Life Is Beautiful (La vita è bella) Resources

Miramax was responsible for bringing some classic foreign films to American audiences, Three Colors, Princess Mononoke, and Life Is Beautiful among them. It also distributed Tom and Jerry: The Movie so…there's that, too.

Get to know the man behind the…fictional man with this biography of Roberto Benigni.

This organization offered consultation to Benigni throughout the making of Life Is Beautiful.

If you need to study the history of the Shoah (which means "catastrophe" and is the Hebrew term for the Holocaust), look no further than the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

Still need more information on the Holocaust? History.com has got your back.

No Holocaust film slouch himself, Steven Spielberg established the Shoah foundation, an organization dedicated to preserving audio-visual accounts from survivors of the Holocaust. It's since expanded to include testimonies from witnesses of other global genocides.

Read Spanish? Good. You can read the book that inspired Guido's story.

This story, featured in The Jewish News of Northern California, covers audience responses to Life Is Beautiful upon its initial release. Some of it's good, some of it's bad, all of it is worth considering.

In his 1998 review, the late great film critic Roger Ebert explains why life and this movie are both beautiful, and worthy of a thumbs-up.

Charles Taylor, writing for Salon, found the film to be "in offensively poor taste." You can see the other side of the Life Is Beautiful discussion in his review.

New York Times reviewer Janet Maslin praised the film. In what feels like a direct counter to Taylor's argument, she notes that the film "plays by its own rules." We're starting to think there's no right answer here.

That's the question Brain Logan asks himself when he sits down to talk with Benigni. His answer—well, you'll have to read to find out.

Alain Elkann interviews Benigni on everything from his critics to his love life to Charlie Chaplin. Just go read it. Right now. The next set of links can wait.

The official trailer is basically a two-minute plot summary of the entire film. Clearly this was made in the days before spoiler warnings.

Benigni's interview with David Letterman comes with an immense language barrier. Ever the professional clown, Benigni takes the opportunity to craft some hilarity.

Benigni fulfills the dream of many Americans when he jump-hugs Conan O'Brien and professes his love for the man. What? That's not a dream of yours? Oh well, it's a funny interview all the same.

On a more serious note, Joe Leydon interviews Benigni on Life Is Beautiful's more somber notes.

Actually, Benigni walked on the theater seats to receive his Oscar. But he seemed happy enough to be walking on sunshine.

You know you wanted behind-the-scenes footage of Life Is Beautiful (even if you didn't know you wanted it). Well, we have behind-the-scenes footage of Life Is Beautiful. You're welcome.

Here's the Oscar-winning soundtrack to Life Is Beautiful in all its glory.

Three of Life Is Beautiful's most popular tracks are played live in the Basilica superior di San Francesco d'Assisi. Good stuff.

If we had to sum up Life Is Beautiful in a single image, its movie poster would be it.

Benigni and his adorable little co-star on the set.

Guido, Dora, and Joshua enjoy a happy moment in this famous scene from Life Is Beautiful.

Guido makes his son laugh and ribs a Nazi with his flamboyant goose step. Chaplin would be proud.

In one of the movie's memorable shots, Joshua's innocence stands framed among the horrors of the camp.

Roberto B. accepts his Academy Award in 1999 and looks pretty stoked while doing so.