Guido is a charming, bumbling Jewish waiter whose colorful imagination and playful spirit help him to woo a beautiful schoolteacher. The couple marries and has a young son, but before long their idyllic world is threatened by Nazi soldiers who force the family into a concentration camp. Guido must now use his imagination again.
Guido is a charming, bumbling Jewish waiter whose colorful imagination and playful spirit help him to woo a beautiful schoolteacher. The couple marries and has a young son, but before long their idyllic world is threatened by Nazi soldiers who force the family into a concentration camp. Guido must now use his imagination again.
"It's a high-wire act without a net, and Benigni pulls it off with astounding grace and sensitivity."
Film.com
"Its sentiment is inescapable, but genuine poignancy and pathos are also present, and an overarching sincerity is visible too."
Los Angeles Times
"Dares to laugh in the face of the unthinkable. And because Benigni can be heart-rending without a trace of the maudlin, it works."
New York Times