How we cite our quotes: All quotations are from Life Is Beautiful.
Quote #4
BARTOLOMEO: Do you speak German?
GUIDO: No. [The officer speaks and Guido "translates."]
GUIDO: The game starts now. Whoever's here is here, whoever's not is not. The first one to get a thousand points wins. The prize is a tank! Lucky him.
Drawing from the same willpower he used to win Dora's heart, Guido sets out to protect his son from the horrors of the concentration camp. He decides to play make-believe that the whole terrifying affair is an elaborate game, where the winner gets a real live tank.
Quote #5
GUIDO: We're going to die here. I can't take it anymore. I'm putting this down. I'll tell them I can't do it. What can they do to me?
VITTORINO: They'll kill you!
GUIDO [rises up with renewed strength]: Where does this thing go?
VITTORINO: Down there.
GUIDO: Good Lord! I'll never make it!
Of course, it isn't a game. Guido's life is on the line, and if he doesn't work hard, he will be killed. Mostly we see his perseverance manifest in a clownish energy, but here, we see him pushed to his physical limits.
Quote #6
JOSHUA [running in]: Pop! Pop!
GUIDO: Joshua, why are you here? You're not supposed to be here! Go away! Why aren't you with the other kids?
JOSHUA: They said all us kids have to take a shower today, and I don't want to.
GUIDO: Go take a shower!
JOSHUA: No!
GUIDO: Yes!
JOSHUA: I'm not going to.
Speaking of willpower, little Joshua's got a fair amount for a pint-sized procrastinator. Like most young boys, he hates baths and will fight to the bitter end to stay dirty (remember that we saw this earlier in the film, too). Here, the showers prove to be the gas chambers, and Joshua inheriting his father's willpower/stubbornness saves his life.