Life is beautiful

By Andrea Bertrán & Irene Monferrer

“LA VITA È BELLA” (Life is beautiful) is an Italian film from 1998. The story takes place in 1939. It explains Guido Orefice life’s. He is a good man who lives in the pre-fascist Italy and dreams of owning his own bookstore. One day he meets Dora, a young teacher and he falls in love with her. When he gets his love, they get married, they have a son and they start up a bookstore. They have a happy life. This film also has an horrible part that comes when he is deported to a concentration camp with his son, his wife and his uncle. There they suffer, separately, the war.

There, his uncle died. And he invented a game to save the life of his child. This consisted that they were competitors of a game show, and if they won, the prize would be a “tank”. But this game isn’t easy!

His son, Joshua had to be hidden, so the Germans (the Nazis) couldn’t kill him and he hid until his father arrived. And he gave food to him.

Guido had to do hard labor and if he wasn’t in form, they would kill him.

Her wife was with the other ladies. They were responsible for taking away the clothes of the dead people.

The points were adding to get the thousand to get the tank.

And the war was finishing.

Finally the war was over, the Germans lost. Guido told his son that he didn’t go out of his hiding for nothing, until he arrived or until he didn’t hear any noise.

Guido died, for saving the life of his son, latter Josuah and Dora (his mother) met.

Joshua was the winner, he got the thousand points, and then the prize, the tank…

The story is told by Joshua when he is older.

ORIGINAL TITLE: La vita è bella
YEAR: 1998
DURATION: 117 min.
COUNTRY: Italy
DIRECTOR: Roberto Benigni
SCREENWRITER: Roberto Benigni & Vincenzo Cerami
MUSIC: Nicola Piovani
PHOTO: Tonino Delli Colli

AWARDS

This film was winner of over 40 international awards including 3 Oscars:

-Best Film Award of European cinema, London, 1998.
-Jury Prize at Cannes in 1998.
-Audience award at the International Film Festival in Athens in 1998.
-Audience award at the International Film Festival in Warsaw in 1998.
-Award for most popular film at the International Film Festival Vancouver in 1998.
-Prize of the Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists Best Actor, Best Director

-Original Story and Best Screenplay in 1998.César Award for Best Foreign Film in 1999.

-Goya Award for Best Foreign Film in 1999.
-German Film Award for best foreign film in 1999.
-Award of the Australian Film Institute Best Foreign Film in 1999.
-Oscar for best actor, best foreign film and best original music in 1998.