Life is Beautiful

Life Is Beautiful (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Director: Roberto Benigni

Cast: Roberto Benigni, Nicoletta Braschi, Giorgio Cantarini

Life is beautiful is an Italian movie Acted , co-written and directed by Roberto Benigni.Usually Foreign language films  has an opportunity to get a spot for the Oscars through the Best foreign language film category. But few extraordinary films has an exception in which they can be nominated in other major categories for the Academy Awards, in which again very few won on those and Life is Beautiful is one such.The move is set before and after the World War II period.

Guido Orefice(Roberto Benigni) is an Italian Jew who has charismatic character and a funny young man.He fell in love with an upper class non-Jewish girl Dora(Nicoletta Braschi) and marries her.Both were real couples in Off-screen too.Dora’s family opposes their marriage.Dora stays away from her family and leads a happy life.Soon they have their son Giosuè (Giorgio Cantarini) and Dora later rejoins with her family on her son’s fourth birth day.All goes in happy and peaceful way until the family faces tough time when the World war II begins.As Jewish Guido and Giosuè have to onboard the train which leads to the concentration camp.Rather being an non-Jewish Dora too wants to onboard the train and joins with her family.Guido’s family have to face tougher times as men and women were separated in the concentration camp.

Guido wants his son Giosuè not to get affected by the current situation, so he doesn’t show any unhappy symptoms on his son.He plans and explains his son that all people came to this place to play a game.And the first person to get 1000 points is the winner who gets a Tanker.Guido also warns his son that if he asks for his mother or asks for more food the points will get reduced and the quite boys who hides from the camp guards will gain more points.Guido’s cleverer moves on each situation makes Giosuè feel as if it’s a game.Towards the end one night Guido asks his son to hide on a sweatbox in order to search for his wife as the American forces were advanced.Unfortunately Guido was caught by the security guards and been shot dead.Without knowing what happened to his dad Giosuè waits inside the box until next morning and comes out.Giosuè saw an American Tanker which headed towards him on the street.Giosuè assumes that he won the game.He was then taken by the American soldiers in the tank and while they travel on the roadside Giosuè suddenly saw his mother on another side and happily rejoins with her.

Movies towards the end  is very hard.You can just feel it.Life is beautiful has been narrated and acted extremely well by Roberto Benigni which won him an Oscar for his performance.Eventhough there are number of  World War II periodic films been there, very few can impact the audience with the harder times our past generations have came across and Life is beautiful  is one such really beautiful film though it’s hard to digest.

Awards:

1999 Academy Awards:

Best Actor (Roberto Benigni)

Best Orignal Music

Best Foreign language film (Italy)

1998 Cannes film festival

Grand Prize of the Jury