A droll young Jewish man (Roberto Benigni) uses humor to win over the woman of his dreams (Nicoletta Braschi) in fascistic Italy and uses the same method to protect their son when they are later imprisoned in a Nazi death camp. Begnigni's immensely successful and popular film, for which he won accolades as writer, director, and star, is an obnoxious and artificial movie whose real message is that no matter how mawkish, buffoonish, or forced your film is, if you set it in a concentration camp you are bound to win several Oscars.
