Comedy on the edge

Roberto Begnini, "Life is Beautiful"

The Holocaust is no laughing matter, to put it mildly, so any comedy centered on an optimistic Jewish clown (Benigni) shielding his son from the horrors of a Nazi death camp by creating an elaborate game is treading awfully thin ice. But Benigni emphasizes the character’s fierce paternal devotion, and, in his offscreen role as director and co-writer, suggests that if Hitler’s eradication of the Jews can be compared to a child’s game, then it’s an act of power so removed from real-world logic as to be cruelly absurd.

Does he go too far?: The only group noticeably appalled by the film are those who think Benigni stole the Best Actor Oscar from odds-on favorite Ian McKellen (“Gods and Monsters”).