Life is Beautiful (Vita e bella, La) (1998)

Classic

Fabulous acting from the leading man, lady and child.

An extraordinary film, watch it and weep. He takes you on a journey which is heartbreaking and yet uplifting too. A must see.

A piece of poetry in an unimaginable situation. A bit slow to start but you must keep watching to the end.

Subtitled film with a great story. Worth watching for the moral of the story... Life is how you choose to see it.

Do yourself a favour, after you have seen this masterpiece, read about the real life of Roberto Benigni, in real life an interesting character.

The title says it all.

Such a beautiful movie. Despite the dark subject and the atrocities of the war, one cannot help but be touched by the love of a father for his family and the lengths he goes to to protect them. A bitter sweet movie, beautiful music and incredible acting by RB.

Started watching this movie and it was so boring turned it off.

A film of two tales, with seemingly slapstick humor slowly blending into depths of seriousness having ones identity wrenched away. Although slow to start, this film becomes more gripping as it evolves. This Holocaust themed film, successfully portrays the fear encapsulated within a concentration camp, and tackles important personal connections between, father son & mother, how to keep the family unit in tact even in the most dark hours of humanity. Not the best example of a film in this genre, however an entirely different and bold take, removed from the sheer horror usually associated with films centered around this theme.

Iconic. Can't beat the underlying message for making you realize that life IS beautiful.

A cheery approach to a dismal period of history. The lead character never appears sad in an effort to protect his young son from the horror of Nazi persecution against Jews in war time Italy. I really enjoyed this movie. Even the sad ending wasn't that... well, sad.

without doubt the biggest load of rubbish i have watched for many years! I feel cheated of the 15 minutes of my life that I frittered away on this claptrap. Fortunately most of the other films we have hired have been terrific cheers David

What a lovely but tragic story... and what a beautiful person Guido was.

Painful to watch and slightly annoying with the OTT slapstick. Ending was painfully sad.

Slow to start but picks up.

Probably the worst movie I've seen for several years. It might suit a ten year old who giggles at childish slapstick 'pie-in-the-face' type of humour. I can't see how adults could sit through this pathetic film. An insult to the intelligence.

starts off slow and boring but gets really good. bit sad

This movie is funny, poignant, touching and heart breaking all at the same time. Beautifully directed, I can't recomment this film highly enough. You will be left thinking about it for days afterwards.

A fabulous movie, enjoyed it very much, we watched it twice it was so good.

Such a lovely movie. Grab the tissues before you sit down to watch it - you're going to need them! The little boy is wonderfully adorable and it does have some genuinely funny moments. Highly recommend.

brilliant foriegn film

Brilliant poignant movie - for deep thinkers

I loved this movie! Humour and tears, bring the tissues!!

It was good to watch. Even my 11 year old son watched it and he cried in the end. Good education for both of us.

I got a bit bored with the first part of the movie, but found it really interesting when they had the kid and then went into the concentration camp. I had no problems with the subtitles, they worked fine, and with some knowledge of Italian, I thought they matched what was being said. The kid was definitely my favourite part of the movie. It was sad, yet beautiful how the father pretended everything was fine and it was a game, and his sacrifice for his son.

Quite a well made film about the issue of family during wartime. Well written, well directed and quite touching, I'd highly recommend it.

A must see! One of my favourite films. Be ready to laugh out loud at Benigni's antics and be prepared to cry. An emotional film - brilliant!

Tried to watch..... but just nothing.

did not push any buttons for me must have been written by an 8yr old ????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

There was a problem with this DVD. It kept freezing and we could not watch it.

This is a beautiful movie, highly recommended. It takes a special strength to remain optimistic as a Jew during WW2 and this movie captures this perfectly. See this movie.

Tried to watch this for the third time in my life

The theme around the relationship between father and son is a wonderful one. The movie has a rather strange mixture of exaggeration and unreality in the midst of historic reality, which makes it a little difficult to get into, but protects the viewer later from some of the harsh realities.

Is there a more annoying actor to watch than Roberto Benigni? After five minutes, even resorting to the dubbed English audio, we just could not stomach this.

I loved but the kids couldn't keep up with the subtitles as it would've een a really good tale of morality for them howvere they still got the film. My hubby is not one for subtitles so he soon had enough! I loved it, a real warm fuzzy film that is a great reminder what our families should mean to us in such a mixed up and busy world.

Very funny and yet capturing all the heartache and stupidity of the holocaust. A beaurltiful story about love and surviving the horros of a concentration camp. It shows the worst and the best that humanity has to offer in a crisis.

A good film, a comedy tha,t begins to dawn on one, that if it is a comedy it is a very dark one indeed. Cleverly put together with a different concept on a very bad part of European history. Roberto Benigni's character was probably a little too talk talk talkative for me.

wonderful movie, how the producer manages to keep it light against such a black background is amazing

After reading the reviews, I felt I had watched the wrong movie. I found the style of this movie to be slapstick comedy - an out dated style of humour. My husband and I couldn't get through the movie and turned it off part way through.

I was never interested in seeing this movie, but put it in the queue anyway. Wow, what a brilliant movie!! Completely blew me away.

One of my favourite films of all time ! Tragedy, humour, love and hope rolled into one beautifully filmed package. A must see for everyone at some point in their lives, if only to appreciate the world in which we live today....

Nearly didn't watch all of this movie especially as I had to use the subtitles. It looked like there was an option to use dubbed English but it wouldn't work for me. Anyway, I found the movie tedious due to the slapstick until the little boy came into the story. After that it was beautiful to see how he tried to make life bearable for his son.

