Life Is Beautiful

Director: Roberto Benigni

Overview

In this WW II tragicomedy, famed Italian funnyman Roberto Benigni (The Monster) portrays Guido, who moves during the '30s from the country to a Tuscan town, where he is entranced by schoolteacher Dora (Nicoletta Braschi, Benigni's real-life wife). Dora likes Guido, but she remains faithful to her pompous fianc?, so Guido has an uphill struggle. Meanwhile, anti-Semitic attitudes lead to attacks against Guido's Jewish uncle (Giustino Durano). Leaping ahead to five years later, during WW II, Guido and Dora are married and have a son Giosue (Giorgio Cantarini). After they are imprisoned in a concentration camp, Guido goes to elaborate lengths to keep his son from understanding the truth of their situation. He tells the boy that they are competing with others to win an armored tank -- so everything from food shortages to tattoos is explained as necessary for participation in the contest.

Product Details

Release Date:	04/19/2011
UPC:	0031398137726
Original Release:	1997
Source:	Miramax Lionsgate
Region Code:	1
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[stereo, Dolby Digital]
Language:	English
Time:	1:56:00
Sales rank:	7,409

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Roberto Benigni	Guido Orefice
Nicoletta Braschi	Dora
Giorgio Cantarini	Giosue
Giustino Durano	Wujek Eliseo,Actor
Sergio Bustric	Ferrucio Orefice
Marisa Paredes	Matka Dory
Horst Buchholz	Lessing
Lydia Alfonsi	Guicciardini,Actor,Guicciardini
Amerigo Fontani	Rodolfo
Pietro De Silva	Bartolomeo
Francesco Guzzo	Vittorino
Raffaella Lebboroni	Elena
Nino Prester	Bruno
Giuliana Lojodice	Headmistress
Andrea Nardi	Actor
Franco Mescolini	Actor
Giovanna Villa	Actor
Hannes Hellmann	Actor
Richard Sammel	Actor
Giancarlo Cosentino	Actor
Carlotta Mangione	Actor
Gina Rovere	Actor
Francesca Messinese	Actor
Gil Baroni	Actor
Massimo Salvianti	Actor
Alessandra Grassi	Actor
Sergio Bini Bustric	Ferruccio Papini
Massimo Bianchi	Actor
Ennio Consalvi	General Graziosi
J?rgen Bohn	German Orderly at Party
Verena Buratti	German Auxilliary
Robert Cameron	German Executioner
Aaron Craig	U.S. Tank Soldier
Alfiero Falomi	King
Daniela Fedke	German Auxilliary
Antonio Fommei	School Janitor
Nicola Piovani	Composer

Technical Credits

Roberto Benigni

Vincenzo Cerami

Roberto Benigni	Screenwriter
Vincenzo Cerami	Screenwriter
Gianluigi Braschi	Producer
Elda Ferri	Producer
Mario Cotone	Executive Producer
Shaila Rubin	Casting
Tullio Morganti	Sound/Sound Designer

Scene Index

Side #1
0. Chapter Selection
1. Program Start [:14]
2. "Good Morning, Princess!" [:12]
3. "We're In The City!" [3:31]
4. A Great Escape [3:31]
5. The New Waiter [1:42]
6. "Schopenhauer Willpower" [3:35]
7. "When I Suddenly Appear" [1:35]
8. "A Light Meal" [:27]
9. "The Superior Race" [2:12]
10. "Turn Around" [1:41]
11. Stealing The Princess [1:28]
12. Signs From Heaven [2:54]
13. The Jewish Horse [1:04]
14. A Wedding Announcement [4:37]
15. Two Became Three [2:26]
16. Grandma [5:05]
17. The Birthday Party [3:03]
18. "Where Are We Going?" [:50]
19. First Prize [3:07]
20. Learning The Rules [5:35]
21. The First Day [2:08]
22. The Showers [3:36]
23. The Doctor [2:54]
24. "Buttons & Soap" [2:04]
25. "For Life" [5:50]
26. "The Journey That Had To Be" [3:30]
27. End Credits [3:58]

Menu

Side #1
Set Up
Spoken Languages
Captions & Subtitles
Bonus Material
Theatrical Trailer
Making Life Beautiful (featurette)
Tv Spots
Film Recommendations
Play

Editorial Reviews

Life is Beautiful caused more than a little controversy when it was released: any attempt to make comedy out of the Holocaust is going to inspire strong reactions from critics and audience members. Love it or loathe it, Life is Beautiful inarguably made an international star out of Italian comedian Roberto Benigni, who wrote, directed, and starred in it. One of his country's most celebrated comedians, Benigni was previously known for his work in numerous Italian comedies, as well as Johnny Stecchino and Jim Jarmusch's Down By Law and Night on Earth. Life is Beautiful's Grand Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival, followed by Benigni's Best Actor Oscar and acceptance speech (in exuberant, skillfully broken English), made Benigni possibly Italy's most famous export since the Fiat. Although some viewers found the film's second half, set almost entirely in a concentration camp, to be well-meaning but misguided, the film's first half is indisputably enjoyable. Revolving around the courtship of an aristocratic lady nicknamed the Principessa by Benigni's Guido, it makes a refreshing, elegantly hilarious love story. Somewhat ironically, the film's wittiest and most accurate commentary on fascism and religious oppression is contained here, rather than in the concentration camp setting. Benigni's comedy here becomes a tool for side-splitting yet razor-sharp criticism, and this first section powerfully establishes the reality of everyday life disrupted by the war.