Life Is Beautiful

In Fascist Italy, exuberant Jewish waiter Guido courts schoolteacher Dora and builds a family with their son Giosuè. Years later, deportation to a concentration camp leads Guido to disguise rules, danger, and deprivation as a points-based game for the boy.

Repeated jokes, riddles, translations, hiding places, loudspeakers, and Nicola Piovani's theme let Guido improvise a child's framework inside danger; Benigni's physical comedy becomes visibly exhausting work done for Giosuè.