The Cinematography in Life is Beautiful

Have you seen Life is Beautiful? I highly recommend it. It's a great movie. However, my focus today is not going to be on the merits of its story, its unique treatment of the serious issues it tackles, or the talents of its actors. Today, I'm only focusing on its cinematography.

So have you seen it? If you have, you may have noticed that, when watching it, you feel like you're watching a much older movie, perhaps one from the fifties or sixties, despite the fact that it was made in 1997. Part of this is the acting style seen in the film. The people speak and comport themselves in a way that feels very old-timey, but the retro feel of Life is Beautiful goes beyond that. It looks like an old movie. Why? I can't say definitively, but I have some theories.

Before going any further, I want to refer you to my older posts, What Made 70s Movies Look So 70s, Part 1 and Part 2, in order to understand more fully what I've already learned about the look of older movies.

I had come to the conclusion that older movies looked the way they did because they were shot in Technicolor, while movies made in the 70s and later were shot on color film. So you can imagine how confused I was when I saw Life is Beautiful and felt like I was watching an old movie. Life is Beautiful couldn't have been shot in Technicolor, could it? It is my understanding (and please correct me in a comment if I'm wrong about this) that movies have not been shot in Technicolor since the mid-70s. I know there was something of a revival in the late nineties (around the time Life is Beautiful was made) but, based on things I read, I concluded that the movies utilizing this process were only printed in Technicolor, not actually filmed in Technicolor. And I've watched clips of some of those movies. Pearl Harbor is one. It doesn't look like Life is Beautiful. Pearl Harbor looks like a newer movie while Life is Beautiful looks, well, old.

I needed to know why this was, so I paid close attention to detail while I was watching it, and I noticed some things.

I've already mentioned the acting styles, and that's certainly a big part of it, but it's much more than that.

First, there are the camera angles. The movie utilizes wide, medium, and close-up shots, with very few, if any, extreme wide or extreme close-up shots. Also, when showing the characters, the camera remains approximately at eye-level with the actors, so no high or low shots. That sort of limited camera work is quite common in older movies. At least in older color movies. Film Noir was a bit more creative, but I don't want to get into a discussion of Film Noir here.

Second, the filmmakers seemed to prefer a deep depth of field. This means that everything in the shot is in focus. Even in the close-ups of the characters, the background can be clearly seen. This is a camera technique that is not really in vogue at the moment. Newer movies are all about blurring out the background, or sometimes the foreground. Focus pulls are quite common (and beautiful...I love a good focus pull). Not so in older movies, and not so in Life is Beautiful.

And finally, Life is Beautiful is lit differently from movies of today. Nowadays, natural lighting is quite popular, and studio lighting is stylized to the point of being somewhat reminiscent of Film Noir (I may need to write a post on Film Noir in the near future, I seem to keep harping on it). Life is Beautiful is different. In the studio shots, light spills in from everywhere, even from above. There are shadows, sure, but not deep shadows. There are no dark parts of the frame anywhere in the movie. Even nighttime scenes are bright. Blue in color, yes, but still bright. And the outdoor shots? Well, they all look like they were filmed at three o'clock in the afternoon (can I get a collective groan from any photographers reading this?). No use of the precious "golden hour" in this unique film? Maybe in a couple of scenes, but for the most part the sun seems to be high in the sky whenever the actors are shown outside. I imagine it was through a generous use of reflectors and fill lights that they avoided making this look unflattering to the actors. And, to my recollection, there is no use of backlighting anywhere in the movie. Contrast this to movies of today. It seems that almost everything is filmed at the golden hour now. Backlighting is incredibly popular. Shadows are used to create mood and a sense of realism. 

Now that you've read my thoughts on it, I'll ask again: Have you seen Life is Beautiful? If not, you really should. While you're watching, pay attention to some of the things I've pointed out in this article. And if you have seen it? Go back and watch it again, this time with a keener eye for detail.