HW: How do the characters in 'Life is Beautiful' represent an engaging and unique presentation of the Holocaust experience?

Throughout the movie, the characters in 'Life is Beautiful' represent and engaging and unique presentation on the Holocaust situation by using irony, the movie showed how life is in fact beautiful and how it can turn in a day, their personal characteristics and by setting the movie in the Jews perspective.

The characters use irony throughout the movie because we know what happened in the concentration camps but the characters in the movie don't. An example of this is when Joshua refuses to take a shower because he doesn't like them and refused earlier in the movie. We know that if Joshua had taken that 'shower' he would have been gassed and been out of the whole movie. Whats ironic about this is because they take advantage of Joshua being a stubborn kid and not wanting to take a shower which actually saves his life.

Another way the characters in 'Life is Beautiful' represent and engaging and unique presentation on the Holocaust is by setting the movie in the Jews perspective. By showing what it was like to be in a concentration camp from the Jews perspective, we get a real sense on empathy and we feel bad for what they all had to go through in World War II. By showing the movie in that perspective instead of the German side, we get more of an understanding of how deep and depressing this situation was, which makes the movie more interesting and engaging.

The third reason for how the characters make this movie engaging and unique is because the use of close up shots and individuality we get a real understanding of the types of people they are. From the very beginning we find out Guido is a funny person and tries to do whats right and thinks on the positive side of situations. Later we find out that he is a loving father that is trying to make the Holocaust as good as he can for his son Joshua. Joshua represents the innocents in the Holocaust and how so many kids we killed due to the fact of being a Jew. Through the whole concentration camp half of the movie the audience gets engaged at him not knowing whats actually going on and how much we hope he survives. We also develop a sense of knowledge from the doctor that loves riddles. In the beginning he comes across as a man that just loves riddles, but when we find out he is also on the German side of the Holocaust we realise he doesn't think the Holocaust in a big deal and ONLY cares about riddles.

They are the three main reasons for how the characters in 'Life is Beautiful' represent and engaging and unique presentation of the Holocaust experience. 

Scene from 'Life is beautiful'

Describe what is happening in this scene.
In this scene, Guido pretends to be able to speak German so he can help his son believe that its all a game. He interpreted what the German is saying into Italian so Joshua believes its real.

Who are the heroes and villains in this scene? Why are they heroes and villains?
In this scene Guido is both a hero and a villain, he is a hero because he is trying to protect Joshua and make him believe in what he said before but he's a villain because he is putting the others in danger because they then don't know what the German was actually saying. The German man is also a villain because he is telling the Jews what they HAVE to do and laying down the rules.

For the hero/es and villain/s, describe techniques used in this shot which highlight their opposing role and how they connect with the audience.
Guido uses humour to lighten the mood and connects to the audience by letting us feel sympathy for his son and why Guido is doing what hes doing for him. 

Holocaust Unit: Key Question and 'Life is Beautiful'

What is a tragedy?
A tragedy is a dramatic piece of work that can either be serious or funny. 

An event suffering in distress or destruction.

How is Life is Beautiful a tragedy? 
Life is beautiful is a tragedy because the main character and hero of the film dies, it is also a tragedy because it has a serious and sad theme to the movie being about the holocaust.

Could it also be a comedy?
I think there are aspects of this movie that can make this film a comedy, but the fact that it is about the holocaust I personally don't think its humorist. So no.
Slapstick and black humor are used, yes.

What is a villain? What is a hero? What is a victim? Give examples of each both from real life and from fiction.
A villain is the bad or "evil" person in the story, the hero is the person that sticks up for whats right and normally the victim, and the victim is the person that it being effected in a negative way from the villain. Examples of each would be villain - The joker, hero - Batman and victim - towns people.

A hero usually fights for someone else, and has a certain form of characteristics.
A victim is someone that ends up in a negative place and cant get out of it.
A villain is someone that plans to inflect pain or suffering.

Who are the villains, victims and heroes?
The villains in this movie are the Germans. The victims are the Jews, and the heroes/hero is Guido because he looks on the positive side of the whole experience and also helps his son get through the bad times they are in.

What value do each of these characters play in the movie? What role do they play in the plot? What role do they play in connecting the movie to history? What role do they play in evoking a reaction from the audience? (List the important characters in the movie and label them as either villains or heroes. Then, in dot points, list the important role they play in regards to plot, history, and to the audience.)
Each character that is focused upon plays a high value in the movie, without the character, it would be very different. This movie links to history in the way of incorporating the Jew camps, certain aspects of the Jew camps (sweat boxes), how they were unfairly treated, different jobs they had to do ect.. The things they do to evoke a reaction from the audience is use humor to created a reaction to lighten up the mood.

^^ didnt fully understand the last question
Antagonist - doras fiance
                - Germans
Protagonist - Guido
Victims add to the complication,
Joshua adds to the innocence to the whole actionGuido represents that jews are good peopleGermans are very precise and to the point, no mercy or compassion
Guido evokes an emotional response by being funny, with his funny moments he makes us respect him for doing what hes doing for his son
Victims evoke the audience by linking empathy and compassion into us and making us feel bad for his situation