Life Is Beautiful (1997)
Coming Out at 20 December 1997 in theaters.
“La vita è bella”
Comedy, Drama, Romance
Life Is Beautiful is comedy drama film directed by Roberto Benigni, and written by Roberto Benigni & Vincenzo Cerami. The film stars Roberto Benigni, Nicoletta Braschi, Giorgio Cantarini, Giustino Durano, Sergio Bini Bustric, Marisa Paredes and Horst Buchholz.
In this WWII tragicomedy, famed Italian funnyman Roberto Benigni portrays Guido, who moves during the ’30s from the country to a Tuscan town, where he is entranced by schoolteacher Dora (Nicoletta Braschi). Dora likes Guido, but she remains faithful to her pompous fiancé, so Guido has an uphill struggle. Meanwhile, anti-Semitic attitudes lead to attacks against Guido’s Jewish uncle (Giustino Durano). Leaping ahead to five years later, during WW II, Guido and Dora are married and have a son Giosue (Giorgio Cantarini). After they are imprisoned in a concentration camp, Guido goes to elaborate lengths to keep his son from understanding the truth of their situation. He tells the boy that they are competing with others to win an armored tank — so everything from food shortages to tattoos is explained as necessary for participation in the contest.
Director: Roberto Benigni
Writer: Roberto Benigni, Vincenzo Cerami
Stars: Roberto Benigni, Nicoletta Braschi, Giorgio Cantarini, Giustino Durano, Sergio Bini Bustric, Marisa Paredes, Horst Buchholz
►Cast
| Roberto Benigni | ► | Guido |
| Nicoletta Braschi | ► | Dora |
| Giorgio Cantarini | ► | Giosué |
| Giustino Durano | ► | Zio |
| Sergio Bini Bustric | ► | Ferruccio |
| Marisa Paredes | ► | Madre di Dora |
| Horst Buchholz | ► | Dottor Lessin |
| Lidia Alfonsi | ► | Guicciardini |
| Giuliana Lojodice | ► | Direttrice Didattica |
| Amerigo Fontani | ► | Rodolfo |
| Pietro De Silva | ► | Bartolomeo |
| Francesco Guzzo | ► | Vittorino |
| Raffaella Lebboroni | ► | Elena |
| Claudio Alfonsi | ► | Amico Rodolfo |
| Gil Baroni | ► | Prefetto |
| Massimo Bianchi | ► | Uomo della chiave |
| Jürgen Bohn | ► | Attendente tedesco festa |
| Verena Buratti | ► | Ausiliaria tedesca |
| Robert Camero | ► | Soldato tedesco fucilazione |
| Ennio Consalvi | ► | Generale Graziosi |
| Giancarlo Cosentino | ► | Cameriere Ernesto |
| Aaron Craig | ► | Carrista USA |
| Alfiero Falomi | ► | Re |
| Daniela Fedke | ► | Ausiliaria tedesca |
| Antonio Fommei | ► | Bidello scuola |
| Stefano Frangipani | ► | Giocatore |
| Ernst Frowein Holger | ► | Sergente tedesco |
| Alessandra Grassi | ► | Maestra |
| Hannes Hellmann | ► | Caporale tedesco |
| Wolfgang Hillinger | ► | Maggiore tedesco festa |
| Margarita Lucia Krauss | ► | Soldatessa cena bambini |
| Patrizia Lazzarini | ► | 1ª Signora Grand Hotel |
| Maria Letizia | ► | 2ª Signora Grand Hotel |
| Concetta Lombardo | ► | Gigliola |
| Maria Rita Macellari | ► | Regina |
| Carlotta Mangione | ► | Eleonora |
| Franco Mescolini | ► | Ispettore Pubblica Istruzione |
| Francesca Messinese | ► | Signora Opera |
| Angel Alise Middelthon | ► | Ausiliaria tedesca |
| Andrea Nardi | ► | Tappezziere |
| Günther Pfanzelter | ► | Soldato tedesco |
| Cristiana Porchiella | ► | Maestra zitella |
| Antonio Prester | ► | Bruno |
| Gina Rovere | ► | Governante Dora |
| Laura Susanne Ruedeberg | ► | Ausiliaria tedesca |
| Massimo Salvianti | ► | Poliziotto cartolibreria |
| Richard Sammel | ► | Ufficiale stanzioncina |
| James Schindler | ► | Tedesco fisso |
| Andrea Tidona | ► | Portiere Grand Hotel |
| Dirk K. van den Berg | ► | Soldato tedesco |
| Giovanna Villa | ► | Segretaria Comune |
| James Falzone | ► | Joshua |
| Omero Antonutti | ► | Narrator (voice) |
| Roberta Bobbi | ► | Minor Role |
| Davide Borella | ► | Minor Role |
| Nikky Smedley | ► | Minor Role |