I wish that all fathers would be "childlike" for his son in the face of almost certain death fo being a Jew.

One of the most humorous, tragic and well acted films I have seen for a long time. I'd recommend it to anyone.

funny, entertaining and sad - a great movie, not to be missed

Inspiring. Courageous. Sensational. Outstanding.

This would have to be one of the worst movies I have ever seen. It was painful to watch. Terrible acting and subtitles that didn't match what was being said. I have no idea why there were subtitles considering they speak in English anyway. Complete waste of time and I didn't bother watching it to the end.

A great movie, full of joy and sorrow, tied together by the power of love and resilience.

Previously rated this movie as 1 star. Convinced by a friend to persevere with the movie and see it to the end. Not glad I did. Did not fine it 'beautiful' but instead shocking and horrific. Hard to get into but it does a 180 degree about face and the inane antics of the father become the way to save his sons life.

Pleasing to see someone enjoyed this movie. I could not. Why are the people shown as inane or eccentric? Others mentioned the ending was great. Was this because it was over?

Great story and beautiful film despite tragedy of war time prosecution of crimes against Jews. Full of humour, courage, beauty, pathos, the inhumanity of the concentration camp, and ultimate victory of the human spirit.

Stunning and moving - this is a brilliant film.

Funny, frightening, sad, slightly bizarre. Interesting movie that even my husband liked (which is amazing).

Only the last 1/4 of movie was based in the Nazi camp; his jabbering got tedious and it was a slow movie, but beautifully done Lots of subtitles were missing too so you had to do a fair bit of guessing.

I went into this movie expecting a lot because it had won awards. I'm not sure whether it was just very tedious reading the rapid fire subtitles (there is an awful lot of meaningless dialogue in this film) or whether my dislike of slapstick humour got the better of me but I couldn't finish watching it which is very rare for me. In this instance it is difficult to read all the subtitles and appreciate the visual subtleties.

tragically beautiful. As a mother it broke my heart in so many ways

This movie was set during the period 1939-1945. Man works as a hotel waiter, then meets a girl, gets married and has a son, then opens a bookstore. The Germans round up the Jews and truck/train them away to a prison camp. War and movie ends. The first 46-53mins I thought were a bit boring and silly until the Germans arrived. Man can that main character (Roberto Benigni) talk, yak yak yak. He comes across as a bit of a clown. But I suppose his humour was welcomed at the prison camp. He kept his son thinking it was all a game. It seemed not many people had speaking roles in this movie, the extras just stayed in the background. Yes, I did have a tear in my eye at the end of the movie.

If you like slapstick humour you'll probably love this. I don't.

Good film if you are aware there are subtitles.

Don't know why I love this movie but I do. A quirky love story set in troubled times. The first half of almost slapstick humour juxtaposes beautifully with the seriousness of the second half. A story about the indestructability of love and the human condition.

How can one produce a movie in 1998 based on concentration camps, German Nazi terror, genozide and call it a comedy ? Two stars for great acting - otherwise NIL !

With its superbly artistic photography and Benigni's gentle, farcical comedic style, this film is beautiful, funny - and ultimately very moving. In some ways it's two films in one. The first half establishes the setting (Italy at the start of WWII) and deals with Guido's (Benigni's) delightfully funny (at times very Chaplinesque) courtship of Dora (Nicoletta Braschi). The second half moves to the far more sombre, though still understated, setting of an un-named concentration camp where Guido, Dora and their 5 year old son Guesue (Georgio Cantarini) are deported. The film's light and still comedic treatment of the concentration camp attracted considerable criticism when the film was released, apparently. But this film is in many ways much less about the Nazis and Fascism than about the resilience of the human spirit and a father's love for his child. The young Cantarini is a delight to watch in his role, and the relationship between Guido and Guesue is warmly and wonderfully created. Essentially a fable and a fantasy, this film certainly softens the events of the Holocaust, which for some viewers may be unacceptable. But here's the intriguing paradox we are invited to enter: to consider the ridiculous, whimsical and farcical nature of humankind when it is also at its most destructive and horrendous. We view horror through the eyes of a comic and clown - and Benigni is above all a consummate clown. Perhaps similar to the way in which the direst of human tragedies provide rich sources of material for standup comics. Overall, a film that provokes much laughter, tears - and reflection!

A beautiful film that would have got 5 stars from me if it didn't have subtitles. Sometimes it was hard to read and take in the characters. What a clever man to mask the horrible situation from his young son.

You can see why this won an oscar. Beautiful and moving film but with a thread of humour that runs throughout. A definite must see.

If you like subtitle and sad this is not to bad.

A thoroughly charming film - one I enjoyed enormously. Begnini's charming view of life, even in times of great upheaval is infectious.

Just wonderful...shows what a little optimisim can do!!!

A tragic film but with moments of charm, laughter and innocence. This movie is a definate for my top 5...a truly beautiful film!

This movie was really beautiful. It was touching without being pretentious or relying on emotional ploys, and there was a subtle humour about it that made it a truly enjoyable film! Don't miss it, whatever you do!

Excellent

Roberto Benigni's best film to date - apart from Johnny Stecchino. A must see, an ending to die for and some laughs Benigni style along the way.

Like the name, it's a beautiful movie. I cried at the end of the movie.

After all the hype I was sure I would be disappointed - nah ! Beautiful, beautiful film, funny too. Get it in Italian and read the subtitles, it's better.