Vita è bella, La

Plot summary

In 1930s Italy, a carefree Jewish book keeper named Guido starts a fairy tale life by courting and marrying a lovely woman from a nearby city. Guido and his wife have a son and live happily together until the occupation of Italy by German forces. In an attempt to hold his family together and help his son survive the horrors of a Jewish Concentration Camp, Guido imagines that the Holocaust is a game and that the grand prize for winning is a tank. Written by Anthony Hughes {husnock31@hotmail.com}

The film starts in the 1930s when Guido relocates from the country to a large Tuscan town where he falls in love with schoolteacher Dora. She is already engaged to another guy, but Guido stills fights for her. The story continues 5 years later, during wartime, Guido is married to Dora and they have a son called Giosue. Guido is of Jewish origin, and he is sent to a concentration camp with Giosue and Dora follows them, only to be sent to another part of the camp. Written by Anonymous

It's 1939. The ebullient, playful Guido comes to town. He works as a waiter under the watchful eye of his uncle, an elegant man who is a Jew. Guido falls for Dora, a schoolteacher, whom he calls "princess" and courts by popping up at unexpected times. She dumps her fiancé to choose Guido. The film jumps ahead to the war's last months. Nora and Guido have a child, Giosué, and when Guido and the lad are shipped to a concentration camp, Dora voluntarily follows. Although the men and women in the camp are separated and a child is in mortal peril, Guido finds ways to communicate with Dora, to hide Giosué, and to convince the boy this is an elaborate game, a special contest to win a tank. Written by {jhailey@hotmail.com}

Cast of Vita è bella, La

	Roberto Benigni	...	Guido Orefice
	Nicoletta Braschi	...	Dora
	Giorgio Cantarini	...	Giosué Orefice
	Giustino Durano	...	Eliseo Orefice
	Sergio Bini Bustric	...	Ferruccio Papini (as Sergio Bustric)
	Marisa Paredes	...	Madre di Dora
	Horst Buchholz	...	Doctor Lessing (as Horst Bucholz)
	Lidia Alfonsi	...	Guicciardini
	Giuliana Lojodice	...	School Principal
	Amerigo Fontani	...	Rodolfo
	Pietro De Silva	...	Bartolomeo
	Francesco Guzzo	...	Vittorino
	Raffaella Lebboroni	...	Elena
	Claudio Alfonsi	...	Amico Rodolfo
	Gil Baroni	...	Prefect