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Life Is Beautiful

1997 · Movie · PG-13 · 116 min · ★ 8.4 · 69% critics

ComedyDrama

Life Is Beautiful follows an Italian book seller of Jewish ancestry as he tries to keep his family’s world light and hopeful. When World War II forces them into a concentration camp, he works to convince his son that frightening events are “just a game.”

Also known as La vie est belle · La vita è bella

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Details
Original title
La vita è bella
Years
1997
Release date
1997-12-20
Language
Italian
Rated
PG-13
Runtime
116 min
Critic score
69/100
TMDB rating
8.4/10 (14,007 votes)
Box office
$230,098,753
Budget
$19,000,000
About

You’ll like Life Is Beautiful if you want a tragic story softened by heartfelt humor and strong family emotion, and you can handle a major tone shift; Not for you if you expect a straightforward Holocaust depiction like Schindler's List or prefer consistent tone like Groundhog Day.

Pros: moving, respectful balance; strong father-son focus; memorable humor | Cons: tone shift complaints; ending feels rushed; some jokes feel inappropriate

Themes

  • dying and death
  • bookshop
  • love of one's life
  • nazi
  • self sacrifice
  • loss of loved one
  • italy
  • riddle
  • mass murder
  • concentration camp
  • fascism
  • holocaust (shoah)
  • +14 more

Awards & recognition

  • Academy AwardBest Actor · 1999
  • Academy AwardBest Original Dramatic Score · 1999
  • Academy AwardBest International Feature Film · 1999
  • Cannes Film Festival Grand Prix · 1998
  • European Film AwardBest Actor · 1998
Show all 19 awards →
  • European Film AwardBest Film · 1998
  • César AwardBest Foreign Film
  • David di DonatelloBest Film
  • Academy AwardBest Film Editing · 1999 · nominated
  • Academy AwardBest Actor · 1999 · nominated
  • Academy AwardBest Original Dramatic Score · 1999 · nominated
  • Academy AwardBest International Feature Film · 1999 · nominated
  • Academy AwardBest Picture · 1999 · nominated
  • Academy AwardBest Writing, Original Screenplay · 1999 · nominated
  • International Submission to the Academy Awards · 1999 · nominated
  • European Film AwardBest Film · 1998 · nominated
  • European Film AwardBest Actor · 1998 · nominated
  • Academy AwardBest Director · nominated
  • David di DonatelloBest Director · nominated

Cast & crew

Directed by Roberto Benigni