What is the iRankMovies score for Life Is Beautiful?

Name: Life Is Beautiful
Director: Roberto Benigni
Genre: comedy, drama
Released: 1997
Duration: 1 h 56 min
Rating: 8.6

Life Is Beautiful has an iRankMovies score of 78.5/100, based on a weighted combination of IMDb (×3.0), Rotten Tomatoes (×2.0), Metacritic (×1.5), and TMDb (×1.0).

Life Is Beautiful (1997)

La vita è bella

An unforgettable fable that proves love, family and imagination conquer all.

Release:1997

Runtime:1h 56m

Country:Italy

Director:Roberto Benigni

Language:Italian

Genre

ComedyDrama

See the best comedy movies →

Keywords

Dying And DeathBookshopLove Of One S LifeNaziSelf SacrificeLoss Of Loved OneItalyRiddle

iRank79

Life Is Beautiful rating: IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic

IMDb8.6/10· 811K votes

Rotten Tomatoes80%

Metacritic58%

TMDb8.4/10· 14K votes

With 80% on Rotten Tomatoes, backed by 8.6/10 on IMDb and 58/100 on Metacritic, critical reception of this film has been positive.

About Life Is Beautiful

A touching story of an Italian book seller of Jewish ancestry who lives in his own little fairy tale. His creative and happy life would come to an abrupt halt when his entire family is deported to a concentration camp during World War II. While locked up he tries to convince his son that the whole thing is just a game.

Cast of Life Is Beautiful

Roberto Benigni
as Guido
Nicoletta Braschi
as Dora
Giorgio Cantarini
as Giosué
Giustino Durano
as Zio
Sergio Bini Bustric
as Ferruccio
Marisa Paredes
as Dora's Mother
Horst Buchholz
as Doctor Lessing
Lidia Alfonsi
as Mrs. Guicciardini
Giuliana Lojodice
as School Principal
Amerigo Fontani
as Rodolfo
Pietro De Silva
as Bartolomeo
Francesco Guzzo
as Vittorino

Life Is Beautiful facts

Original title: La vita è bella
Budget: $20M
Box office: $230.1M

Our take on Life Is Beautiful

Roberto Benigni's 1997 film balances comedy and drama with rare tenderness. He plays an Italian bookseller of Jewish heritage whose playful, fairy-tale outlook on life is shattered when his family is deported to a concentration camp during the Second World War. Imprisoned, he shields his young son by insisting the entire ordeal is an elaborate game. The film's daring lies in that tension between whimsy and horror, using warmth as an act of protection rather than denial. It suits viewers open to a sentimental, deeply humane story that finds fragile hope in unbearable circumstances, and who appreciate a performance built on charm, invention and paternal devotion.

Ranked by the iRankMovies editorial teamUpdated August 2026Methodology Data sources