The main square in Arezzo - Credit: Shutterstock / Jon Naustdalslid
Then Benigni chose Arezzo for his most famous film, "La Vita è Bella" (Life is Beautiful). The film won the David di Donatello Italian film award and three Oscars for best foreign film, best lead character and best soundtrack, composed by Nicola Piovani. As film set, Arezzo appears like a fairy tale place, an ideal town for the characters of Guido Orefice (played by Benigni) and Dora (played by Nicoletta Braschi).
Many scenes were shot in Piazza Duomo, Piazza Grande and the town’s streets. Despite it seems to be a comedy, the shadow of Fascism looms over the town and its inhabitants, especially as the violence increases, changing forever the main character’s happy life.
Today you can wander through the narrow streets of Arezzo, which Guido zooms along on his bicycle in the first part of this world famous film.
In 2019, Benigni played the role of Geppetto in the movie Pinocchio, directed by Matteo Garrone and partly shot in Sinalunga, near Siena. Geppetto is the father of Pinocchio, the famous wooden puppet that dreams to become a boy, born from Collodi's fervid imagination.
