think were Oscar-worthy, but where Forest Whitaker fails is in allowing us to see more of the strings in his performance than any other contender comes close to revealing. He has three shifts of emotion: jovial, quietly furious, and batshit. All the same without variation. Is he given anything more than the material allows? No, but this is Forest Fucking Whitaker. He's better than this. He's a better actor than Russell Crowe, Roberto Benigni, Kevin Spacey, and Jamie Foxx combined.