Vita è bella, La (Life is beautiful)

Several years ago I remember an Italian actor winning an Oscar and literally jumping for joy on the stage. I'd never seen him before and thought him a funny looking man. That night, the movie he starred in won two other Oscars too, and it was an incredibly popular choice with the audience. The man was Roberto Benigni and the film, which he starred in, directed and co-wrote, was called Life is Beautiful. I made myself a mental note to watch it some ...
...To say that I was glad I did has to be my understatement of 2002. Life is Beautiful (1998) is set in Italy during the Second World War. It stars Benigni as Guido, a likeable, excitable bumbler who moves from the countryside to Florence and becomes a waiter. Guido loves beauty, loves thinking, loves knowledge, and loves life. He sees the good in everything and everyone. His most endearing qualities are his fantastical and childlike imagination, his ...

sandrabarber 30.12.2002 · Read full review
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Review of Vita è bella, La (Life is beautiful)

Being A very poor student with far too little time on my hands due to my intense course, I, like many other of my comrades, spent every wakened minute, even the ones meant to be spent in lectures, between the student union (but shhh I was under aged) and the good ol’ Odeon Cinemas just down the road from my student accommodation. This life began to get taxing on us, the student body. Hangovers tested friendships and, more importantly, only ...
...worth seeing twice, what was there to do when the big blockbusters where memorised word for word? Enjoy the art of fine conversation? Turn to our books perhaps? Or, notice some unheard movie on the billboard and figure it’s worth the chance – what else would we do with those two hours anyway! ? This is how I stumbled across the glorious and truly beautiful ‘Vita ET Belle - Life is beautiful.’ Now don’t get me wrong, ...

Daysleeper 01.10.2001 · Read full review
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Review of Vita è bella, La (Life is beautiful)

I rented this film out from my local video store as I’d heard good things about it but little else (I never like to hear to much about film plots before I see them). It wasn’t until I saw the box that I became aware of the critical acclaim this film received. It was the winner of the three Acadamy awards including ‘Best Actor’ for the main star (and director!) of the show Roberto Benigni. Not a bad effort for an Italian language ...
...This was a compelling, funny, poignant story, brilliantly acted and directed and rightly deserves the success it received! THE PLOT Guido (Benigni) is a charismatic, energetic if slightly awkward waiter in the Fascist Italy of the late 1930’s. He meets and, in typically italian style, falls in love with a pretty teacher called Dora (played by Nicoletta Braschi). He goes through a variety of funny and slightly surreal pranks to win her over. ...

tallpaul1983 22.08.2003 · Read full review
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Review of Vita è bella, La (Life is beautiful)

title: la vita è bella (life is beautiful) year: 1997 director: roberto benigni (subtitles) intro: i've been a member of dvdsontap.com (now known as lovefilm.com) for a while now, and this has been waiting in my queue for ages. my boyfriend was a bit sceptical when i told him that it was a comedy about the holocaust (what i'd heard from a friend) but we decided to watch it anyway. i'd just like to point out that i usually wait a while before posting ...
...one just made me want to tell as many people as possible about it, so i apologise if the review isn't up t my usual standard, having not had the time to digest the film properly. plot: guido, a jewish man, goes to the city to see his uncle, and discover the delights of city life. while there, he finds romance and excitement in the form of dora. later, tragedy strikes and guido and his son must find a way of escaping the horror that is a nazi death ...

esthersmile 07.02.2004 · Read full review
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Review of Vita è bella, La (Life is beautiful)

Turn off bright lights, get a box of kleenex + curl up with a blanket. Then press 'play'. I guarantee after the moment you have pressed play, you will be transfixed to the screen, transfixed to a captivating, beautiful story of love + sacrifice ultimately intertwined in the most beautiful of ways. I certainly was. From the first moment this film was advertised on Front Row I had little fancy for it - an Italian movie in subtitles - I thought it ...
...I'd never heard of a good Italian movie before. Infact I'd never even heard of any Italian movie (uncultured you see). in actual fact, there is a version now with English voices, which some might prefer though I find the true essence of the story is presented in a more beautiful way in the character's native tongues. Anyway, each to their preference! Thus the film begins with the hilariously cute, loveable yet ultimately charming Guido, played by ...

fabolous 06.04.2004 · Read full review
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Review of Vita è bella, La (Life is beautiful)

Remember how Roberto Benigni livened things up at an otherwise dull Oscar ceremony? Chances are you'll fall into one of two categories; those who applauded the little Italian's disruption of the Academy's glitzy pomposity, or those who wanted to wring his neck as his milked his loveable sub-Chaplin shtick for all it was worth. If you are one of the latter, you probably won't be reading this review; if you are one of the former, there are plenty of ...
...Life is Beautiful got a surprise nomination for Best Picture, but didn't win. Looking back, it is clear why. Benigni tackles a touchy area - a concentration camp comedy - but doesn't give any real idea of the threat his protagonists are under. Compared to Schindler's List, Benigni's camp looks as threatening as Butlins. The weird-looking Italian plays Guido, an exuberant Jewish-Italian waiter who falls - literally - for the woman of his dreams, ...

