Life Is Beautiful

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Life Is Beautiful

PG-13

1998

2h 2m

Comedy

Drama

War

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

80%

Tomatometer

92 Reviews

96%

Popcornmeter

250,000+ Ratings

A gentle Jewish-Italian waiter, Guido Orefice (Roberto Benigni), meets Dora (Nicoletta Braschi), a pretty schoolteacher, and wins her over with his charm and humor. Eventually they marry and have a son, Giosue (Giorgio Cantarini). Their happiness is abruptly halted, however, when Guido and Giosue are separated from Dora and taken to a concentration camp. Determined to shelter his son from the horrors of his surroundings, Guido convinces Giosue that their time in the camp is merely a game.

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Critics Consensus

Benigni's earnest charm, when not overstepping its bounds into the unnecessarily treacly, offers the possibility of hope in the face of unflinching horror.

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Ben Dowell

The Times (UK)

Sep 20, 2022

Schmaltzy, treacly, saccharine — call it what you like, if you’re not blubbing by the end, check your pulse.

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Nell Minow

Common Sense Media

Dec 25, 2010

5/5

Wrenching Holocaust fable with bittersweet humor.

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Tom Dawson

BBC.com

Jun 10, 2002

2/5

How appealing you find it will probably depend on your response to Benigni's screen-hogging routines -- the line between endearing and irksome is a fine one.

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Mike Massie

Gone With The Twins

Aug 25, 2024

10/10

The last act is monumental - in its crushing revelations, the inevitable deterioration and near-misses of the complex charade, and the chance coincidences that constitute alternating hope and despair.

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Matthew Rozsa

matthewrozsa.com

Aug 26, 2023

3.5/4

"It makes you wonder if “Shakespeare in Love” really deserved the Academy Award for best movie of ’98."

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Wesley Lovell

Cinema Sight

Dec 25, 2022

2/4

“Life Is Beautiful” is quite entertaining and well acted for the most part. Benigni isn’t extremely impressive in the lead role, nor is Cantarini very effective. The plot contains various elements seen in other films and not done much better.

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Anthony L

Mar 5, 2026

Stays away from the actual horrors of the Holocaust in order to make a fairytale based in a conceration camp.

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christopher b

Oct 4, 2022

I’m so glad I was the only person in the theater because I lost it.

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K W

@KraigwithaK Oct 14, 2026

Somewhere in the darkest chapter of human history, a father turns love into an act of defiance. Life Is Beautiful reminds us that even when the world tries to steal everything, it cannot so easily take away the magic we create for those we love. You leave believing that laughter can be an act of courage, and that the greatest gift we can give our children is a reason to keep believing in beauty.

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Dahiana M

@dahi_martinez Oct 9, 2026

Volví a ver esta película después de tanto, y no importa cuántas veces la vea, siempre me saca lágrimas

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Giovanni T

@RT44369250 Sep 23, 2026

Benigni aims for the oscars and succeeds by telling the horrors of the Holocaust with a fairytale coating (and marking once again the americans as the liberators, confusing historians and people who actually lived and saw the red star on Top of tanks). Abside from this, the movie is a mediocre product that works in the first act only to become an unbearable, totally unrealistic show of Benigni's typical Tuscanian comedy, that then almost wants you to cry in the most forced of ways. Ultimately, La Vita è Bella is an overrated cult that falls flat when you realize it's just a cute idea that's badly executed.

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Ed J

@jonesedm Aug 11, 2026

The power of the movie comes from the contrast between the innocent life that the father tries to preserve for his boy and the nightmare Italy that surrounds them.

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Roberto Benigni

Director

Roberto Benigni

Guido Orefice

Nicoletta Braschi

Dora

Giorgio Cantarini

Giosué Orefice

Giustino Durano

Eliseo Orefice

Sergio Bini Bustric

Ferruccio Papini

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Synopsis

A gentle Jewish-Italian waiter, Guido Orefice (Roberto Benigni), meets Dora (Nicoletta Braschi), a pretty schoolteacher, and wins her over with his charm and humor. Eventually they marry and have a son, Giosue (Giorgio Cantarini). Their happiness is abruptly halted, however, when Guido and Giosue are separated from Dora and taken to a concentration camp. Determined to shelter his son from the horrors of his surroundings, Guido convinces Giosue that their time in the camp is merely a game.

Director: Roberto Benigni
Producer: Gianluigi Braschi, Elda Ferri
Screenwriter: Vincenzo Cerami, Roberto Benigni
Distributor: Miramax Films
Production Co: Miramax, Cecchi Gori Group Tiger Cinema, Melampo Cinematografica
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Comedy, Drama, War
Original Language: Italian
Release Date (Theaters): Oct 22, 1998, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Oct 25, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $57.6M
Runtime: 2h 2m
Sound Mix: Surround, Dolby Digital
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.85:1)

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