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Life Is Beautiful

Original title: La vita è bella
  • 1997
  • PG-13
  • 1h 56m
IMDb RATING
8.6/10
778K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
350
203
Roberto Benigni, Nicoletta Braschi, and Giorgio Cantarini in Life Is Beautiful (1997)
Watch Trailer originale italiano [OV]
Play trailer1:33
3 Videos
99+ Photos
Period DramaRomantic ComedyTragedyTragic RomanceComedyDramaRomanceWar

When an open-minded Jewish waiter and his son become victims of the Holocaust, he uses a perfect mixture of will, humor and imagination to protect his son from the dangers around their camp.When an open-minded Jewish waiter and his son become victims of the Holocaust, he uses a perfect mixture of will, humor and imagination to protect his son from the dangers around their camp.When an open-minded Jewish waiter and his son become victims of the Holocaust, he uses a perfect mixture of will, humor and imagination to protect his son from the dangers around their camp.

  • Director
    • Roberto Benigni
  • Writers
    • Vincenzo Cerami
    • Roberto Benigni
  • Stars
    • Roberto Benigni
    • Nicoletta Braschi
    • Giorgio Cantarini
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    8.6/10
    778K
    YOUR RATING
    POPULARITY
    350
    203
    • Director
      • Roberto Benigni
    • Writers
      • Vincenzo Cerami
      • Roberto Benigni
    • Stars
      • Roberto Benigni
      • Nicoletta Braschi
      • Giorgio Cantarini
    • 1.5KUser reviews
    • 114Critic reviews
    • 58Metascore
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • Top rated movie #27
    • Won 3 Oscars
      • 72 wins & 52 nominations total

    Videos3

    Trailer originale italiano [OV]
    Trailer 1:33
    Trailer originale italiano [OV]
    Life is Beautiful
    Trailer 1:27
    Life is Beautiful
    Life is Beautiful
    Trailer 1:27
    Life is Beautiful
    Ultimate Weeper Watchlist: Flow, Gump, Lion, & More
    Clip 4:03
    Ultimate Weeper Watchlist: Flow, Gump, Lion, & More

    Photos152

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    + 146
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    Top cast57

    Edit
    Roberto Benigni
    Roberto Benigni
    • Guido
    Nicoletta Braschi
    Nicoletta Braschi
    • Dora
    Giorgio Cantarini
    Giorgio Cantarini
    • Giosué
    Giustino Durano
    • Zio
    Sergio Bini Bustric
    • Ferruccio
    • (as Sergio Bustric)
    Marisa Paredes
    Marisa Paredes
    • Madre di Dora
    Horst Buchholz
    Horst Buchholz
    • Dottor Lessing
    • (as Horst Bucholz)
    Lidia Alfonsi
    Lidia Alfonsi
    • Guicciardini
    • (as Lydia Alfonsi)
    Giuliana Lojodice
    • Direttrice Didattica
    Amerigo Fontani
    Amerigo Fontani
    • Rodolfo
    Pietro De Silva
    • Bartolomeo
    Francesco Guzzo
    • Vittorino
    Raffaella Lebboroni
    • Elena
    Claudio Alfonsi
    • Amico Rodolfo
    Gil Baroni
    • Prefetto
    Massimo Bianchi
    • Uomo della chiave
    Jürgen Bohn
    • Attendente tedesco festa
    • (as Jurgen Bohn)
    Verena Buratti
    • Ausiliaria tedesca
    • Director
      • Roberto Benigni
    • Writers
      • Vincenzo Cerami
      • Roberto Benigni
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews1.5K

    8.6778.2K
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    Summary

    Reviewers say 'Life is Beautiful' is acclaimed for its poignant mix of humor and tragedy, highlighting love and hope during the Holocaust. Key themes include imagination, parental protection, and human resilience. Critics argue it romanticizes the Holocaust, lacks realism, and may be disrespectful. Some find it manipulative and sentimental, while others praise its emotional depth and performances, especially Roberto Benigni's. The film's comedic approach to tragedy is both celebrated and criticized, sparking debate on its handling of such a grave subject.
    AI-generated from the text of user reviews

    Featured reviews

    9Serpico-7

    A superb tragi-comedy

    Roberto Benigni's Vita e bella, is in many ways similar to Chaplin's Great Dictator. Both are comic attacks on fascism, but the former's is the more successful. Benigni initially accesses the emotions of his audience through simple comedy, which is a pleasant mix of Keaton and Chaplin. Romance ensues with his real life wife Nicoletta Braschi. The first half of this film has been seen by various critics as being inferior to the second, but this is certainly not the case. In the first section we follow the delightful romance that will eventually lead to marriage and the creation of the wonderful Giosue (Giorgio Cantarini).

    It is the first half where the audience can laugh the loudest and delight at the immense comedy talent of Benigni. Unlike so many films nowadays there is nothing crude or course, his is simple innocent humour, which is all the more effective. The way he ties together little strand in the film to create comedy elements shows a great writing ability, and a mastery of timing when it comes to their execution on screen. Various incidents related to the rise of anti-semitism and fascism in Italy show that there are sinister forces at work which come to the fore in the second segment.

    Guido (Benigni) moves events on from Tuscany in 1939 to the last year of the war in a concentration camp. In this period he and Dora (Braschi) have had their son Giosue (Cantanarini). The five year old greatly reminds me of Toto in Cinema Paradiso, and plays an equally important role in his prospective film (though in Paradiso's case it is at the beginning of the movie). The relationship between the two is very similar to that of Jackie Coogan and Charlie Chaplin (though Benigni, unlike Chaplin, keeps the best of the comedy moments). Guido attempts to keep from the boy the horrors of what is going on, and this eventually manifests itself as a game where the aim is to score 100 points, with the winner winning a real tank (which, of course appeals to the young boy). Comic moments are still present, that involving Guido's translation of the rules of the camp is particularly notable, but it becomes somewhat more difficult to laugh when we consider the gravity of what is going on.

