The Tiger and the Snow – La tigre e la neve (2005)

Directed by: Roberto Benigni | 114 minutes | comedy | Actors: Roberto Benigni, Jean Reno, Nicoletta Braschi, Tom Waits, Emilia Fox, Gianfranco Varetto, Giuseppe Battiston, Lucia Poli, Chiara Pirri, Anna Pirri, Andrea Renzi, Abdelhafid Metalsi, Amid Farid

After his success with the three Oscar-winning film ‘La vita è bella’ (1997), director/actor Roberto Benigni had a bright future ahead of him. Such a success, on the other hand, creates high hopes for his next films. He cleverly chose not to play a leading role in his next film ‘Asterix et Obélix contre César’ (1999), he played the role of Lucius Detritus, and to take the time for his next script. Only his long-awaited film, ‘Pinocchio’ (2002), flopped in a big way. His adaptation of the classic story of the same name earned him a total of five Razzie nominations, and he himself won one in the “Worst Actor” category. Benigni is now back with both feet on the ground and it seems as if he has learned from his misstep. After all, he is returning to his formula for success. It is clear that when writing ‘The Tiger and the Snow’ he took the script of ‘La vita è bella’ as a guideline, because the two films show a striking number of similarities. In this film, too, the story is set in wartime: no concentration camps, but the invasion of Iraq by American soldiers forms the backdrop for this tragicomedy. It is a comedy because now again the humor and romance, which is so characteristic of Roberto Benigni, play an important role.

Supported by Jean Reno (Fuad), who proves time and again that he is capable of playing a variety of characters, and his wife Nicoletta Braschi (Vittoria), who relies more on her big eyes than her acting, Roberto Benigni himself knows a to play a proper role. Benigni is a very busy little man with his quick talk and exaggerated facial expressions. His enthusiasm and optimism is still disturbing at the beginning of the film, but as the film progresses, you gradually get used to this as a viewer and you are sucked into his fantasy world. A fantasy world, which, just like reality, is gloomy and dark, but can also be beautiful at the same time.

It is clear that this is not a second ‘La vita è bella’. The fact that both films have too many similarities won’t do ‘The Tiger and the Snow’ any good. The public will unnoticed compare the films with each other and come to the conclusion that it is rather a copy of ‘La vita è bella’. The film isn’t bad at all, but it doesn’t score any better or worse than an average film across the board. Disappointing perhaps for Roberto Benigni, but the film falls short for a classic.