La vita è bella (1997)
Director:
Roberto Benigni
Tagline:
« An unforgettable fable that proves love, family and imagination conquer all. (Canadian one sheet) »
Actors:
Guido
Dora
Giosué
Zio
Ferruccio
Rating:
(817’545 votes)
(817’545 votes)
Quotes:
« Bartolomeo: They are looking for someone who speaks German, to translate their instructions.
»
« Guido: Me! I'll do it, I'll translate!
»
« Bartolomeo: Do you speak German?
»
« Guido: No.
»
« Guido: What are your political views?
»
« Tappezziere: [speaking to his two sons] Benito, Adolf! Sit down! Sorry Guido, what did you say?
»
« Guido: Buon giorno, Principessa!
»
Trailer:
Trailer originale italiano [OV]
Runtime:116 minutes
Plots:
When an open-minded Jewish waiter and his son become victims of the Holocaust, he uses a perfect mixture of will, humor and imagination to protect his son from the dangers around their camp.
In 1930s Italy, a carefree Jewish waiter-turned-bookseller named Guido starts a fairy tale life by courting and marrying a lovely woman teacher named Dora. Guido and Dora have a son named Joshua and live happily together until the forced deportation of the town’s Jewish population in cattle cars. Dora, while not required to be deported, volunteers to leave with her family, and they are all forced to live in a concentration camp. In an attempt to hold his family together and help his son survive the horrors of a concentration camp, Guido imagines that the Holocaust is a game and that the grand prize for winning is a tank.
In 1939, Jewish-Italian Guido Orefice comes into Arezzo, Italy, ultimately to open a book store. In the meantime, he will work as a waiter at the hotel restaurant where his Uncle Eliseo is the maître d’. In town, he meets a school teacher named Dora, who he calls Princess and who comes from a wealthy Italian family. For him, it’s love at first sight. Despite she already being in a relationship with another man, Guido ultimately sweeps her off her feet. They get married and have a son they name Giosué. On Giosué’s fifth birthday, World War II is in full force. Since they are Jewish, the Germans take away Guido, Eliseo and Giosué to a labor camp. Wanting to be with her family, Dora insists she be taken too, but she is housed in the women’s side of the camp. To protect Giosué from the horror of what is happening to them, Guido tells him that they are playing a game, certain actions which garner points, other actions which take points away or disqualify one from the game. The first to reach 1,000 points wins the prize of a real tank. Guido’s primary goal is to keep Giosué safe at all cost, while he tries to figure out a way to get his family out of the camp and keep the Germans at bay from learning what he is doing with Giosué.
