The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, February 26, 1999, Page Page 4, Image 4
Tie Gamec
Page 4
Humor, sadi
"Life is Beautiful"
UU combines satire, physi
cai comedy, social com;
iSfiiitQ mentaiy and surrealism
: ?; UHlllo, into a moving story of
: Camera, love set against the
? Reaction backdrop of wwnitaly.
Starring Roberto BeI
I | j I" nigni, Nicoletta Braschi
I B 1 1,11 rrrrTTi and Giorgio Cantarini
Out Of four stars Written and directed by
Roberto Benigni.
by Sara Ladenheim
Gamecock Critic
I had never imagined something as dark as the
Holocaust being expressed through comedy. In the
10 years that I've studied the Holocaust, every movie
I've ever seen related to it has been filled with death,
skeletal figures and brutality of the highest level.
"Night and Fog" was the most haunting of these
films and scares me to death to this day. "Life is
Beautiful" changed all that, however, and made me
see that horror wasn't the only way to cinematically
express the Holocaust.
Roberto Benigni is brilliant, not only as the movie's
director but also as lead character Guido. The central
theme of the film isn't the Holocaust, or even
being Jewish. The first time you know Guido is Jewish,
the first instance of him expressing his religion
at all, comes when his uncle's prized horse is painted
green and scrawled with the words "I am a
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of his dreams, Dora, whom he calls "Princess," and
they have a son, Giosue.
The movie is more about love and how far a father
will go to protect his child than prancing Germans
and barbed-wire enclosures. Giosue, Guido
and Dora are taken to an Auschwitz-type camp. One
of the most heart-wrenching scenes here is when
Dora learns from a fellow inmate that all the children
are taken immediately to the ovens. What she
doesn't know is that Giosue, upon being told he had
to take a bath, avoided the gas chamber because he
didn't like to take baths. Guido and Giosue manage
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upset if I forget to bring a candy stash stay awa>' &
to class. I apparently have a problem, taste-tested
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about candy. Here, I can learn candy http:Hwm
trivia, candy statistics (candy consumption
per capita in 1997 was 27.3 . p ,
pounds!), as well as nutrition and y" Lanay
health information. I've been telling ^dy while s
people all along that candy is nutri- Patertious,
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Guido Orefice (Benigni, left) protects his son Giosui
in Miramax's "Life is Beautiful."
to take over the camp intercom system, and Dora finally
finds out they're safe.
"Life is Beautiful" will take your breath away
with its reality, but also manages to convey what
the actor/director wanted so badly to get across to
the audience: Smile. In the face of something more
horrific than anvthiner imaginable, the father's most
important message to his son is more powerful than
anything that could be written.
by Rob Fleming
Gamecock Critic
The essence of a great film is the ability to suspend
all disbelief while the viewer is watching. With
"Life is Beautiful," all signs of reality are wiped away
as you become lost in this wondrous world placed
before you. Director Roberto Benigni, who also wrote
and stars in "Life," manipulates his camera as if it
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Jesse Bradford stars c
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5 (Cantarini, right) from the horrors of the Holocau
were a magic wand, creating a story that shows tt
love can conquer the most formidable of obstacl
The film is propelled by Benigni as Guido, a m
with incredible imagination, wit and heart. Gui
is a true family man and does anything within 1
power and imagination to keep his family safe fft
the horrors of the Holocaust. Benign i's acting is pi
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cent of Charlie Chaplin. Exceptional roles are a
played by Nicoletta Braschi and Giorgio Canta
ni, as Guido's wife, Dora, and son, Giosue.
The script beautifully mixes the triumph of 1
against the tragedy of the Holocaust. It's filled w
many magical moments of comedy and drama tl
sometimes seem too tragic to be funny. "Life is Be*
tiful" delivers an outstanding message of hope,
the understanding that the one gift that mak
life beautiful is the gift of love. A film truly wort
of "Two thumbs up!" (Have a good journey, Gen
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film, "King of shred of dignity. He spends the ret
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for Miracles." as he attempts to find food, avoid
is Aaron Kur- tion and bring his family back toget
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^ Advice
Out of four stars
by Marcus Amaker
Gamecock Critic
The fans have come to expect greatness
every time The Roots release a
new album.
