An unforgettable film that will move everyone's hearts to laugh and to weep.

Rating: Null/10 (11 March 2001)

Among all my favorite movies, this is one of them which I irresistably fall in love with, a movie filled with humanity, passion, and warmth. Delighting those who you love makes la vita bella, even in the hellish conditions. This is the main idea of the whole film.

I think director-writer-actor Roberto Benigni is a genius. I think he deserved more Oscars! Skilfully and successfully, he combines humor, wit, and love together to move everyone's hearts.
The first half of the movie contrasts dramatically with the second half; the former tells the fairy tale of Guido from his courtship to Dora to building a happy and warm family, the latter tells the hellish holocaust in which Guido, who has become a slave under the brutal rule of the Nazi, uses humor to delight his beloved son in the most awful environment and to hide from him the awful truth. It is the second half that makes all the audience impossible not to weep---Guido's good-intentioned lies ("the game"), the chances he grasps to communicate with his wife, for instance, the opera music he plays when he serves the German soldiers in the holocaust, the funny walk he does when arrested by a German soldier so as to delight his son even in his eleventh hour, and finally, his sacrifice. I think all of these are unforgettable scenes in each audience's memory.
Aside from love, other aspects that this movie will make you think about are, in my opinion, the meaning of life, slavery, and war. The key to have a beautiful life is clearly portrayed by the Italian genius. "La Vita e Bella" is a rare masterpiece in this epoque.