Antagonist

Character Role Analysis

Rodolfo / Nazis

Why settle for one antagonist when you can have two? Unless, of course, you're the protagonist. Since the antagonist's job is to be in conflict with the protagonist, that's just adding more work to your to-do list.

For the first half of the movie, Rodolfo picks up antagonist duties. He's in conflict with Guido because both men love Dora and want to marry her. In true antagonist fashion, he's the yin to Guido's yang. While Guido is spirited, charming, and witty, Rodolfo's dull, cruel, and lacking any zest for life.

But Guido's poor and a bit of an outcast in Italian society because he's Jewish. Meanwhile, Rodolfo is rich and socially well-connected. Of course, Rodolfo gets his comeuppance for being so mean-spirited, and he ultimately loses Dora.

During the second half the film, Rodolfo's antagonist duties are taken up by the Nazis. They want to exterminate Jews. The Nazis take Guido and his son to a concentration camp, and Guido's conflict with them is his desire to keep himself and his son safe.

But Guido isn't Indiana Jones, so punching Nazis in the face isn't an applicable solution. Instead, Guido fights them with his gifts of wit and humor. Notice that all of the Nazis are stern, humorless people that seem to have no love of life in them at all, further contrasting them against our protagonist.

Nazis: We hate those guys.