Their first three CDs, Organix, Do
You Want More1? and Illadelph Halfiife,
are arguably the best three hip-hop albums
of the decade because
of The Roots'abil- S8SBjjjHj
ity to push themselves I
and their music to un- I
ock limited possibilities. I
ist For those who don't I
know, The Roots are
. more than the average
eg hip-hop group. They're
a band. Their first two fl
albums might be the on
:?i x '1 J
)m wiuiuul samples anu
ie recorded absolutely live. Do You Want
More ? was the record that gave them
j a buzz around the industry, as critics
r immediately compared The Roots with
groups like De La Soul, A Tribe Called
Quest and Pharcyde because of their
ith off-beat, anti-mainstream rhythms.
iaj. The anticipation for Things Fall
Apart, their excellent new CD, marks
a new era for the band. They will uneg
doubtedly rise from the underground
i scene to become one of the most rec^
ognizable names in hip-hop.
The first single, "You Got Me," is
beginning to get more spins on big ra
dio stations and MTV, and a lot of
music magazines around the country
are hailing Things Fall Apart as one of
the best albums of 1999.
That doesn't mean The Roots will
compromise their talent for a chance at
Man or Astrothe
New Broo]
Std- by Erin Reed
ard, Features Editor
nan
i left They won't admit to being human.
They claim to be alien life forms whose
tall spacecraft malfunctioned and Dlum
"ore- meted to Earth right outside Auburn,
[thy Ala., in 1992 on the "current Earthm
a based calendar."
3t of Man or Astro-man? has played Cooity
lumbia shows for several years now,
*vie~ each one being original and severely
her. entertaining. Their music is most
aptly described as very tight '50s and
tive '60s "surf rock," with Dick Dale-ish guitar
lines and fast melodies. They cite
ich" influences such as The Ventures and
nes LinkWray.
But fans don't go to the shows just
mi" . for the music. Man or Astro-man? puts
3111 on a very visually stimulating performance,
always dressing up in outlandish
^ costumes and using unique props on
. stage, such as little televisions and
tricky lights. Who knows what they've
>ngratulati<
K aooa K aooa Ciami
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>ring 1999 Mprr
- Carroll ?ran<
~hambors K.at<z
)ruck(zr Mand
01ain? Mann
Sectlu
Friday, February 26,1999
s hip-hop
: with CD
success. In tact, Ihings fall Apart is
close to being their best ever. It combines
the live, jazzy feel of Do You Want
More? with the gritty, darker moods of
Illadelph Halflife.
Black Thought is one of the most
fluent start-and-stop-on-a-dime rappers
in the business. Drummer ?uestlove
is the perfect behind-the-scenes
bandleader, keeping the beat better
than any drum machine ever could. The
other band members have matured and
hold nothing back on any of the CD's
18 tracks.
Things Fall Apart is a massive album
with elements of
old-school hip-hop, live
instrumentation, poetry
and hard-core realism.
A lot of its songs,
fcjj like "The Next Movement,"
"Dynamite,"
I New" display The Roots
I at their best? live,energetic
and raw, with
subtle keyboard and guitar in the background.
Then there are tracks like "The
Soark" and "Sten Into the Relm" that
capture the mood of the streets better
than all of Master Fs songs put together.
It's this wide array of styles that make
Things Fall Apart different from many
CDs out this year.
It won't take long for the world to
catch on to The Roots. Things Fall Apart
is an important CD for hip-hop because
it's not just a collection of singles meant
to sell millions of copies. It is a full body
of work, with each song as important
as the others. For example, take the
penultimate song, "The Return to Innocence
Lost," a five-minute spokenword
poetry track featuring Ursula
Rucker.
This song caps off the album perfectly
and proves The Roots are still
pushing the envelope musically.
man? to play
kland Tavern
got planned for their show this Saturday
at the New Brookland Tavern?
Man or Astro-man? will be playing
with two new members: Trace Reading,
who has replaced Starcrunch, and
Blazar (sometimes called Blazar the
Probe Handler), who is taking over for
Dexter X. According to the band, the
show will include an "over-the-top sensory
overload, complete with sunspots,
fire and an unmistakable itchy sensation."
They are working on a new album,
due out in April, called EEVIAC. But
for now, you can pick up Man or Astroman?^
latest seven-inch (from summer
'98), and their last full-length album,
Made from Technetium. *
They will play Saturday at the New
Brookland Tavern on State Street. Purchase
tickets at the door. And by the
way, their ultimate plan here on Earth
io 4-* 1 ' *
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