FANTAMOV

          home             Animated            Films               Short

              Life is beautiful                                                            

 

1997   Italian Comedy drama,  Melampo cinematografica                 

 

In 1939, Guido is a young Jew who comes to work in Arezzo, Tuscany, where his uncle Eliseo runs a restaurant. Guido falls in love with a girl named Dora who is engaged to a rich but arrogant man, a government official with whom Guido has regular confrontations. Eventually, Dora sees Guido's affection and falls in love with him, so Guido takes her away from his engagement party, on horseback. Later they get married and have a son, Joshua, and manage a bookshop. When World War II broke out, Guido, his uncle Eliseo and Joshua were captured on Joshua's birthday. They and many other Jews are forced to board a train and taken to a concentration camp. So Dora also volunteers to board the train to be close to her family. On the field, Guido hides the real situation from his son, explaining that the field is only a game in which he has to perform tasks that will earn him points and whoever reaches the thousand points will win a tank...
 

         

 

 

 
Award Date of ceremony Category Recipient(s) Result Ref(s)
Academy Awards 21 March 1999 Best Picture Elda Ferri and Gianluigi Braschi Nominated [30]
Best Director Roberto Benigni Nominated
Best Original Screenplay Roberto Benigni and Vincenzo Cerami Nominated
Best Actor Roberto Benigni Won
Best Foreign Language Film Life is Beautiful Won
Best Editing Simona Paggi Nominated
Best Music, Original Dramatic Score Nicola Piovani Won
Australian Film Institute Awards 1999 Best Foreign Film Roberto Benigni, Elda Ferri and Gianluigi Braschi Won [32]
BAFTA Awards 11 April 1999 Best Film Not in the English Language Roberto Benigni, Elda Ferri and Gianluigi Braschi Nominated [33]
Best Film Original Screenplay Writing Roberto Benigni and Vincenzo Cerami Nominated
Best Film Actor in a Leading Role Roberto Benigni Won
Cannes Film Festival 13–24 May 1998 Grand Prize Won [29]
César Awards 6 March 1999 Best Foreign Film Won [34]
Critics' Choice Awards 19 January 1999 Best Movie   Nominated [35]
Best Movie in a Foreign Language Roberto Benigni Won
David di Donatello Awards 1998 Best Film Won [36]
Best Director Won
Best Producer Elda Ferri and Gianluigi Braschi Won
Best Script Roberto Benigni and Vincenzo Cerami Won
Best Actor in a Leading Role Roberto Benigni Won
Best Actor in a Supporting Role Sergio Bustric Nominated
Best Cinematography Tonino Delli Colli Won
Best Editing Simona Paggi Nominated
Best Sound Tullio Morganti Nominated
Best Score Nicola Piovani Nominated
Best Production Design Danilo Donati Won
Best Costumes Won
Scholars Jury David Roberto Benigni Won
European Film Awards 7 December 1998 Best Film Elda Ferri and Gianluigi Braschi Won [37]
Best Leading Actor Roberto Benigni Won
Jerusalem Film Festival 1998 Best Jewish Experience   Won [9]
Screen Actors Guild Awards 7 March 1999 Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Motion Picture Cast Nominated [38]
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role in a Motion Picture Roberto Benigni Won
Toronto International Film Festival 10–19 September 1998 People's Choice Award Won [14]