Life Is Beautiful

8.5

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Original title: La vita è bella
Year: 1997
Running time: 117 min.
Country: Italy
Director: Roberto Benigni
Screenwriter: Roberto Benigni, Vincenzo Cerami
Music: Nicola Piovani
Cinematography: Tonino Delli Colli
Cast: Roberto Benigni, Nicoletta Braschi, Giorgio Cantarini, Marisa Paredes, Giustino Durano, Horst Buchholz, Sergio Bini Bustric
Producer: Melampo Cinematografica, Cecchi Gori Group Tiger Cinematografica. Distributor: Miramax
Genre: Comedy. Drama | Comedy-Drama. Nazism. Holocaust. II World War. 1930s. 1940s
Synopsis / Plot: Guido - a charming but bumbling waiter who's gifted with a colourful imagination and an irresistible sense of humour - has won the heart of the woman he loves and has created a beautiful life for his young family. But then, that life is threatened by World War II and Guido must rely on those very same strengths to save his beloved wife and son from an unthinkable fate.

Awards: 1998: 3 Academy Awards: Best Actor (Benigni), Foreign Language Film, Score. 7 Nom.

1998: BAFTA Awards: Best Actor (Roberto Benigni). 3 Nominations

1998: Cannes Film Festival: Jury Special Prize

1998: National Board of Review: Special Award (Benigni)

1998: European Film Awards: Best Film & Actor (Benigni)

1998: Toronto Film Festival: Audience Award - Best Movie, Award to Roberto Benigni

Show 11 more awards

1998: Critics' Choice Awards: Best Foreign Language Film. 2 Nominations

1998: Cesar Awards: Best Foreign Language Picture

1997: 8 David di Donatello Awards, including Best Film & Director. 12 Nom.

1998: Producers Guild Awards (PGA): Nominated for Best Film

1998: Directors Guild of America (DGA): Nominated for Best Director

1998: Screen Actors Guild (SAG): Best Actor (Benigni). 2 Nominations

1998: Chicago Film Critics Awards: Best Foreign Language Film. 3 Nom.

1998: Boston Society of Film Critics Awards: 2 Nominations, including Best Director

1998: Montreal Film Festival: Audience Award

1999: British Independent Film Awards (BIFA): Nom. Best Int. Ind. Film - Foreign Language

1999: Goya Awards: Best European Film

Critics' reviews

"In the real death camps there would be no role for Guido. But Life Is Beautiful is not about Nazis and Fascists, but about the human spirit (...) Rating: ★★★½ (out of four)"

Roger Ebert: Chicago Sun-Times
"[It] dares to laugh in the face of the unthinkable (...) an unpretentious, enormously likable film that plays with history both seriously and mischievously"

Janet Maslin: The New York Times
"The first feel-good Holocaust weepie"

Owen Gleiberman: Entertainment Weekly
"There's a patent phoniness to the proceedings that subverts the entire point of the movie."

CNN
"Sluggish, uneven and lacking in rhythm, it nonetheless has enough pathos and winning humor"

David Rooney: Variety
"'Life Is Beautiful' brilliantly captures the inherent weirdness of sheer evil by making the viewer laugh in the midst of terror."

AV Club
"[It] remains a deeply problematic contribution to the growing body of films about the Holocaust (...) the line between endearing and irksome is a fine one (…) Rating: ★★ (out of 5)"

BBC
"[Benigni] creates the kind of tragi-comic hero you can't help but end up rooting for (…) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 5)"

Caroline Westbrook: Empire

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