    The emphasis begins shifts, and we realise that this is a film about human spirit above all else. Guido not only appeals to the audience due to his comedy and sheer pleasantness, but also in the way that he loves his family and the measures that he will go to to protect them.

    This is certainly no Schindler's List, but it never pretends to be. Occasionally events seem a little contrived, but this does seem to work in the film's favour. However, this film avoids the tendency of Hollywood to go far over the top in emotional and credibility terms.

    Benigni shines like a lantern throughout the picture, showing that he is a talent, not only in comedy terms, that far outshines his peers. Cantanari is a delight, and Braschi also plays her part well. There is even an appearance by The Magnificent Seven's Horst Buchholz as Doctor Lessing, a man who events change for the worse.

    Please don't let the fact that it, to all but the Italians, is a foreign language film. The language itself adds a beauty of form to the film, much as it did in the case of Il Postino. This has to be a certainty for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar, though something tells me that it will be overlooked for other awards as it is Italian and not a mainstream English language picture.

    Please see this film, and make up your own mind. It is appealing in so many different ways that I'm sure that you will not be disappointed.
    9Xstal

    Love is Beautiful...

    Emotional extremes abound, this story takes you round and around, elevating high, then smashing you down, your guiding light, an endearing clown.

    The essence of all that's right, that's wrong, a fathers love for his wife and son, to the thieves of liberty with power - and a gun; the worst of man, the world undone.
    Conservative-SNAG

    Courage Personified...10/10

    I can't understand how other reviewers see this as a film about the Nazis or the Holocaust. It's not!!! "Life is Beautiful" is a film about love, optimism, courage and inner strength.

    To be honest I can't get this film out of my thoughts and decided to write this brief review in the hope that I could move on.

    "Life is Beautiful" is an unforgettable film. You go through emotions you were surprised could have for a fictional film. The story, although totally implausible, is uplifting and depressing at the same time.

    Please see it for yourself. Have a box of tissues handy.

    Best film ever seen!!!
    10Anonymous_Maxine

    Funny, entertaining, and amazingly intense and dramatic.

    I find it sad that so many people are so narrow-minded that they will not watch a movie that is black and white or, in this case, is subtitled. I feel sorry for people who refuse to watch a movie like Life Is Beautiful just because it is a foreign film. They have no idea what a beautifully acted and directed film this is, and they'll never know what an amazing experience they are missing.

    Life Is Beautiful manages to walk the extremely thin line between humor, fantasy, and tragedy. Sure, the film is clearly comedic, but nevertheless it manages to very effectively communicate the tremendous losses suffered in the Nazi concentration camps and has scenes at least as intense as any scene in Schindler's List.

    This is one of the best films that I have ever seen. It manages to be so encompassing that you hardly notice the subtitles are even there. I proudly cast my vote of 10.
    10kvonarx

    The Best Movie I've seen for a long long time

    I am surprised about the negative comments that some people made on this web-page. I can see how some people might not experience the same kind of uplift or joy that most of us lived through when seeing the movie. But that some viewers felt insulted and betrayed because the movie did not depict "reality" as it really was or is, is not fair.

    I must concur with my fellow proponents of the movie -- it was a great and very satisfying movie. It provided me with something that everyone in one or another shape or form needs -- Hope. The movie showed the cruelty of life and yet managed to shed some light and insight into the beauty of love and life in general.

    I urge anyone who has not seen La Vita è bella to go out there and watch it. If we all take with us just little bit of that hope and love that this movie is trying to convey; this world would be a much better place.

    Thank you for reading this and I hope you enjoyed or will enjoy the movie as much as I did.

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Guido's wife, Dora, is played by Roberto Benigni's real-life wife, Nicoletta Braschi.
    • Goofs
      Dora calls her husband (Roberto Benigni) "Roberto" rather than "Guido" on one occasion.
    • Quotes

      Bartolomeo: They are looking for someone who speaks German, to translate their instructions.

      Guido: Me! I'll do it, I'll translate!

      Bartolomeo: Do you speak German?

      Guido: No.

    • Alternate versions
      The version shown at the Cannes festival in 1998 is slightly different from the original Italian theatrical release: some scenes have been slightly re-edited and a panel has been added at the beginning of the film, showing the phrase "This is a fairy tale", supposedly to avoid controversy over the subject matter.
    • Connections
      Featured in Siskel & Ebert: Godzilla/Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas/Bulworth/The Horse Whisperer (1998)
    • Soundtracks
      Marcia Reale
      (1831)

      Written by Giuseppe Gabetti (as G. Gabetti)

      Ed. Casa Musicale Pucci di Portici (Napoli)

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    FAQ21

    • How long is Life Is Beautiful?Powered by Alexa
    • What is the answer to Dr. Lessing's final riddle?
    • What does the German guard say?

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • December 20, 1997 (Italy)
    • Country of origin
      • Italy
    • Official sites
      • Miramax
      • Official Facebook
    • Languages
      • Italian
      • German
      • English
    • Also known as
      • La vida es bella
    • Filming locations
      • Arezzo, Tuscany, Italy
    • Production companies
      • Melampo Cinematografica
      • Cecchi Gori Group Tiger Cinematografica
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • ITL 15,000,000,000 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $57,563,264
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $118,920
      • Oct 25, 1998
    • Gross worldwide
      • $230,099,013
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 56 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Dolby Digital
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

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