"Life is Beautiful" (1997): movie reviews, actors and roles

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

At the end of the last century, a wonderful film "Life is Beautiful" (1997) made in Italy was released. The tape with a relatively small budget (only $ 20 million) collected many times more at the box office - almost 230 million. About the history of the film "Life is Beautiful" (1997), actors, director, audience recognition - in our material.

Film Brief

The 1997 film "Life is Beautiful", whose genre is defined as a tragicomedy, immediately after its appearance on the screens caused a storm of emotions - both among ordinary audiences and among film critics. The tape, lasting almost two hours, was recognized not only in his native Italy, but also in the world, thus gaining truly worldwide fame and popularity. She was repeatedly awarded with various awards (we will return to them later), including the Grand Prix of the Cannes Film Festival and three Oscars in 1998. And the director, and one of the authors of the script, and the performer of the main male part was the same person - Roberto Benigni.

Plot of the picture

First of all, we will give a description of the film "Life is Beautiful" (1997). In the center of the plot is the most ordinary Jewish family, of which there are a million. Outside - 1939, scene - Italy.

The first part of the picture is more romantic. It describes the acquaintance of the main characters, the Jew Guido and the Italian Dora. Guido comes from the village where he used to live to Arezzo in order to work there. Guido is cheerful, charming and kind, and therefore conquers Dora at first sight when they meet by chance. Dora is very pretty and smart, she works as a teacher at the school and causes a lively reciprocal interest in Guido. They find a lot in common with each other, feelings capture them completely and completely, and they enter into a marriage in which a wonderful son Josue is born. Already a married couple, Guido and Dora open their own bookstore. They are happy to be together and enjoy life, but they do not know that the time of peace will soon end for them.

The second part of the film "Life is Beautiful" (1997) is much more difficult and tragic. Italy is still the scene of action, only a few years have passed since the events of the first part. World War II is in full swing. Devastation, hunger, death reign everywhere. In Italy, more and more actively, they begin to oppress the Jews more and more. They are massively, simply in batches, sent to concentration camps. Dora has nothing to be afraid of - she is not Jewish, but she is still afraid - for her husband. And at the same time for his son - strictly speaking, little Josue does not belong to the Jewish nation (Jewishnessdetermined by mother), but the Nazis, of course, will not delve into such subtleties. The offspring of a Jew means also a Jew. Therefore, both Guido and Giosue are in great danger.

Of course they can't hide from the Nazis all the time. Together with other Jews, Guido and his little son are taken to a concentration camp. The horrors that reign there are not worth describing - anyone who is at least a little familiar with history has heard enough about it. Jews are killed in gas chambers, pushing old people and children into them, deceiving them that they are simply going to take a shower. Guido wants to save his son at all costs and understands that this is possible only if you imagine everything that happens to the baby as a game.

Josue is scared enough. Screams, blood, pain everywhere. He does not understand what is happening, because he is still very small. He really wants to go home, he wants to go to his mother … The father explains to him that they are participating in one big game, the purpose of which is to score points. The one who scores a thousand points will win, and his prize will be a big, big tank. In order to get points, you need to be very dexterous, agile and patient and follow simple rules: do not cry, do not ask for food and do not get caught by the Germans. It may be a little clumsy fiction, but it is very suitable for a little frightened boy who trusts his father and begins to play with all possible excitement. As the reviews for Life Is Beautiful (1997) testify, this is one of the most difficult moments in the entire tape: when you realize that a kid who has a childhood in full swing and who has to play withtoys, actually playing with death…

But back to the plot of the picture. Josue's game continues until the American allies begin to approach the camp. This panics the leadership of the camp, in which chaos begins. The father tells Josue that now is the final stage of the game, you need to hide well and not come out until everything calms down. Giosue hides, and Guido sacrifices himself to save his son. The Americans enter the camp and free the prisoners. From his hiding place, little Josue sees a tank - a huge tank is moving importantly through the camp. The kid from all legs rushes to him, finally believing that dad was telling the truth - here he is, the tank, his winnings! The soldiers lift the child towards them and he rides on the tank with them.

The last shots of the film "Life is Beautiful" (1997), according to reviews, are no less tear-jerking than the whole film - little Josue finally returns to his mother. Needless to say, the picture is heavy, but certainly worthy of being watched by everyone.

