Tiger and the Snow

Tiger and the Snow is a movie about war, love and comic relief. The movie has subtitles and stars the Italian actor, Roberto Benigni. Roberto won his fame with his previous movie; Life is Beautiful, which was about World War 2.

Known for his over the top acting and his humour, Roberto uses both movies to show the ground level activities of people’s lives during war times. The main story over-rules the war, although it is always present. Roberto wrote, directed and starred in the movie.

In Tiger and the Snow he plays a poetry lecturer, Attilio, who is still love-struck with Vittoria, the mother of his children. Although in the beginning you don’t realise that there is any connection between the two at all. Nicoletta Brashci, Roberto Benigni’s wife in reality, plays Vittoria.

Vittoria travels to Baghdad shortly after the war in Iraq breaks out. Attilio travels to Baghdad when he hears that Vittoria has been critically injured from a bomb explosion. She is staying in a badly damaged hospital with several hundred other injured patients. The hospital only has one doctor, so Attilio takes it upon himself to care for her.

He then goes through a series of quests, jeopardising his own life on a few occasions, to save Vittoria. The film is both a comedy and tragedy, with the dark force of what is going on being contradicted by the light-hearted actions of Attilio.

There is a fair amount of sentimental romance, as he nurses Vittoria back to health without her ever knowing for certain that it was him. There is also a wonderful aspect of opposite attraction, as Vittoria is an ever-lasting calm and tranquil character, and Attilio is nothing but chaotic.

Three themes dance together in the film: pure love, comedy and the dark tragedy of war. The title, Tiger and the Snow, might seem unrelated to a movie about a war in a desert, but is a play on the words. Vittoria informs Attilio in the beginning of the movie, that they will never be together until she sees a tiger in the snow.

This might seem impossible and far-fetched, but the symbolism comes together at the end, when she finally sees a representation of a tiger in the snow. The movie was nominated for the 2006 David di Donatello Award for best music, and won 2 awards, one for Best Foreign Romance Trailer and the other for Best Original Story.

There has been criticism that the war plays too much of a subdued role in the movie, however the overall effect is a wonderful romantic comedy that will leave you wondering and day-dreaming for days afterwards.

Celeste writes for / http://arts-and-entertainment-news.info/">news for the arts and entertainment industry.