从电影《美丽人生》中看完美男人形象-学位论文.doc

毕 业 论 文

论文题目：从电影《美丽人生》中看完美男人形象

On the “Perfect Man” Viewed From the Movie Life Is Beautiful

Student: Mao Bobo
Supervisor: Ma Xiaoying

Foreign Languages Department
Tangshan College
June, 2010

从电影《美丽人生》中看完美男人形象

摘 要
一部电影能告诉人们什么？这是个仁者见仁，智者见智的问题。描述二战的电影不胜枚举，但是没有哪一部电影像《美丽人生》一样让人感受到的只有浓浓的爱，而没有其它二战电影中血腥的大屠杀。在这部电影中一方面笔者看到了一个完美男人的形象，一个完美的男人所要具备的不仅仅是事业上的成功，更重要的是和家人一起创造一个美满和谐的家庭，做妻子的依靠和精神支柱，是孩子的保护神。另一方面，笔者也诠释了什么样的人生才称得上是完美。如果以乐观的态度对待生活，生活中一切都是美丽的。
男人被赋予了很多的责任和称谓，但是在笔者眼里，家庭责任才应该是一个男人最重要的责任，丈夫和父亲才应该是最幸福的称谓。男人只有有了责任感，才可能成为一个完美男人，才可能拥有美丽人生。

关键词：完美男人 家庭 责任 爱

On the “Perfect Man” Viewed From the Movie Life Is Beautiful

Abstract
What can we learn from a film? Different people have different ideas. There are numerous films describing the WWⅡ, but none of them likes the film Life Is Beautiful, which is full of love instead of bloody Holocaust. In this film, on one hand the writer finds a perfect image of man, a perfect man should not just be successful in career, but pay more attention to building a harmonious family with family members and should be the reliance and spiritual mainstay for his wife and the protective god for his child. On the other hand, the writer indicates the belief that life is beautiful. If you have a optimistic attitude towards life, then everything is beautiful.
Man has been endowed with many responsibilities and titles, but in the writer’s opinion, family responsibility should be the most important one and the title of husband and father should be the happiest ones. Whoever has a sense of responsibility, and he may become a perfect man and have a beautiful life.

Key words: Perfect man; family; responsibility; love

Contents

Introduction…………………………………………………………….……………1
Part I Anatomy of the Film Life Is Beautiful............................................2
1.1 The creative background and main plots of the film……..………………….2
1.2 The different angle between the film Life Is Beautiful and other films describing the Jewish lives during the World War Ⅱ……….……………………………..3
1.3 The deep love and the hope of peace………….…………………………..3
Part Ⅱ The Qualities of Perfect Man……………………………………….….…. 5
2.1 The perfect man’s romance…..…………………………………………...5
2.2 The perfect man’s humor…………….………………………………5
2.3 The perfect man’s optimism………………….……………………………...6
2.4 The perfect man’s wisdom and bravery…………………………………….7
Part Ⅲ Positive Influence of the Perfect Man……………………………….9
3.1 Equal importance of family and career…………………………………….9
3.2 Marrige for love instead of benefit…………………………………………9
3.3 The close realationship between children and parents……………………..10
3.4 Life is beautiful………………………………………………………………..11
Conclusion……………………………………………………….…..........................13
Acknowledgements…………………………………………………………………………14
Notes………..………………………………………………………….…….…......15
Bibliography………………………………………………………………………16

唐 山 学 院 毕 业 论 文
Introduction
After seeing a film, different people have different ideas. There are many films describing the Second World War, many of which emphasize on the inhumanity of Nazi. Those films are filled with sanguinary scenes which depicts the slaughter of Jewish people. In ordinary people’s impression, the Second World War is horrible memory especially for the Jewish people. The audiences are convulsed by the bloody scenes again and again. Happiness, to Jewish people of this period, is impossible.
However, not all of the directors choose the same angle, there is a director choosing to use another angle to reveal the War and to produce a film called Life Is Beautiful. It has less to do with the Holocaust but more to do with the human feelings and the beautiful relationship between a husband and his wife, a father and his son. After watching the film, some audience may be happy and some may be sad. But no such a piece of art has ever before combined laughter with tears of sadness in and after the movie. We do not know what feelings the audience has after watching the film Life Is Beautiful, but the audience may feels really happy, because both Guido and his son have a beautiful life. And we also find the qualities of a perfect man from the actions of the hero Guido. A successful image for a husband and father is presented by Guido perfectly. We find a humorous, optimistic, romantic and brave man in this film, and the behavior of Guido is full of love.
A perfect man should not only be successful in career, but also pay more attention to building a harmonious family with family members and should be the reliance and spiritual mainstay for his wife and the protective god for his child. Then he will have a beautiful life. This thesis tells us the anatomy of the film Life Is Beautiful, and we can see the deep love and hope of peace from it. Then it introduces the qualities of the perfect man. At last, we find positive influence of the perfect man. In some degree, it is useful for our beautiful life.

