Life Is Beautiful (1997)

When an open-minded Jewish librarian 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 (story by), Roberto Benigni (story by)

Stars:

Roberto Benigni, Nicoletta Braschi, Giorgio Cantarini

Top Rated Movies #21 | Won 3 Oscars. Another 69 wins & 52 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Roberto Benigni	...	Guido
Nicoletta Braschi	...	Dora
Giorgio Cantarini	...	Giosué
Giustino Durano	...	Zio
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)
Giuliana Lojodice	...	Direttrice Didattica
Amerigo Fontani	...	Rodolfo
Pietro De Silva	...	Bartolomeo
Francesco Guzzo	...	Vittorino
Raffaella Lebboroni	...	Elena
Claudio Alfonsi	...	Amico Rodolfo
Gil Baroni	...	Prefetto

Storyline

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.

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Plot Keywords:

jewish | world war two | nazi occupation | tank | holocaust | 

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Taglines:

An unforgettable fable that proves love, family and imagination conquer all. (Canadian one sheet)

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance | War

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for holocaust-related thematic elements

Did You Know?

Trivia

In Italian, the answer to the "Snow White" riddle is seven "minuti" - a play on words between "minutes" and "dwarves".

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Goofs

Just before Guido is caught by the spotlight at the end of the movie, a woman belonging to the group of Jews being deported smiles to the camera.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Giosué Orefice: [narrating as an adult] This is a simple story... but not an easy one to tell.

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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.

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Connections

Featured in At the Movies: Message in a Bottle/My Favorite Martian/Children of Heaven/Blast from the Past/God Said, 'Ha!' (1999)

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Soundtracks

Marcia Reale
(1831)
Written by Giuseppe Gabetti (as G. Gabetti)
Ed. Casa Musicale Pucci di Portici (Napoli)

User Reviews

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.

Details

Official Sites:

Miramax Official Facebook

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian German English

Release Date:

20 December 1997 (Italy)

Also Known As:

Life Is Beautiful

Filming Locations:

Ronciglione, Viterbo, Lazio, Italy

Box Office

Budget:

$20,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$118,920, 25 October 1998

Gross USA:

$57,563,264

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$230,098,753

Company Credits

Production Co:

Melampo Cinematografica, Cecchi Gori Group Tiger Cinematografica

Technical Specs

Runtime:

116 min 122 min (first release)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1