Benigni, Roberto

▪ 2000

      At the 1999 Academy Awards ceremony, Italian actor and film director Roberto Benigni displayed the charm and gift for frenetic comedy that had endeared him to fans around the world and made La vita è bella (Life Is Beautiful)—which he co-wrote, directed, and starred in—one of the most acclaimed movies of the previous year. After receiving an Oscar for best actor—becoming only the second performer in a foreign-language film to win the honour—Benigni, delirious with happiness, made his way to the stage by walking nimbly atop the backs of chairs and proclaiming in broken English that he wanted to make love to everyone. In addition, Life Is Beautiful was named best foreign film, which added to the movie's more than 30 international awards, including the Grand Jury Prize at Cannes (1998). The tragicomedy follows Guido Orefice, an Italian Jew who falls in love and marries before his life is brutally interrupted by World War II. Interned in a Nazi concentration camp, he turns the experience into a humorous game in order to protect his young son. Although some critics charged that the film made light of the Holocaust, Benigni's aim was to offer a touching account of hope amid desperation. Already Italy's biggest movie star, he established himself as one of the world's most beloved performers.

      Born on Oct. 27, 1952, in Misericordia, Arezzo, Benigni was the son of a poor tenant farmer who had worked in a German labour camp during World War II. The elder Benigni used humour in retelling his experiences, which helped shape his son's comedic skill and served as the impetus for Life Is Beautiful. Benigni briefly attended a Jesuit seminary in Florence, and after a stint as a magician's assistant, he joined an underground theatre in the late 1960s. There he co-wrote a semiautobiographical monologue that led to a tour of Italy and the film Berlinguer, ti voglio bene (1977). A string of movies followed, and in 1983 he made his directorial debut with Tu mi turbi, which he also wrote and starred in. The film featured his wife, actress Nicoletta Braschi, who frequently appeared in his work and played his onscreen spouse in Life Is Beautiful. Benigni performed triple duties in Il piccolo diavolo (1988) and Il Mostro (1994). His fourth film as director, writer, and actor, Johnny Stecchino (1991), was a Mafia farce that set box-office records in Italy. By the mid-1990s Benigni had won over European audiences with his mimicry and exaggerated facial expressions—gestures that were reminiscent of his idol, Charlie Chaplin. In the United States, however, the filmmaker was relatively unknown. His appearance in such American movies as avant- garde filmmaker Jim Jarmusch's Down by Law (1986) and Blake Edwards's Son of the Pink Panther (1993) had garnered little attention. With Life Is Beautiful, however, American moviegoers crowded theatres, and the movie became the highest-grossing foreign film in the country. In August the film, now dubbed in English, was released again in the U.S.with expectations of another round of fame for Benigni. Meanwhile, the multitalented actor was busy at work in France on an action film entitled Asterix & Obelix v. Caesarbased on the popular European cartoon series.

Amy Tikkanen

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▪ Italian actor and director

born Oct. 27, 1952, Misericordia, Arezzo, Italy

      Italian actor and director known for his comedic work, most notably La vita è bella (1997; Life Is Beautiful), for which he won an Academy Award for best actor.

      Benigni was the son of a poor tenant farmer who had worked in a German labour camp during World War II. The elder Benigni used humour in retelling his experiences, which helped shape his son's comedic skill. Benigni briefly attended a Jesuit seminary in Florence, and after a stint as a magician's assistant, he joined an underground theatre group in the late 1960s. There he cowrote a semiautobiographical monologue that led to a tour of Italy and the film Berlinguer, ti voglio bene (1977; Berlinguer: I Love You). A string of movies followed, and in 1983 he made his directorial debut with Tu mi turbi (You Upset Me), which he also wrote and starred in. The film featured his wife, actress Nicoletta Braschi, who frequently appeared in his work and played his onscreen spouse in Life Is Beautiful. Benigni again performed triple duties in Il piccolo diavolo (1988; “The Little Devil”) and Il mostro (1994; The Monster). His fourth film as director, writer, and actor, Johnny Stecchino (1991), a Mafia farce, set box-office records in Italy.

      By the mid-1990s Benigni had won over European audiences with his mimicry and exaggerated facial expressions—gestures that were reminiscent of his idol, Charlie Chaplin (Chaplin, Charlie). In the United States, however, he was relatively unknown. His appearance in such American movies as avant-garde filmmaker Jim Jarmusch's Down by Law (1986) and Night on Earth (1988) and Blake Edwards's Son of the Pink Panther (1993) had garnered little attention. Life Is Beautiful, however, established Benigni as an international star. The movie—which he wrote, directed, and acted in—was released in the United States in 1998 and became the highest-grossing foreign film in the country. At the 1999 Academy Awards ceremony, Benigni became only the second performer in a foreign-language film to win the Academy Award for best actor. Life Is Beautiful also received an Oscar for best foreign film, which added to the movie's more than 30 international awards, including the Grand Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival (1998). The tragicomedy follows Guido Orefice, an Italian Jew who falls in love and marries before his life is brutally interrupted by World War II. Interned in a Nazi concentration camp, he turns the experience into a humorous game in order to protect his young son. Although some critics charged that the film made light of the Holocaust, Benigni's aim was to offer a touching account of hope amid desperation.

      In 1999 Benigni appeared in the French action film Astérix & Obélix contre César, based on the popular European cartoon series. His next project was Pinocchio (2002), a story he had long wanted to film. Though popular with Italian moviegoers, it did not have the same success internationally. Benigni's appearance in a 1986 short film by Jarmusch was included in the well-received Coffee and Cigarettes (2003), a collection of vignettes centring on the consumption of the eponymous addictive substances. In 2005 he directed, cowrote, and starred in La tigre e la neve (The Tiger and the Snow), which treats the Iraq War in much the same way as Life Is Beautiful treated the Holocaust, playing its absurdities for laughs and using it to frame a love story. This time, however, critics were less receptive to Benigni's handling of the topic.

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