Plissken 02.01.2001 · Read full review
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Review of Vita è bella, La (Life is beautiful)

A sensitive story about an ingenious father who will do just about anything for his son, and will willingly give up his life for the love of his wife. That would be a decent summation of Roberto Benigni's Life Is Beautiful. This is not the kind of film you will watch for entertainment, despite the fact that there is a lot of extremely good comedy in the first half of the film. The story of Guido (Roberto Benigni), a Jew caught in the horrors of the ...
...horrors of Nazi concentration camps, Life Is Beautiful brings forth the fact that caste, religious belief and nationality are not enough grounds for hatred among men. After being dragged into a concentration camp, Guido wants only to shield his helpless son, Giosue (Giorgio Cantarini) from execution by being thrown into a furnace. How he goes about forms is the story of the film. The story begins with Guido, a young, intelligent Jewish entrepreneur ...

emilyfergusson 28.04.2004 · Read full review
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Review of Vita è bella, La (Life is beautiful)

'La Vita è bella' is indeed a truly beautiful film - but perhaps I didn't think it was quite as glorious as some have deemed it since. It's a charming story of a Jewish family ( the director playing the head of household ) and their suffering during the holocaust. Starting off as a quaint look at period life in rural Italy, it progresses to the harsh world of a concentration camp, through to the final surrender. Never is there a moment when you get ...
...to the two-tone nature of the film - blending the real-life of the loving family with their horrific persecution - the story largely revolves around the fathers determination in hiding the reality from his young boy. Unfortunately I found the blend of fairy-tale and grim reality a little distracting. Just when you're feeling emotional and moved by the authenticity and realism of some element of the concentration camp, something totally obscure, unrealistic ...

harryuk106 17.11.2000 · Read full review
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Review of Vita è bella, La (Life is beautiful)

La Vita E Bella. This is an Italian movie with English subtitles. But don't let that put you off! In the beginning of the movie, the characters do have "beautiful lives," and as the story continues the beauty lies in the preservation of innocence against all odds. When the characters find themselves in dire circumstances, the viewer is spared unnecessary graphic imagery. Rather than horrific scenes, their difficulties are presented to the viewer ...
...previously experienced. This movie is many things. It cannot be restricted to one theme. Above all it is very poignant, but at the same time it can be described as a romantic comedy! This film was the winner of the Grand Jury Prize at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival, the Best Jewish Experience Award at this year's Jerusalem International Film Festival, and recipient of eight David di Donatello Awards (the Italian Oscars) including Best Picture, Best ...

WednesdayAddams 09.08.2000 · Read full review
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Review of Vita è bella, La (Life is beautiful)

...The thought that love survives anything is doubted so often in society, we forget that it is possible. The title is a perfect summary of the feeling you are left with after watching this film, although parts of it are sooo sad. La vita is still bella! ...

SideTiePanties 03.05.2001 · Read full review
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Review of Vita è bella, La (Life is beautiful)

Life is beautiful (la vita è bella) Director - Roberto Benigni Italian with subtitles. DVD has option of watching dubbed version but I’d only recommend this if you struggle to read quickly. I recently borrowed The Pianist from a friend at work and on returning it, I thanked him and commented that I’d really liked the film but was it suitable to say that I’d ‘enjoyed’ a film about the holocaust? He replied that he knew exactly what I meant and went ...
...I replied that I hadn’t he said “I’ll bring it in, you’ve got to watch it - it‘s so uplifting”. I worried slightly about his sanity. Could a film covering this topic ever be uplifting? I was on receiving the DVD slightly dismayed to see that it was in Italian with subtitles but not to put off I popped it into the player and off we went. Story The film begins when Guido, goes to the city to visit his uncle, and is delighted when he meets Dora. ...

mundugnus 23.05.2004 · Read full review
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Review of Vita è bella, La (Life is beautiful)

Considering the amount of acclaim and publicity this I was surprised that this film had very few ops about it. So lets starts with the basics - its an independent, italian, sub-titled film set during the second world war. Robert Benigni co-wrote this masterpiece as well as directing and starring in his oscar-winning role. A Jewish man, falls in love with Nicoletta Braschi (his wife in real life), and they settle down and start a life together and ...
...is too good to be true as Italy soon becomes occupied by German forces. They are forced into a concentration tank where they are made to split up although in a bid to help his son survive, the Holocaust is turned into a game in which the grand prize to be won is a tank. This is a fantastic film, with elements of drama, romance and comedy. It is a heart-warming tale, and will make you laugh as much as it will make you want to cry. ...

CandiceB666 09.04.2001 · Read full review
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Review of Vita è bella, La (Life is beautiful)

One of my all time favourite films!! I think I was destined to watch this film after picking it up twice in blockbusters and having complete strangers come up to me, telling me to rent it! And I was so glad I did! Don't be fooled by the happy, smiling people on the front cover though, it is a sad sad film (tissues at the ready!) but it is uplifting and funny at the same time. The film is set mostly in a concentration camp during the second world ...
...away from the officers and consequently the fateful gas chambers, while pretending to his son that their presence there as well as the gruelling work he has to undertake is all part of a game to win the grand prize of a tank. It manages to skillfully turn a very tragic situation into a heartwarming and often funny story, it is guaranteed to pull on the heartstrings of everyone who watches it. If you are watching the dvd there is an option to watch ...

looby27 23.09.2004 · Read full review
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Review of Vita è bella, La (Life is beautiful)

Some movies are better when you watch them together with your girlfriend. This one is better when you watch it whith your dad. The relationship between the father and the son in this movie is so realistic and so emotional that you will need your dad when the movie is over. I gave my dad a big hug when I came home (he didn't know why). I cried in the movie theatre. That is something that I don't do a lot. This movie does the impossible: it's funny ...

Little_Mario 12.03.2001 · Read full review
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Review of Vita è bella, La (Life is beautiful)

...pochino banale. E' vero che con "Il mostro" Benigni andava sempre più perfezionandosi, se non come regista, almeno come attore comico, ma con "La vita è bella" al di là di ogni premio, credo abbia fatto il passo più lungo della gamba. Non a caso ha ricevuto tre statuette. ...

Fasteleven 02.04.2002 · Read full review
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Review of Vita è bella, La (Life is beautiful)