Life is Beautiful
visitArezzo.com heartly thanks the superb actor, director and screenwriter Mr. Roberto Benigni for the poetical emotions offered through his art: he chose our (and his) hometown Arezzo as set for a masterpiece of movie industry, well beyond Italian boundaries being winner of 3 Academy awards in 1999. Here you can find a guide to stages of climax scenes by "La vita è bella" (also famous as "Life is beautiful" or "La vie est belle"...), extraordinary international success for public and critics. Benigni was born in Arezzo province; then grown as man and artist elsewhere in Tuscany, his shows were always welcome by Arezzo public, he knew the town and the best places for movie shooting. Our itinerary of "La vita è bella" will help you discover Arezzo and its places
Legenda della Mappa
1: La Cattedrale 
2: Il Palazzo della Provincia
3: I palazzi di Piazza Grande
4: Le Logge Vasari
5: Il Palazzo della Fraternita dei Laici
6: Piazza Grande-
7: La cartolibreria Orefice 
8: Badia delle Sante Flora e Lucilla
9: Via Garibaldi
10: Scuole Elementari Gamurrini
11: Basilica di S. Francesco
12: Caffè dei Costanti
13: Teatro Petrarca
Benigni Ringrazia Arezzo
Movie plot
Guido, a young Italian of Jewish origin, gets into Arezzo looking for a job with a friend. He is hired as a waiter by Uncle Eliseo, manager of the Grand Hotel, and falls in love with Dora, a teacher promised to a fascist. With the joy and tenacity of his character, he manages to have Dora, his "princess", fall in love with him and get married. Six years later, Guido is deported by Nazis to a concentration camp with his Uncle Eliseo and his young son, little Giosuè. Dora, not Jewish, decides to follow them on his own will, it is the beginning of the tragic adventure. Guido skilfully conceals the entire drama of imprisonment so to protect his son from the terrible true, pretending it is all a point game; he also overwhelms the physical distance from his wife, trying to stay close as possible. A man, truly willing to do anything, up to the personal sacrifice, in order to defend what is most dear. Until the conclusive trial, which takes in Giosuè's imagination the shape of a hide and seek game, before the assignment of the final prize: the long coveted tank
Acknowledgments
Guido, a young Italian of Jewish origin, gets into Arezzo looking for a job with a friend. He is hired as a waiter by Uncle Eliseo, manager of the Grand Hotel, and falls in love with Dora, a teacher promised to a fascist. With the joy and tenacity of his character, he manages to have Dora, his "princess", fall in love with him and get married. Six years later, Guido is deported by Nazis to a concentration camp with his Uncle Eliseo and his young son, little Giosuè. Dora, not Jewish, decides to follow them on his own will, it is the beginning of the tragic adventure. Guido skilfully conceals the entire drama of imprisonment so to protect his son from the terrible true, pretending it is all a point game; he also overwhelms the physical distance from his wife, trying to stay close as possible. A man, truly willing to do anything, up to the personal sacrifice, in order to defend what is most dear. Until the conclusive trial, which takes in Giosuè's imagination the shape of a hide and seek game, before the assignment of the final prize: the long coveted tank
Acknowledgments
- Academy Awards (1999)
- Oscar 1999: 7 nominations, 3 prizes won
- WINNER: Best Leading Actor - Roberto Benigni
- WINNER: Best soundtrack for a dramatic film - Nicola Piovani
- WINNER: Best foreign film
- Nomination: Best Film - Gianluigi Braschi and Elda Ferri
- Nomination: Best Director - Roberto Benigni
- Nomination: Best original screenplay - Vincenzo Cerami eRoberto Benigni
- Nomination: Best editing - Simona Paggi
- Cannes Film Festival (1998)
- Cannes 1998: 1 prize won
- WINNER: Grand Prix - Roberto Benigni
- David di Donatello
- David 1998: 13 nominations, 9 prizes won
- WINNER: Best film - Elda Ferri, Gianluigi Braschi and Roberto Benigni
- WINNER: Best Director - Roberto Benigni
- WINNER: Best Leading Actor - Roberto Benigni
- WINNER: Best Screenplay - Roberto Benigni and Vincenzo Cerami
- WINNER: Best producer - Gianluigi Braschi and Elda Ferri
- WINNER: Best Director of Photography - Tonino Delli Colli
- WINNER: Best Production Designer - Danilo Donati
- WINNER: Best Costume Designer - Danilo Donati
- · WINNER: David school - Roberto Benigni
- Nomination: Best Supporting Actor - Sergio Bini Bustric
- Nomination: Best musician - Nicola Piovani
- Nomination: Best editor - Simona Paggi
- Nomination: Best sound engineer - Tullio Morganti
- Nastri d'Argento of SNGCI (1998)
- Ribbons 1998: 5 prizes won
- WINNER: Best Leading Actor - Roberto Benigni
- WINNER: Best Supporting Actor - Just Durano
- WINNER: Best Film Director - Roberto Benigni
- WINNER: Best Screenplay - Vincenzo Cerami and Roberto Benigni
- WINNER: Best original subject - Vincenzo Cerami and Roberto Benigni
- European Film Awards (1998)
- EFA 1998: 1 prize won
- WINNER: European Film 1998 - Gianluigi Braschi and Elda Ferri
- SAG Awards (1999)
- SAG 1999: 2 nominations, 1 prize won
- WINNER: Best Leading Actor - Roberto Benigni
- Nomination: Best performance of the entire cast - Roberto Benigni, Justin Durano, Sergio Bini Bustric, Nicoletta Braschi, Giuliana Lojodice, Giorgio Cantarini, Horst Buchholz and Marisa Paredes
Recommended Activities
Recommended Accommodation
