Roberto Benigni
Roberto Benigni
Roberto Remigio Benigni, Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRIis an Italian actor, comedian, screenwriter and director. He co-wrote, directed and acted in the 1997 film, Life Is Beautiful, which garnered him the Academy Award for Best Actor and the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. He also portrayed Inspector Clouseau's son in Son of the Pink Pantherand has collaborated with filmmaker Jim Jarmusch in three of his films: Down by Law, Night on Earthand Coffee and Cigarettes...
NationalityItalian
ProfessionMovie Actor
Date of Birth27 October 1952
CountryItaly
When I was a little boy, I was reading Dante and I was saying to myself 'Bravo, Dante, Bravo.' It's so beautiful, the music, the sound, the meaning. I felt like calling him by phone, like a friend.
We live with this horror and are surrounded by this horror.
I am overjoyed and extremely grateful to receive this extraordinary honor. These awards fill my heart with happiness, knowing that people throughout Europe have been touched by our film.
It's a real love story in an extreme situation, ... I was afraid of only one thing. I was afraid to offend the memory of survivors on Jewish people, which I respect so much.
The first part of the story is very funny and very full of gags ... then the second part is not a comedy (and) is exactly a real tragedy. This, to me, was wonderful, the balance.
What is more simple than to tell to a little boy, 'This is not the truth, it is a game?'
This is a terrible mistake, because I used up all of my English.
Maybe sometimes I have been wrong with some movies. Anyway, I try to do my best.
For me, Fellini was like a watermelon. It is there. A watermelon cannot die.
The first movie I saw - and I don't know if it influenced me - was 'Ben Hur'.
Dante Alighieri is a universal poet, and great creators, they are writing for everybody always. Every single verse is very moving, and the beauty - if we don't understand, we just stay listening to the sound and it's like hearing music.
I could have made a small film and kept all the money from 'Life is Beautiful'. Instead, I spent more money than I had on 'Pinocchio', a very risky film.
Stanley Kubrick is one of the geniuses of this century.
The first movie I saw - and I don't know if it influenced me - was Ben Hur. We watched it outside in a corn field, and it ran backwards, so the first movie I ever saw was Ben Hur backwards.