The movie is inspired in Rubino Romeo Salmoni’s book “Ho Sconfito Hitler”, and by true stories lived by Benigni’s (the actor who plays the main character) own father, who spent two years in a German labor camp during the war. The plot of this movie takes place during the Second World War, where Guido Orefice, a jew who owns a simple jewish bookstore in Fascist Italy, is captured and sent to a concentration camp in Berlin, along with his son, little Giosué. Using his intelligence, charisma and sense of humour, Guido makes his son believe that they’re both “playing a game”, which main goal is to protect Giosué from the horrible reality they’re experiencing. As they get taken away to a concentration camp, Dora, Guido’s wife, even though she’s not jewish, implores to be taken by the nazis in order to find her husband and son, but women and men are separated inside the concentration camps, so they never get to see each other while they’re there. Guido implements a “game” system with his son, giving him chores and establishing rules, saying that if he respects them, he’ll gain points, in order to keep Giosué safe. Guido maintains this story right until the end when, in the chaos of shutting down the camp as the Allied Forces approach, he tells his son to stay in a box until everybody has left, this being the final task in the game. Guido goes to find Dora, but he is caught by a German soldier. The movie ends with Giosué reminiscing on the sacrifices his father made for him and his story, up until the point Dora and Giosué find each other.Life is Beautiful explores genocide, intolerance, discrimination.
Link to IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118799/
Image Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Roberto_Benigni_Nicoletta_Braschi.jpg
