How we cite our quotes: All quotations are from Life Is Beautiful.
Quote #4
GUIDO: Everything is just fine. I'll pick it all up. I apologize.
[Dora goes under the table to meet Guido.]
GUIDO: Princess. You're here too?
[Dora kisses him.]
DORA: Take me away.
Guido may not be as powerful as Rodolfo, but his powers of imagination and charm are exactly what Dora needs. It's Guido one, Rodolfo zero in the final round of this dating game.
Quote #5
OFFICIAL: You have to come to the Prefect's.
GUIDO: Again?
JOSHUA: He already went.
OFFICIAL: Let's go.
GUIDO: Why?
[A man puts his cigarette out on Guido's bookstore window.]
GUIDO: Is that man with you?
OFFICIAL: Yes. Let's go.
Things have gotten worse. Before, Guido had little influence because he wasn't high on the social ladder. Now, he's been stripped of all power simply because he's a Jew.
Quote #6
JOSHUA: A man was crying. He said they make buttons and soap out of us.
GUIDO: You fell for that? Again? I thought you were a sharp boy, cunning, intelligent. Buttons and soap out of people? That'll be the day. You believed that? Just imagine. Tomorrow morning, I wash my hands with Bartolomeo, a good scrub. Then I'll button up with Francesco. Oh. Darn it all. Look! I just lost Giorgio. Does this look like a person? Come on! They were teasing you, and you fell for it. What else did they tell you?
Here's a great example of the two types of power the film likes to contrast. On the one hand, we have the Nazis, who have the power of life or death over their Jewish prisoners. On the other hand, we have Guido's power of imagination, which he uses to hide the reality of the camp from his son.