"La vita è Bella" "Life is Beautiful"

TO REMEMBER

It's a move written, directed and portrayed by Roberto Benigni.

The story is about Guido Orefice, a jew that moved to Arezzo with the purpose to find a job together with his friend, Ferruccio Papini (who writes poem during his free time). 
During their travel to Arezzo, among thousand misfortunes (including broken brake of the machine), Guido meets Dora, a teacher of the Primary School in Arezzo, who falls from a barn after being stung by a wasp and he gives her the nickname of "Principessa" (Princess).
Guido becomes a waiter with the help of his uncle, who works in the restaurant of the main hotel in the city, and becomes friend of an German doctor who shares with him his passion for riddles.
Guido fall in love with Dora and, in order to conquer her, he finds a way to replace an inspector of Rome invited at the primary school to talk about the "superior race" (one of the most comic scenes in the movie)

Guido declares his love to Dora, after she had spent a night at the theater with her boyfriend. 

During the party for the official engagement of Dora in the hotel the two plan to run away (she gives up her privileged life as bourgeois for him). They hide in the house of the uncle of Guido. There is a time gap of six years where we descover that the couple got married and had a son: Giosuè.

Racial laws are now in effect and in shops is barred from entering to the Jews and dogs...

The day of his birthday, Giosuè is deported with his father, Guido, and his uncle. Dora follows them not to abandon them. In Auschwitz they find themselves divided. The uncle disappears as soon as the train arrives in the concentration camp, Dora ends up with all the other women, while Guido has to look after his son who just wants to go home.

Guido invents a game to give the hope to his son: if he would have been a good boy he would had earned points and when he would arrived to 1000 he would won a real tank! 

Guido has the occasion to explain the rules to the child when a German Official enters the barrack to explain the rules of the camp and he asks if someone was able to speak German...

Dora finds out from a woman the the old and child are killed in the gas chambers with the excuse of the shower. 

Guido finds a way to hide his son and he finds an opportunity to let Dora know that both are fine with the radio of the concentration camp

During a medical examination of the Jews to kill, Guido meets the German doctor with whom he had befriended. The doctor is able to bring Guido to serve as a waiter at a lunch. Guido brings the child who hides himself. 

In the courtyard there are the sons of the officials playing hide and seek, Giosuè is mistaken for one of them and is brought to them same table for lunch. Guido requires the child to not speak for not being discovered and in the meantime he tries to explain the situation to the doctor, believing that he would give him a hand to save him, his wife and son.

The doctor doesn't whant to help him. 

Giosuè sais "Grazie" (thank you) to a German waiter and Guido, to save the situation, teaches the word "Grazie" to all the kids!

On the way to be back to his barrack Guido, with Giosuè asleep in his arms, discover a pile of corposes.

When the end of the war is near, the Germans kill as many Jews as they can during the night and they move others to other concentration camps. 

Guido announces to Giosuè that the end of the game is close, he hides him in the letter box and he goes in search of Dora, disguised as a woman with a blanket and the sweater of his son. 

However, Guido is discovered and, while the German officer takes him behind a corner to shoot him, he manages to make the winking to his son and mimic a rough military marching. 

The next morning, Giosuè goes outside: the concentration camp is deserted. Before him appears a tank and the child exclames "It's true! We won!"

An American soldier comes out of the tank and seeing that the child does not understand that he invites Giosuè to go with him and  they leave the camp. 

Giosuè sees his mother with all the other survivors, and he can finally embrace her again shouting "Mom! We won!" and she answers "Yes darling! We won!"

    

CURIOSITY

Roberto Benigni (Guido) and Nicoletta Braschi (Dora) are really married! They worked together in several movies!

The movie won an Oscar for the best soundtrack 

Benigni said about the movie 

«Questo film, che si chiama La vita è bella, mi è venuto fuori, ma con emozione, tanto che mi ha fatto tremare tutte le costole del costato, ma anche a girarlo, ma bello, bello, è un film che l'ho fatto in meno di una notte»

"This film, which is called Life is beautiful, came out to me, but with  so much emotion that made ​​me shake all the ribs of the cost, but also to shoot it, but beautiful, beautiful, is a movie that 'I have done in less than one night"

The movie presented in December 1997 was about 122 minutes, lather Benigni cut some parts to obtain 116 minutes and he added the narrator voice of an adult Giosuè at the ending, this version was brought to Cannes in 1998 and distribuited in the foreign counties, it's also the only one to be available on home video.