Vote on this title

Do these genes fit this title?
Click on a gene to vote or discover related titles.

Does this gene fit Life Is Beautiful?

See more like Life Is Beautiful

See even more

Overview

Watch it:

Find it on:

	Twitter
	IMDb
	Rotten Tomatoes

Life Is Beautiful, 1997

Starring: Roberto Benigni, Nicoletta Braschi

Directed by: Roberto Benigni

Written by: Roberto Benigni

Language: Italian, German, English

Country: Italy

Runtime: 116 min

MPAA Rating: PG_13

Rating:8.5

Watch it

More like it

Wish List

Favorites

Profile of Life Is Beautiful

The mood of Life Is Beautiful is bittersweet, emotional, and sentimental. The plot centers around the Holocaust, captivity, and a conspiracy against humanity. It is a drama, foreign, and comedy movie. In approach, Life Is Beautiful is realistic. It takes place, at least partly, in a ghetto and in a concentration camp. The setting is Italy. Life Is Beautiful happens during World War 2. The movie is known for being original, a modern classic, and a Cannes festival winner. Note that it includes violent content.

Summary of Life Is Beautiful

Conjuring keys and hats out of thin air, Guido (Roberto Benigni), a clever Jewish-Italian waiter, successfully courts Dora (Nicoletta Braschi), a beautiful local woman, in Fascist pre-WWII Italy. His life, however, is turned upside down a few years later when he, Dora, and their young son, Giosué (Giorgio Cantarini), are sent to a Nazi concentration camp. Refusing to give up hope, Guido tries to protect his son's innocence by pretending that their imprisonment is just an elaborate game, with the grand prize being a tank.

For years the box-office champ in Italy and the country's most beloved slapstick comic, the Chaplinesque Benigni took a huge risk with LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL. Many people worried that the film would be as offensive as plopping a cartoon character in Auschwitz. (A similar work--THE DAY THE CLOWN CRIED, a Jerry Lewis film about a comedian in a concentration camp--turned out to be a disaster two decades earlier.) Although LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL did provoke some controversy, many people found the film to be a poignant, tragicomic story that profoundly reaffirmed the humanity of concentration camp victims. The film became the highest grossing foreign language film in the U.S. and established Benigni as an international star.

Details

Language:	Italian, German, English
Country:	Italy
Release date:	22 October 1998
Runtime:	116 min
Awards:	Cannes,Academy Awards

Awards

Roberto Benigni for Best Actor at the 1998 Academy Awards

Awarded Best Foreign Language Film at the 1998 Academy Awards

Nicola Piovani for Best Original Score at the 1998 Academy Awards

Awarded Jury Prize at the 1998 Cannes

Cast and Crew See all

Roberto Benigni

as Guido Orefice

Nicoletta Braschi

as Dora

Photos See all

Life Is Beautiful (1997)

Clips See all

Life Is Beautiful: Trailer

Critics Reviews See all

USA Today

To see someone even attempt bittersweet treatment of this subject is surprising, but to largely pull it off is a major feat. Full Review

|
by: Mike Clark

The Onion (A.V. Club)

The concept is not so much nihilistic as it is realistic, and the fact that Benigni has made such fine distinctions so powerfully clear is amazing and moving. Full Review

|
by: Joshua Klein

Users Reviews See all

snif... ^^

Une petite merveille d'émotion. La version française est épatante. A VOIR ABSOLUMENT Read and rate it

28.March.2011
|
by: Yoann
Yoann rated this movie10/10Must See

If you make a movie about the Holocaust, it will be grim; genocide as a central theme makes that inevitable. What distinguishes this film is that it is a delightful comedic piece, whose tone darkens as anti-Semitism closes in on the central... Read and rate it

21.September.2010
|
by: dmburke
dmburke rated this movie0/10

Jinni is more fun with friends!

To:

OR add contacts from a webmail or network:

Email:

Password:

Never saved or shared

These people could join your Movie Circle on Jinni!

Select all

Add a personal message or stick with ours:

Success! Invites sent.

Likely to see

Not for me

You

Your Feedback

Us

Help

Jinni is best for now in Firefox, Internet Explorer 7 and 8, and Chrome