'Schindler's List' and 'Life is Beautiful' are just two of the many films that have been made which either examine the Holocaust or else use it as a background. As well as praise being given to some of these films there has also been criticism. Certain people feel that the Holocaust is such an horrific moment in the world's history that it cannot be treated in the Hollywood fashion. Others feel that many films simply turn the Jewish experience of the Holocaust into a backdrop for other types of stories, that the filmmakers lose sight of any message that they are trying to put across and turn their film into, for instance, a love story.

According to the writer of the article How Hitler conquered Hollywood, the Holocaust was, for 1999, a Hollywood "theme" which cheapens the utter horror experienced by many during the Second World War. it has become one of those fashionable issues (like the "green" concerns of Hollywood a few years ago) which is taken on by the studios not to expose but to make money. As the writer of the above article states: "In Hollywood economics always override alruism".

 

Film still from Roberto Benigni's 'Life is Beautiful' (La Vita è Bella)

Think about some typical Hollywood genres. Do 'Schindler's List' and 'Life is Beautiful' fit into any of them? If you had one sentence to sum up either or both films and to fit them into a genre, what would you say.