Life Is Beautiful Poster 11" x 17"

Alternative Title(s)

"La Vita Bella"

Directed By

Roberto Benigni

Producer(s)

Gianluigi Braschi, Mario Cotone, John M. Davis, Elda Ferri, Agnès Mentre, John Rogers, Miramax Films Elda Ferri Gianluigi Braschi

Cast

Roberto Benigni, Nicoletta Braschi, Giustino Durano, Sergio Bustric, Horst Buchholz, Giorgio Cantarini, Marisa Paredes, Lidia Alfonsi, Giuliana Lojodice

About the Film

Benigni's Guido is so intent on believing that life is--and should be--beautiful, he goes to great lengths to ensure that vision for his wife and, particularly, his son. The first half of the movie is an amusing boy-meets-girl story, Italian-comedy style, with Benigni chasing and winning his real-life wife, actress Braschi. The second half shifts to the concentration camp where Guido, his son, and--because she would not be parted from him--his wife are imprisoned. Guido fabricates an elaborate game to convince his son that the whole ordeal--the "trip"--is an endurance test to be won, with prizes forthcoming. In a particularly humorous scene, Guido "translates" a guard's barking at the prisoners as further clarification of the "rules" of the game. If the movie depicts the horrors of the concentration camps as less than horrifying, it should be forgiven; Benigni's focus is on the love between father, son, and wife.