Life Is Beautiful

This article is about the 1997 Italian lm. For other uses,
see Life Is Beautiful (disambiguation).
La vita bella redirects here. For other uses, see La
vita bella (disambiguation).

or literal, to Dora to assure her that he and their son are

safe. Eliseo is executed in a gas chamber shortly after
their arrival. Giosu barely avoids being gassed himself
as he hates to take baths and showers, and did not follow
the other children when they had been ordered to enter
the gas chambers.

Life Is Beautiful (Italian: La vita bella [la vita

bblla]) is a 1997 Italian comedy-drama lm directed by
and starring Roberto Benigni, who co-wrote the lm with
Vincenzo Cerami. Benigni plays Guido Orece, a Jewish
Italian book shop owner, who employs his fertile imagination to shield his son from the horrors of internment
in a Nazi concentration camp. The lm was partially inspired by the book In the End, I Beat Hitler by Rubino
Romeo Salmon and by Benignis father, who spent two
years in a German labour camp during World War II.

In the camp, Guido hides their true situation from his son.
Guido explains to Giosu that the camp is a complicated
game in which he must perform the tasks Guido gives
him. Each of the tasks will earn them points and whoever
gets to one thousand points rst will win a tank. He tells
him that if he cries, complains that he wants his mother,
or says that he is hungry, he will lose points, while quiet
boys who hide from the camp guards earn extra points.
Giosu is at times reluctant to go along with the game,
The lm was a critical and nancial success, despite crit- but Guido convinces him each time to continue on.
icisms of using the subject matter for comedic purposes. Guido maintains this story right until the end when, in
It won the Grand Prix at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival, the chaos of shutting down the camp as the Allied forces
nine David di Donatello Awards, including Best Film, in approach, he tells his son to stay in a box until everybody
Italy, and three Academy Awards, including Best Actor has left, this being the nal competition before the tank is
his. As the camp is in chaos Guido goes o to nd Dora,
for Benigni.
but while he is out he is caught by a German soldier. An
ocer makes the decision to execute Guido. Guido is led
o by the soldier to be executed. While he is walking
1 Plot
to his death, Guido passes by Giosu one last time, still
in character and playing the game. He winks at Giosu
In 1930 in the Kingdom of Italy, Guido Orece is a young and Giosu winks back as Guido is led away to be shot.
Jewish man who arrives to work in the city where his un- The next morning, Giosu emerges from the sweatbox,
cle Eliseo operates a restaurant. Guido is comical and just as a U.S. Army unit led by a Sherman tank arrives
sharp, and falls in love with a girl named Dora. Later, he and the camp is liberated. The prisoners travel to safety,
sees her again in the city where she is a teacher and set to accompanied by the Americans. Giosu soon spots Dora
be engaged to a rich but arrogant man, a local government in the procession leaving the camp. Giosu and Dora are
ocial with whom Guido has regular run-ins. Guido sets reunited, and as a man, Giosu realizes his fathers story
up many coincidental incidents to show his interest in of sacrice for his family.
Dora. Finally Dora sees Guidos aection and promise
and gives in against her better judgement. He steals her
from her engagement party on a horse, humiliating her anc and mother. By the year 1939 they are married and
have a son, Giosu, and a book store.

2 Cast
Roberto Benigni as Guido Orece

When World War II breaks out, Guido, his uncle, and

Giosu are seized on Giosu's birthday. They and
many other Jews are forced onto a train and taken to a
concentration camp. After confronting a guard about her
husband and son and being told there is no mistake, Dora
volunteers to get on the train in order to be close to her
family. However, as men and women are separated in
the camp, Dora and Guido never see each other during
the internment. Thus, Guido pulls o stunts, such as using the camps loudspeaker, to send messages, symbolic

Nicoletta Braschi as Dora

Giorgio Cantarini as Giosu
Giustino Durano as Uncle Eliseo
Horst Buchholz as Doctor Lessing
Marisa Paredes as Doras mother
Sergio Bustric as Ferruccio
1

