Life is Beautiful (indeed).

Life is Beautiful (Italian: La vita è bella) is an Italian language film which tells the story of a Jewish Italian, Guido Orefice (played by Roberto Benigni, who also directed and co-wrote the film) who tries to help his son, Joshua, survive in the Nazi concentration camp by using his rich imagination. This film has been dubbed to Italian-accented English, perhaps due to its popularity. It also won the Academy Award for the Best Actor, Best Music, Best Original Dramatic Score and Best Foreign Language Film in 1998.

The first half of the film basically introduces the main characters of the story. It is set in the World War II period when Nazi's spirit was overwhelming all over Europe. Young charismatic Guido comes from his hometown to Rome to earn a better living. There he works as a waiter in his uncle's restaurant. In the same restaurant, he steals Dora, who later becomes his wife, from his fiance at their engagement party. The couple finally gets married and lives peacefully with their son Joshua. The plot starts to get tense as Guido, Joshua and Guido's uncle are ordered to join the Jewish concentration camp. Being non-Jewish, Dora is not sent to the concentration camp but she insists on joining her family. She is then allowed, but has to be separated from the rest because males and females go to different camps.

The second half of the film, and also the most touching part, tells the story of Guido and Joshua surviving the concentration camp. Not wanting to let his son down, Guido creates an imaginative story whereby all people in the concentration camp are in a big game to collect a thousand points to win a tank. The points get reduced from one’s point bank if he/she complains for hunger and points are earned if he/she stays quiet and hides from the guard. He convinces Joshua that the guards are so mean that they want to keep the big prize for themselves. Guido also persuades his son to not withdraw from the game by telling him that other children are close to getting a thousand points and he will regret not competing for the tank. The fact that Guido is so convincing, together with Joshua’s innocence, makes the latter questions no more about the suffering of people in the concentration camp.

In the chaos caused by the American advance drawing near, Guido asks his son to stay still in a sweatbox – one final challenge before the tank becomes his. Meanwhile, Guido is trying to rescue Dora. He is caught by the Nazi guards and shot dead. Joshua manages to survive and thinks that he wins the tank. He is also reunited with his mother when the concentration camps are liberated by the American soldiers.

Life is Beautiful is full of funny moments, thanks to the excellent acting of Roberto Benigni. The second half of the film is surprisingly both touching and funny. For big fans of classical music, this film is definitely a must-see. The main music played throughout the film is Belle Nuit by Offenbach. I have watched this film three times, and am never bored watching it and will watch it again if I have time. I strongly recommend the film and two thumbs up for this film!