Directed by ----------------- Roberto Benigni 
Produced by ---------------- Elda Ferri, Gianluigi Braschi 
Line producer -------------- Mario Cotone 
Music by ------------------- Nicola Piovani 
Camera -------------------- Tonino Delli Colli 
Editor ---------------------- Simona Paggi 
Production Design by ------- Danilo Donati 
Costume Design by --------- Danilo Donati 
Screenplay by -------------- Vincenzo Cerami, Roberto Benigni 
MPAA Rated PG-13 
 

Comments

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The movie, "Life Is Beautiful", it tells the story of a man forced to face the mounting horror of World War II. Guido is in love with a school teacher Dora. Guido fights for her even though she is engaged to another man. Years later it is wartime and Guido is married to Dora and they have a son called Giosue. Guido is Jewish and is sent to a concentration camp where Giosue and Dora try to follow him. 

1999 71st Annual Academy Awards Winner 

Actor in a Lead Role Roberto Benigni as Guido in Life is Beautiful 
Original Dramatic Score Life is Beautiful Nicola Piovani 
Foreign Language Film Life is Beautiful Italy 

Related Items 
 

"Life Is Beautiful (La Vita E Bella): Original Motion Picture Soundtrack"  Nicola Piovani  Audio CD (October 20, 1998)  Emd/Virgin; ASIN: B00000DCES

Fan Comments 
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28 Apr - Life is Beautiful is the most wonderful movie I've seen. It has touched me in an incredible way. I never experienced the emotional devastation of the Holocaust in the way the Roberto made me feel it. He is certainly a genius and a very genuine human being. Viva Roberto! -- Cecilia

24 Apr - Just saw the most beautiful movie in my 57 years! Read the comment by others, and was struck by the last sentence in the last comment. Was this a true story? And was the boy Roberto? Thank you for your time 

21 Apr - I cry very easily. A 30 second commercial can set me off! I hate feeling manipulated, so I usually avoid "tear-jerkers" at all costs. However, because of several pre-Oscar interviews I had watched, I decided to take a chance on Life Is Beautiful. And... I have never been so amazed and overwhelmed by any other experience in my entire adult life. Even during the lighthearted moments, I sat with tears of laughter and grief running down my cheeks. At the end, though I couldn't read a word, I stayed through the credits, too weak to get up and walk out of the theater. Comedy, tragedy, political commentary, intense and passionate lovestory of a man for a woman, and a father for his son, all of these describe Life Is Beautiful, yet none can fully explain it. A friend commented after the Oscars that she was getting tired of Roberto Benigni's "clowning", yet when I asked her if she had seen the movie, she said she had not. All I could tell her was to see it, and begin to understand the brilliance that was created by that "clown". 

2 Apr - This movie has moved me so incredibly... I am the most impartial person I know, always riding the fence, refusing to name favorites. Life is Beautiful is now easily my favorite movie of all time. I am afraid it will leave the theaters soon, and that I'll never find it on video. -- Sara 

2 Apr - To see the absolute brilliance of Roberto Benigni, plus an inspirational story, is more than worth the $7 at the theater. This film is priceless and should become a classic. I just hope that Benigni continues to touch people so much through his strong character and motion picture works of art. I hope that all of his films are eventually released in America; his works and his personality are like a priceless and indestructible gem in Hollywood's crown of glory. 

27 Mar - I am one who never cries at the movies.  Saw all the 'tearjerkers' - Titanic, The English Patient, etc. When I saw Life is Beautiful, I did not cry throughout the whole film. Finally, the credits started to roll, the lights came on and everyone in the theatre started to leave.  In a matter of seconds, I felt a wave of something come over me and I began to sob.  Not a few tears, I truly sobbed like a child. 

I think being from an Italian family, the film must have hit a nerve of some sort, because no movie has ever done that to me before. Bravo to Roberto Benigni for touching something in me that no film maker has ever done. I will purchase it on home video when available. Mr. S. M. 

23 Mar - This has got to be one of the most wonderful movies that I have seen in the past several years. As soon as I walked out of the theatre, I said to me myself that when this movie comes out on video, I will buy it because if I ever lose my humanity, I will watch it again. The acting was absolutely superb. We don't make movies that good here in the USA. I was very pleased that it received the BEST Foreign movie and that Roberto won BEST ACTOR awards. I recommend that you take a large box of tissues with you. Subtitle nuisance disappeared after 10 minutes. I would rate it an AAA+++. By the way, the last sentence of your description was wrong. The boy was taken with the Father. Dora then insisted that she be put on the train also to be with them both. 

I did not know that Roberto was the child in the movie and that he played his Father. He used humor and games to save his boy's life in the concentration camp. 

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