Synopsis

In 1930s Italy, the playful Guido builds a loving life with Dora and their young son, Giosue. When the family is deported to a Nazi concentration camp, Guido disguises the horror around them as an elaborate game, convincing his son that obedience and imagination are the keys to winning a grand prize. His story becomes an act of parental love and sacrifice.

Factoids & Trivia

• The film's original Italian title is "La vita e bella." It was released in Italy in 1997 and received its United States theatrical release in 1998.

• Roberto Benigni drew partly on the wartime experience of his father, who spent time in a German prison camp. The film was also influenced by the memoir of Holocaust survivor Rubino Romeo Salmoni.

• Because Benigni was not Jewish, he consulted the Center for Documentation of Contemporary Judaism in Milan during the film's development.

• The film won the Grand Prix at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival and three Academy Awards: Best Foreign Language Film, Best Actor, and Best Original Dramatic Score.

• Benigni's Oscar win made him only the second actor to direct himself in an Academy Award-winning performance, following Laurence Olivier for "Hamlet."

• The Cannes version included some re-edited material and an opening panel identifying the story as a fairy tale, a change connected to concerns about presenting the Holocaust through comedy.

• A screenplay edition published in Italy in 1998 contained scenes that were omitted from the finished film, including Guido witnessing the execution of Italian partisans.

• The film's title has been associated with a statement attributed to Leon Trotsky, who reportedly wrote that life was beautiful while contemplating his wife shortly before his assassination.