La Vita e Bella

As Benjamin Franklin once said, “Many people die at 25 and aren’t buried until 75.” Guido Orefice, the main character in La Vita é Bella was not one of those people. In the movie, Guido is a man who lives every second, taking nothing for granted and leaving no opportunity wasted. In La Vita é Bella, Life is Beautiful, the main character Guido Orefice travels to Arezzo, Italy, with his friend Ferruccio, in hopes of eventually opening up a bookstore. On the journey to the city, Guido meets a schoolteacher named Dora, immediately falling in love with her. During his time in the city, Guido runs into Dora a number of times, some on accident and others on purpose, and never wastes an opportunity to impress and woo her. Eventually, after liberating her from her own engagement party to another man, Guido marries Dora. The birth of their son Joshua and five years go by. WWII starts and the Germans take many Jews to concentration camps. On the night of Joshua’s fifth birthday German soldiers come and take Guido, his uncle and Joshua off to a concentration camp. When Dora learns what has become of her husband and son she pursues them, eventually landing in the same camp as them. As Joshua and Guido are traveling to the camp and even when they arrive, Guido makes Joshua believe that the entire ordeal is a game, the grand prize being a real life tank. The story ends when the Allies capture the camp, unfortunately after Guido is executed for trying to escape. Joshua is taken from the camp in one of the American tanks, Joshua thinking it is because he has won the game, and on the road sees his mother, whom he has been separated from since the night of his birthday, which is a bittersweet ending. La Vita é Bella is a masterful production, in bot...

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...script would only be unrealized potential, in the end, a waste.

The script and film are vital to each other, one fulfilling the other in ways neither could do on their own. The script provides the vital information necessary to make the film into the hit has become. The movie, because of the screenplay’s effectiveness, conveys the theme of bravery through its use of character development, the dialogue and effects within the film. Courage is aptly displayed in the characters of Guido and Dora. Can anyone really know if they would have the courage to carry on, despite great hardship, even when their loved ones were at stake?

Works Cited

Meyer, Nicholas. Screenplay quotes. 04 12 2010 .

Towne, Robert. Robert Towne Quotes. 04 12 2010 .