1. Life Is Beautiful
"This is a simple story. But not an easy one to tell. Like a fable, there is sorrow, and like a fable, it is full of wonder and happiness." So begins Roberto Benigni's masterpiece "Life Is Beautiful". The story begins in 1939 when Guido Orefice arrives in Venice looking for a job with his uncle, but dreams of opening a bookstore there after getting settled. Before he has even arrived in the city though, he accidentally rescues a woman falling out of a window and is immediately smitten. Unfortunately, he must keep moving. Later in the city, he sees the woman again, and again, and again, and finally begins to relentlessly pursue her. He finally wins her over and they marry. The film skips ahead five or so years. Guido has his bookstore, and he and his wife Dora now have a son named Giosue (or Joshua in the English dubbing). Unfortunately though, World War II is in full swing, and both Guido and his son are Jewish, and are finally sent to a concentration camp. Not wanting his son to have to know the true horror of what is happening, he constructs an elaborate game out of their situation, telling his son that if they "win", they receive a tank. A real tank. Running alongside this plotline, Guido's wife Dora (non-Jewish) insisted she be taken along to the camp with her family, but is unfortunately sent to a different part of the camp. So in the midst of keeping his son safe and oblivious to their living nightmare, he also constantly attempts to find ways to contact his wife.
The Bittersweet Ending: As the Allied forces move closer to the camp, the soldiers there start killing all the prisoners, or "getting rid of the evidence". As soon as Guido realizes this, he hides his son in a sweatbox, disguises himself as a woman, and begins searching for his wife to make sure she gets out before being killed. Then comes the kicker... he gets caught. With his son watching, Guido is marched away, taken behind a building, and shot. The next morning, the Allied forces arrive and rescue everyone left alive, including Gudio's son and wife. At this point the voiceover returns, only now we realize it was a fully grown Joshua speaking, not his father Guido.
"This is my story. This is the sacrifice my father made. This was his gift to me."