| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Roberto Benigni | ... | Guido | |
| Nicoletta Braschi | ... | Dora | |
| Giorgio Cantarini | ... | Giosué | |
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Giustino Durano | ... | Zio |
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Sergio Bini Bustric | ... | Ferruccio (as Sergio Bustric) |
| Marisa Paredes | ... | Madre di Dora | |
| Horst Buchholz | ... | Dottor Lessing (as Horst Bucholz) | |
| Lidia Alfonsi | ... | Guicciardini (as Lydia Alfonsi) | |
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Giuliana Lojodice | ... | Direttrice Didattica |
| Amerigo Fontani | ... | Rodolfo | |
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Pietro De Silva | ... | Bartolomeo |
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Francesco Guzzo | ... | Vittorino |
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Raffaella Lebboroni | ... | Elena |
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Claudio Alfonsi | ... | Amico Rodolfo |
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Gil Baroni | ... | Prefetto |
In 1930s Italy, a carefree Jewish book keeper named Guido starts a fairy tale life by courting and marrying a lovely woman from a nearby city. Guido and his wife have a son and live happily together until the occupation of Italy by German forces. In an attempt to hold his family together and help his son survive the horrors of a Jewish Concentration Camp, Guido imagines that the Holocaust is a game and that the grand prize for winning is a tank. Written by Anthony Hughes <husnock31@hotmail.com>
Life Is Beautiful takes the premise that love and hope can survive the most trying of conditions, in this case a Nazi concentration camp. Most everyone knows this very popular and honored film, so I won't belabor the story. Briefly, in my humble opinion, this film deserves all the accolades it's been awarded. A near perfect film, my only gripe is that Mr. Benigni's performance could have been more understated, especially the half of the film that's set in the concentration camp. But this is only a slight complaint. For a joyful, life-affirming movie, Life Is Beautiful is tops. But be forewarned, as its principal backdrop of anti-Semitism and Nazi murder, it is not a very happy movie.