All Oscar Winners Should Accept Their Awards Like Kooky Roberto Benigni
Life is Beautiful—or, if you’re practicing Italian, La Vita È Bella—may be one of the most obvious Oscar-bait movies of all time. In fact, the Italian Holocaust tragicomedy probably informed a lot of the 21st century’s most Oscar-thirsty films. It’s a bittersweet, laugh one minute, sob the next movie about the power of family. But it’s so heartwarming. I won’t hear otherwise!
Roberto Benigni, who directed, wrote, and starred in the film, was known for making huge scenes while the movie garnered critical and awards acclaim. When Life is Beautiful won the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival in 1998, Benigni kissed the feet of Martin Scorsese, the jury president that year. Naturally, when the Oscars rolled around about a year later, Benigni was overjoyed to hear his name announced as a winner—twice.
Before we get into that, though, I’d be remiss if I didn’t plug Life is Beautiful, one of my favorite films. Benigni stars as Guido (is there any Italian name better than that?), a goofy Jewish waiter living in fascist Italy in 1939 who falls head over heels for “princesa” Dora (Benigni’s real life wife Nicoletta Braschi). Though their romance is a comedy of errors, they finally get married and have a baby, Giosué (Giorgio Cantarini).