Part I Anatomy of the Film Life Is Beautiful
1.1 The creative background and main plots of the film
The film Life Is Beautiful selected its material from the Jewish life in concentration camp of Nazi, which was the most unforgetable picture in the World War Ⅱ.
In 1930s, in Italy, a carefree Jewish bookkeeper named Guido starts a fairy Tale life by courting and marring a lovely woman from a nearby city. When Guido moves from the country to a large Tuscan town where he falls in love with a school teacher Dora. But she is already engaged to another guy, and Guido uses his humor and wisdom to court his “princess” by popping up at unexpected times. Guido has a sense of romance, and his life style is free, Dora is attracted by him. Then Dora abandons her fiancé and chooses Guido. Guido rides a white horse, takes his princess away.
Then the film jumps ahead to the last months of the war. Guido marries Dora and they have a son called Giosue. The three family members live together happily, and they own a bookshop and have a harmonious family. However, on the birthday of Giosue, Guido and Giosue are sent to a concentration camp because of their Jewish origin. Dora is not a Jewish, but she deeply loves his husband and voluntarily follows him, she is sent to another part of the camp. Although the men and women are separated in the concentration camp and a child is in great peril. Guido finds his special ways to communicate with Dora and to hide Giosue. He uses loudspeaker to say “good morning, princess”, which tells Dora that he and their son are safe. In an attempt to hold his family together and help his son survive the horrors of a Jewish concentration camp, Guido imagines that the Holocaust is a game, and the grand prize for the champion is a real tank. Giosue believes his father, so he does not afraid of living in the concentration camp. What he wants is a tank, a real tank. Finally, at the end of the film, little Giosue cheers: “I really win the tank.” Then he and his mom are rescued by the American solider.
Life Is Beautiful is an important film; it is triumphant, perpetual and moving. It manages to entertain and educate the audiences with its potent combination of humor, poignancy, wisdom and dignity. Roberto Benigni, both the director and actor, has taken pure honor and turned it into a love story between a man and a woman，between a father and his son. The film is full of love, as an actor, Benigni manages with his wise and simple performance to make the audiences laugh in the tragic situations.

1.2 The different angle between the film Life is Beautiful and other films describing the Jewish lives during the World WarⅡ
There are too many films describing the lives of Jews during the World War Ⅱ, in which Schindler’s List directed by Steven Spielberg is the most famous one. In this film, the lives of Jewish people are miserable. Thanks to the help of Schindler, some people survived from this disaster, but most people, including old men and children, are killed by the Nazis. There is one sentence from this film: “Whoever saves one life, saves the world entire.”[1] We can see that Schindler is a great man in Jewish people’s eyes. After watching the film Life Is Beautiful, we find that it has less to do with the Holocaust and more to do with the human feelings and the beautiful relationship between a husband and his wife, a father and his son. The Holocaust provides the ultimate context that brings and highlights the story and adds yet another deep dimension to the movie. No such a piece of art has ever before combined laughter with tears of sadness in and after the movie. Although Guido’s death makes us sad, we also think his life is beautiful, because his wife and son will live happily in the future.
The film helps in bringing the audiences to a state of mind away from cruel reality, focusing on the feelings generated by forgetting about all external events and developments of the war. Despite that, the movie does not fail to point out an element of the Nazi psychology demonstrated by the doctor who was obsessed with riddles. In this period, the Nazis just care about themselves, as if the miserable lives of Jewish people do nothing with them. Life is really beautiful as you watch Guido’s relentless efforts to make a lovely exciting experience of the concentration camp to his son. You get exhausted just watching him going through his painful day and make you smile as he speaks to his son and makes him laugh.
1.3 The deep love and the hope of peace
The film Life Is Beautiful is full of love. We can see it from many respects. On one hand, Dora and Guido love each other. When Guido meets Dora the first time, he calls her princess. Guido tries his best to court Dora, he loves her very much. Dora falls in love with Guido though he is neither rich nor handsome. She loves him, because he is reliable and sincere. When Guido and their son are sent to the concentration camp, Dora should not have to go there, but she requires go there. As she loves her husband and their son, she wants to stay together with them. Guido is the reliance and spiritual mainstay for her.
On the other hand, Guido loves Giosue very much. Guido tells a beautiful lie for fear that Giosue will afraid of the concentration camp. Guido says that they go to the concentration camp is for a holiday, and they have to go there by the poor train. The life in the concentration camp is just like a game, if they earn 1,000 scores first, a real tank will belong to them. Little Giosue believes everything that his father tells him, and lives happily there. Whatever Guido does represent the deep love for his son. He wants his son happy and safe.
Although the film has less to do with the Holocaust, what we can see is the love between parent and their son. This film is also about the Jewish life in World WarⅡafter all. Through the deep love, what they really want is the peace. Guido tries his best to protect Giosue and hope his son will grow up in the peaceful time. Dora goes on the train and also hopes her husband, her son will safe. The hope of peace is in everyone’s mind. Living in a peaceful world, they can love each other better.

