Plot
A touching story of an Italian book seller of Jewish ancestry who lives in his own little fairy tale. His creative and happy life would come to an abrupt halt when his entire family is deported to a concentration camp during World War II. While locked up he tries to convince his son that the whole thing is just a game.
Cast
as Guido
as Dora
as Giosué
as Zio
as Ferruccio
as Dora's Mother
as Doctor Lessing
as Mrs. Guicciardini
as School Principal
as Rodolfo
Gallery
Reviews
The first half of the screenplay is better than the second and in particular the weak ending which is very commercial Oscar material. However, there is Benigni, who is an old school visual comedian, and some of his antics are a delight. The period setting details are also well done.
'Life Is Beautiful' is certainly beautiful (in a sense), but is acutely haunting too. You can see where the film is heading from pretty much the get-go, though that only strengthens the grip that the film had on my mind. Evidently, it's an outstanding piece of filmmaking. I've, of course, seen plenty of flicks that feature this particular historical event, but I gotta say this one had…