History of Creation

The script of his painting by Roberto Benigni was inspired by the biography of one of the prisoners of the terrible death camp of Auschwitz - a Jew from Italy Rubino Romeo Salmoni. Salmoni managed to survive in Auschwitz (he died relatively recently - in 2011, already at an advanced age) and wrote a book of memoirs about the time spent in this monstrous place. The book was called I Defeated Hitler.

It is the biography of Salmoni andwas taken as a basis for writing the script for the future film. By the way, the tape owes its name - "Life is Beautiful" to Trotsky's "Testament", in which there is just such a phrase (Trotsky calls on future generations of the Earth's population to cleanse this wonderful life from violence and evil). As for filming, they took place in several small Italian towns, including Arezzo. This city is Benigni's hometown, which is why he chose it as the setting for the first part of the film.

Director - Roberto Benigni

It's time to say a few words about the director and ideological inspirer of the film "Life is Beautiful" (1997) - Roberto Benigni. He was born at the end of October 1952 in the simplest family. Mom was a weaver, dad mastered three professions at once - a carpenter, a bricklayer and a carpenter. In addition to Roberto, the family had three older daughters. The family was in poverty; lived in a barracks, in a room without electricity or a toilet.

Later, young Benigni first entered the Florentine Jesuit Seminary, but two months later he moved to an institute in Prato, where he received the speci alty of a secretary. At the age of sixteen, he left for Milan and began to fight his way onto the stage. He succeeded only four years later - at the age of twenty he made his debut on the stage of the Metastasio Theater, playing one of the roles in Evgeny Schwartz's The Naked King. Around the same time, he began acting in films, gaining fame first in Italy and then abroad (the latter was facilitated by shooting at Jarmusch).

FirstDirected by Roberto Benigni, the film was released in 1988. It was called "Imp", and Benigni played the title role in it himself. Later, other works followed, and in almost all of them Benigni performed male main parts.

The artist is married; his chosen one is Nicoletta Braschi, also an actress. Benigni shoots his wife in all his paintings. The couple has no children.

Main actors

The role of Guido in the 1997 film "Life is Beautiful" was played by Roberto Benigni himself, as mentioned above. The role of his wife Dora was played by Benigni's real wife, Nicoletta Braschi. It is necessary to separately note among the actors of the film "Life is Beautiful" (1997) the smallest and most unprofessional of them. Little Giosue was masterfully played by Giorgio Cantarini.

The baby was only five years old at the time of filming; he so impressed the audience and critics with his game that three years later he was invited to play the role in "Gladiator". Today, Giorgio is a fairly successful young actor.

Nicoletta Braschi

Born in Italy in April 1960. She studied drama in Rome, at the same time she began acting and playing in the theater. She does not have world fame, despite the fact that she played with Jim Jarmusch. More known in her native country. She met her husband as a student in 1980, but they started dating three years later, and got married (secretly married) in 1991.

At the box office

In Italy, the film "Life is Beautiful"appeared in December 1997, in Europe - in the next few months (in the first half of 1998). But the tape reached Russia only by the middle of summer 1999. It is not known why this happened, maybe initially they didn’t want to roll the picture with us at all, fearing failure or considering its topic “inconvenient”, but changed their minds after seeing the ratings and reviews. The film "Life is Beautiful" in 1997, one way or another, was late for us, but it aroused the liveliest interest.

In addition, the tape became a participant in many shows: for example, it was shown in Cannes, Montreal, Athens, Toronto - at various film festivals.

Awards

"Life is Beautiful" became one of the most talked about paintings of that time. She has received many awards - as the best film, and for the best male role, and for the best screenplay. It was noted both as the best film in a foreign language, and as the best editing, and as the best soundtrack - and what only nominations were awarded to this film both at the Oscars and at other no less prestigious and significant awards. More than fifty awards in total - that's what the tape had a crop of.

Interesting facts

1. The legendary singer Montserrat Caballe took part in the work on the film - it is she who performs the vocal parts in the film.
2. In the film, Jews, including Guido, wear prison uniforms with a number. Guido's number matches Charlie Chaplin's uniform number in The Great Dictator, which makes fun ofHitler.

Film "Life is Beautiful" (1997): reviews

Viewers all praise this picture, while noting its piercing and how much it takes for the soul. Masterpiece, touching, heroic - these and not only epithets are awarded to the tape by Internet users.

appreciate life." In general, the audience agrees that "Life is Beautiful" is undoubtedly one of the best films ever made in cinema, and definitely recommend it.