5 RECEPTION
Amerigo Fontani as Rodolfo

Production

4 Release
In Italy, the lm was released in 1997 by Cecchi Gori
Distribuzione.[12] The lm was screened in the Cannes
Film Festival in May 1998, where it was a late addition to
the selection of lms.[13] In the U.S., it was released on
23 October 1998,[9] by Miramax Films.[14] In the U.K.,
it was released on 12 February 1999.[8]
The lm was aired on the Italian television station RAI
on 22 October 2001 and was viewed by 16 million people. This made it the most watched Italian lm on Italian
TV.[15]

5 Reception
5.1 Box oce
Life is Beautiful was commercially successful, making
$48.7 million in Italy.[16] It was the highest grossing Italian lm in its native country until 2011, when surpassed
The lm was shot in Arezzo, Tuscany, including by the Badia by Checco Zalone's What a Beautiful Day.[17]
delle Sante Flora e Lucilla.

The lm went on to gross $57,563,264 in North America and $171,600,000 in other territories, for a worldwide
Director Roberto Benigni, who wrote the screenplay with gross of $229,163,264.[3] It was the highest grossing forVincenzo Cerami, was inspired by the story of Rubino eign language lm in the United States until Crouching
Romeo Salmon and his book In the End, I Beat Hitler, Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000).[18]
which incorporates elements of irony and black comedy.[4] Salmoni was an Italian Jew who was deported to
Auschwitz, survived and was reunited with his parents, 5.2 Critical reception
but found his brothers were murdered. Benigni stated he
wished to commemorate Salmoni as a man who wished to The lm was praised by the Italian press, with Benigni
[10]
Pope John Paul II, who
live in the right way.[5] He also based the story on that of treated as a national hero.
received
a
private
screening
with
Benigni, placed it in
his father Luigi Benigni, who was a member of the Italian
[6] his top ve favourite lms.[10] Roger Ebert gave the lm
Army after Italy switched to the Allied side in 1943.
Luigi Benigni spent two years in a Nazi labour camp, and three and a half stars, stating, At Cannes, it oended
to avoid scaring his children, told about his experiences some left-wing critics with its use of humor in connechumourously, nding this helped him cope.[7] Roberto tion with the Holocaust. What may be most oensive to
Benigni explained his philosophy, to laugh and to cry both wings is its sidestepping of politics in favor of simple
comes from the same point of the soul, no? I'm a story- human ingenuity. The lm nds the right notes to nego[19]
Michael O'Sullivan,
teller: the crux of the matter is to reach beauty, poetry, it tiate its delicate subject matter.
The
Washington
Post,
called
it sad, funny and
writing
for
doesn't matter if that is comedy or tragedy. They're the
[20]
[8]
haunting.
Janet
Maslin
wrote
in
The
New York Times
same if you reach the beauty.
that the lm took a colossal amount of gall but beHis friends advised against making the lm, as he is a cause Mr. Benigni can be heart-rending without a trace
comedian and not Jewish, and the Holocaust was not of the maudlin, it works.[14] The Los Angeles Times's
of interest to his established audience.[9] Because he is Kenneth Turan noted the lm had some furious opGentile, Benigni consulted with the Center for Docu- position at Cannes, but said what is surprising about
mentation of Contemporary Judaism, based in Milan, this unlikely lm is that it succeeds as well as it does.
throughout production.[10] Benigni incorporated histori- Its sentiment is inescapable, but genuine poignancy and
cal inaccuracies in order to distinguish his story from the pathos are also present, and an overarching sincerity is
true Holocaust, which he said only documentaries inter- visible too.[21] David Rooney of Variety said the lm had
viewing survivors could provide the truth about.[8]
mixed results, with surprising depth and poignancy
The lm was shot in the centro storico (historic centre) of in Benignis performance but visually rather at camArezzo, Tuscany. The scene where Benigni falls o of a era work by Tonino Delli Colli.[12] Owen Glieberman
bicycle and lands on Nicoletta Braschi was shot in front of Entertainment Weekly gave it a B-, calling it undeof Badia delle Sante Flora e Lucilla in Arezzo.[11]
niably some sort of feat the rst feel-good Holocaust

6 Soundtrack
Main article: Life Is Beautiful (soundtrack)
The original score to the lm was composed by Nicola
Piovani, with the exception of a classical piece which
gures prominently: the "Barcarolle" by Jacques Oenbach. The soundtrack album won the Academy Award
for Best Original Dramatic Score and was nominated for a
Grammy Award: Best Instrumental Composition Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media, but lost to the score of A Bugs Life.

