Tim Hetherington Film Club: La Vita Bella
About this event
Next showing: 6.30pm for 7.00pm on Thursday 29 January 2026
Cost: no charge, free refreshments but donations are welcome
Presenting: ‘La Vita Bella’ or ‘Life is Beautiful (subtitle; 116 minutes)
‘Life is Beautiful’ is the ironic title of this 1997 period masterpiece that was an overwhelming critical and commercial success with critics praising its story, performances, direction and, in particular, its ‘union of comedy and drama’.
The story tells of a Jewish bookshop owner who uses his imagination to shield his young son from the horrors of internment in a Nazi concentration camp. The film is written, directed and stars Roberto Begnini and is based on the true story of his father who wrote about his experience of Bergen-Belsen camp in the book that partially inspired the film, ‘In the end, I beat Hitler’.
The film won the Grand Prix at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival, five Donatello awards, two European Film Awards and three Academy Awards including Best Foreign Language and Best Actor for Begnini. the first ever for a male non-English performance.
With its neat sidestepping of politics in favour of simple human ingenuity, the film scored a massive 81% on Rotten Tomatoes and Pope John Paul II voted it in his top five films of all time.
Do come and judge for yourself.