for being a movie on such a sensitive subject, the holocaust, and directed by one of the great italian directors, I really had high expectations. But there were silly moments that were clearly intended to please the movie going crowds, those who can enjoy a romantic remark or stereotyped environment, but not challenging a movie audience to think a little more. Scenes like the dining table with italian soldiers, for example, was just silly. While all the pan-european characters spoke in their native tongues, the italian soldiers were dubbed in english. The dialoges were clearly intended to please the crowds, to show how "fun-loving" italians are, always singing, always eating, always together. From a great book, a mediocre movie. Contrast this with another holocaust movie made also in italy, "Life is Beautiful", and in this film, the language differences is instead exploited to make it a great film. As for the tongue that should be used to make a holocaust film authentic, Yiddish should be used, except of course for the russian and german soldiers, and the western european jews that spoke no yiddish. All eastern european jews that found themselves struggling together in the camps did not speak Polish, Romanian, German, or Hungarian, but the language that was common to most of all, Yiddish. Don't know of a holocaust movie that is like that.