7 See also
List of submissions to the 71st Academy Awards for
Best Foreign Language Film
List of Italian submissions for the Academy Award
for Best Foreign Language Film

8 Further reading
Roberto Benigni received positive reviews for his lm and performance, which he starred in with his wife Nicoletta Braschi.

Grace Russo Bullaro, Beyond Life is Beautiful":

comedy and tragedy in the cinema of Roberto Benigni, Troubador Publishing Ltd, 2005, ISBN 1904744-83-4 / ISBN 978-1-904744-83-2

weepie. Its been a long time coming. However, Glieberman stated the aw is As shot, it looks like a game.[22]
In 2002, BBC critic Tom Dawson wrote the lm is presumably intended as a tribute to the powers of imagination, innocence, and love in the most harrowing of circumstances, but " Benignis sentimental fantasy diminishes the suering of Holocaust victims.[23] The lm aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes gave the lm a Fresh
80% rating.[24]

9 References
[1] "LA VITA E BELLA (LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL) (12A)".
Buena Vista International. British Board of Film Classication. 26 November 1998. Retrieved 23 August 2013.
[2] Box Oce Information for Life is Beautiful. The Wrap.
Retrieved 4 April 2013
[3] "Life is Beautiful, Box Oce Mojo URL accessed 11
September 2016.

5.3

Accolades

Life is Beautiful was shown at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival, and went on to win the Grand Prix.[25] Upon receiving the award, Benigni kissed the feet of jury president
Martin Scorsese.[21]
At the 71st Academy Awards, the lm won awards for
Best Music, Original Dramatic Score, and Best Foreign
Language Film, with Benigni winning Best Actor for
his role.[26] Benignis behaviour at the ceremony was regarded as memorable, as he jumped on top of the seats
as he made his way to the stage to accept his rst award,
and upon accepting his second, said, This is a terrible
mistake because I used up all my English.[27]

[4] Nick Squires, "Life Is Beautiful Nazi death camp survivor

dies aged 91, The Daily Telegraph, 11 July 2011, URL
accessed 11 September 2016.
[5] Stefania Paradiso, "E' morto Romeo Salmon: luomo che
ispir Benigni per La vita bella, Un Mondo di Italiani,
10 July 2011, URL accessed 11 September 2016.
[6] Martin F. Norden, ed., The Changing Face of Evil in Film
and Television, Rodopi, 2007, p. 146.
[7] Kerrie Piper, Life is Beautiful, Pascal Press, p. 12.
[8] Brian Logan, "Does this man really think the Holocaust
was a big joke?, The Guardian, 29 January 1999, URL
accessed 11 September 2016.

10

EXTERNAL LINKS

[9] Michael Okwu, "'Life Is Beautiful' through Roberto Benignis eyes, CNN, 23 October 1998, URL accessed 11
September 2016.

[30] David Lister, "Good night at Baftas for anyone called Elizabeth, The Independent, 11 April 1999, URL accessed
11 September 2016.

[10] Alan A. Stone, "Escape from Auschwitz, Boston Review,

1 April 1999, URL accessed 11 September 2016.

[31] "Csar du Meilleur lm tranger - Csar, AlloCin, URL

accessed 11 September 2016.

[11] Elizabeth Warkentin, "Life truly is beautiful in Tuscanys

underappreciated Arezzo, The Globe and Mail, 30 May
2016, URL accessed 12 September 2016.

[32] Paul Clinton, "Broadcast Film critics name 'Saving Private

Ryan' best lm, CNN, 26 January 1999, URL accessed
11 September 2016.

[12] David Rooney, "Review: Life Is Beautiful, Variety, 3

January 1998, URL accessed 12 September 2016.

[33] "La vita bella - Premi vinti: 9, David di Donatello, URL

accessed 11 September 2016.

[13] Piper, p. 11.

[34] "European Film Awards Winners 1998, European Film

Academy, URL accessed 11 September 2016.