PartⅡThe Qualities of Perfect Man
As a perfect man, in other words, a successful man, Guido maintains his family to be happy and harmonious. In his family, Guido plays an important role. He is the reliance for his wife and protective god for his child.
2.1 The perfect man’s romance
In 1930s, in Italy, a carefree Jewish bookkeeper named Guido starts a fairy Tale life by courting and marring a lovely woman from a nearby city. Before they get married, Guido’s romance attracts his wife, Dora. Guido is both funny and charismatic, especially when he romances Dora, whom he steals from her rude and loud fiancé. He rides a white horse, takes Dora away from the restaurant, just like a fairy tale.
At the beginning of the film, we can see a romantic Guido everywhere. When Guido moves from the country to a large Tuscan town where he falls in love with a school teacher Dora. Dora falls into Guido’s breast for the first time they meets, and he says “good morning, princess” [2] to Dora with a radiant smile on his face. Then he pops up at unexpected times, and calls her princess every time meets her. One time, Guido pretends that he is an inspector of Dora’s school. He wants to attract Dora there, so he jumps on the desk and does a lot of funny actions. Both Dora and her students are surprised and laugh happily.
Guido and Dora’s fifth meet is in the opera theatre. Dora goes there to listen to an opera named Tales of Hoffman. But Guido goes there just want to see his princess again. So he stares at Dora all the time, does not know what the opera is about, which is a very interesting scene. When the opera ends, Dora waits her fiance’s car in the entrance. Guido drives a car and stops it besides Dora. She thinks it is her fiance’s car, so she gets into the car. She finds it is a mistake when turns around, but she is surprised to see Guido again and does not get off the car. Guido is too happy to forget that he can not drive a car well, and the worst is steering wheel’s broken. Then Guido opens the door of the car, spreads red carpet on the floors, and open a cushion as an umbrella. They walk in the rain slowly, and Dora says that her life is not free, but full of restriction. Guido understands her, says how much he loves her. When we see these scenes, we believe that Guido is a man full of romantic sentiments.
2.2 The perfect man’s humor
From the film, we know that Guido is not a rich man, and he is a Jewish. Because of this, it is difficult for him to open a book shop. However, Guido is a confident man, who believes that a book shop will belong to him sooner or later. When he applies the right to open a book shop, he is denied by the commander without any acceptable reason. Guido always distracts the commander’s attention, and exchanges their hats. After a while, the commander finds that Guido’s hat is on his desk, his expensive one is on Guido’s head. But it is too late, what he can see is Guido’s back.
Guido’s humor has an effect on many people around him. Before he meets Dora, his friend tells him that determination determines everything. Guido believes it and thinks that if you try your best to do one thing, you will be successful in the end. So in the opera theatre, he does not listen to the opera, but stares at Dora all the time. What he wants is Dora’s attention in that minute. He is really an interesting man, is not he? His humor is one of the qualities that helps him win Dora’s love at last.
Guido always makes his son laugh in the daily life. He knows what an important role laughter plays in their life.
Giosue: “No Jews or Dogs Allowed.” Why do all the shops say,“No Jews Allowed”?
Guido: Oh, that “Not Allowed” signs are the latest t