Language:
English
Year of publication:
2000
Titel der Quelle:
Critical Inquiry
Angaben zur Quelle:
26,2 (2000) 279-308
Keywords:
Benigni, Roberto.
;
Becker, Jurek,
;
Kassovitz, Peter.
;
Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945), in motion pictures
;
Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) Humor
Abstract:
Notes that in the 1940s humor was possible in films dealing with the not-yet-lethal antisemitism of Hitler's early years. For example, Chaplin's "The Great Dictator" depicted persecution of Jews but not their genocide. Recently, humor has become acceptable in films by self-identifying Jewish authors and directors, e.g. in the black comedy "Genghis Cohn" (1992) with its "survivor" being the ghost of a Jewish comedian. The use of humor in Roberto Benigni's "La vita è bella" (1998) is very controversial. Discusses, also, the two versions of "Jakob der Lügner" (1974, 1999) based on the screenplay by Jurek Becker. Humor in the first version temporarily sustains a fairy tale of survival that is eventually undermined. Humor in the later version, where a child is saved, creates a more optimistic, heroic account (partly paralleling "Schindler's List" and partly "La vita è bella"). In the 1991 "Jakob" and in Benigni's film the Jewish aspect of the Holocaust is minimized. Concludes that humor appears appropriate for the presentation of a universalized, heroic "Holocaust" that deemphasizes the genocide of the Jews.
Note:
Appeared also in his "Jewish Frontiers" (2003) 65-92.
URL:
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