[14] Janet Maslin, "Giving a Human (and Humorous) Face to

Rearing a Boy Under Fascism, The New York Times, 23
October 1998, URL accessed 11 September 2016.
[15] "Benigni, audience da record oltre 16 milioni di spettatori, La Repubblica 23 October 2001, URL accessed 11
September 2016.
[16] Alisa Perren, Indie, Inc.: Miramax and the Transformation of Hollywood in the 1990s, University of Texas Press,
2012, p. 274.
[17] "Checco Zalone supera Benigni, tgcom24.mediaset.it,
URL accessed 11 September 2016.
[18] "Foreign Language, Box Oce Mojo URL accessed 11
September 2016.
[19] Roger Ebert, "Life Is Beautiful, Rogerebert.com, 30 October 1998, URL accessed 11 September 2016.
[20] Michael O'Sullivan, "'Lifes' Surprisingly Graceful Turn,
The Washington Post, 30 October 1998, URL accessed 11
September 2016.
[21] Kenneth Turan, "The Improbable Success of 'Life Is
Beautiful', The Los Angeles Times, 23 October 1998,
URL accessed 12 September 2016.
[22] Owen Glieberman, "Life Is Beautiful, Entertainment
Weekly, 6 November 1998, URL accessed 12 September
2016.
[23] Tom Dawson, "La Vita Bella (Life is Beautiful) (1998),
BBC, 6 June 2002, URL accessed 12 September 2016.
[24] Life is Beautiful Rotten Tomatoes Retrieved 2010-12-28
[25] Festival de Cannes: Life is Beautiful.
cannes.com. Retrieved 1 October 2009.

festival-

[26] The 71st Academy Awards (1999) Nominees and Winners. oscars.org. Retrieved 20 October 2015.
[27] Bill Higgins, "How 'Life Is Beautifuls' Roberto Benigni
Stole the Oscars Show in 1999, The Hollywood Reporter,
24 February 2012, URL accessed 11 September 2016.
[28] Life is Beautiful The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and
Sciences Retrieved 28 December 2010
[29] "1999 Winners & Nominees, AACTA.org, URL accessed
11 September 2016.

[35] Nick Madigan, "SAG tells Benigni Life is beautiful,

Variety, 7 March 1999, URL accessed 11 September
2016.

10 External links
Ocial website
Life Is Beautiful at the Internet Movie Database
Life Is Beautiful at the TCM Movie Database
Life Is Beautiful at AllMovie
Life Is Beautiful at Box Oce Mojo
Life Is Beautiful at Metacritic
Life Is Beautiful at Rotten Tomatoes
Life Is Beautiful at the Arts & Faith Top 100 Spiritually Signicant Films list
Filming locations with real photos

11
11.1

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

Text

Life Is Beautiful Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_Is_Beautiful?oldid=742025624 Contributors: AxelBoldt, Bryan Derksen,

Andre Engels, Eclecticology, Zoe, Patrick, Kchishol1970, Isomorphic, Jahsonic, Liftarn, Gabbe, Chinju, Gaurav, Phoe6, Angela, Ineuw,
Conti, Dwo, JonMoore, DR J, Owen, Chuunen Baka, Robbot, Moncrief, Seglea, LGagnon, Mervyn, David Gerard, Michael2, Alerante, Dbenbenn, Rossrs, Factotum, Meursault2004, Lupin, Ds13, Varlaam, Zumbo, ZeroJanvier, Beland, Liberlogos, Venu62, Bender235, Czrisher, *drew, Cacophony, Bobo192, NetBot, Smalljim, Pharos, Arthena, Ricky81682, Melaen, Cburnett, Tony Sidaway,
Stephen, GVOLTT, Wafry, GregorB, Ashmoo, Niweed17, BD2412, Rjwilmsi, Nanami Kamimura, Hiberniantears, BlueMoonlet,
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Ntsimp, Vanished user 2340rujowierfj08234irjwfw4, Treybien, Bellerophon5685, Travelbird, Lugnuts, Odie5533, Demomoke, Ameliorate!, DBaba, BetacommandBot, Thijs!bot, Epbr123, TonyTheTiger, Deborahjay, Marek69, The Legendary Ranger, MachoCarioca, Callyope, RobotG, Efyoo, Jayron32, Vanjagenije, Q8-falcon, JimDunning, Aussiefastbowler, Andrzejbanas, PubliusFL, Panarjedde, .anacondabot, Easchi, Magioladitis, VoABot II, AtticusX, Nyttend, Steevm, Mkdw, HistoryBu2, APT, FMAFan1990, J.delanoy, Nev1,
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11.2

Images

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11.3

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