“My heart is filled with joy and gratitude. It is an immense honor to receive such an important recognition for my work from the Venice International Film Festival ”. These are the "hot" words of Roberto Benigni as soon as he received the news that he was given the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement of 78. Venice International Film Festival which will take place from 11st to XNUMXth September.
The decision was taken by the Biennale's Board of Directors which adopted the proposal of the director of the exhibition, Alberto Barbera, as its own. An award that recognizes the great Italian actor, director and screenwriter for being a "figure of reference", as defined by the director of the Festival, Barbera, "unprecedented and unparalleled". Since its inception, which took place "in the name of a wave of innovation and disrespectful of rules and traditions".
Life is beautiful, Benigni's film with the highest number of viewers in the world
The beginning of the artistic career of Benigni, who was born in the province of Arezzo on October 27, 1952, dates back to the early seventies. A rapid and lightning-fast career that leads him to be one of the most loved among Italian actors, directors and screenwriters. Loved in Italy but known and appreciated all over the world. Some flashes of this extraordinary artistic journey. For the movie Life is Beautiful, written and directed by him, in 1998 obtained the Grand Jury Prize al Cannes Festival.
In 1999, among the seven nominations received, La vita è bella obtained the Oscars for best foreign film and for best actor (in addition to the one for best soundtrack assigned to Nicola Piovani). With the same film, again in 1999, he also won the Screen Actor Guild and the Bafta as Best Actor. In addition, four David di Donatello and four Silver Ribbons. Life is Beautiful is the film with the largest following of Italian cinema audiences: 9,7 million spectators. And it is in the history of Italian cinema the film that has totaled the highest number of spectators in the world. A global success.
Roberto Benigni excellence of world cinema
In 2008 Roberto Benigni received the César d'Honneur in Paris. In 2016 he was awarded the Golden Globe for Lifetime Achievement and the following year with the David di Donatello Lifetime Achievement Award. Four years later, in 2020, he won the Prix Lumière for Lifetime Achievement. A recent silver ribbon was awarded to him for Matteo Garrone's Pinocchio (2019) as best supporting actor in the role of Geppetto. From Italy to the United States where Benigni has also established himself in American cinema, working alongside Woody Allen in the film To Rome with Love (2012), among others. We remember, among his other highly successful films, Johnny Stecchino (1991), The monster (1994), Pinocchio (2002), The tiger and the snow (2005).
The Golden Lion Benigni and "his" Divine Comedy
Not just cinema. Roberto Benigni has demonstrated extraordinary qualities of high dissemination by interpreting and commenting on Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy, the Song of the Italians, the Fundamental Principles of the Constitution of the Italian Republic and the Ten Commandments, receiving great acclaim from the public and critics. In 2005 the President of the Republic Carlo Azeglio Ciampi appointed him Knight of the Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic. He has been awarded ten Honoris Causa degrees as well as numerous other prizes and awards around the world. Recently, on the occasion of Monday 2021, Benigni recited the XNUMXth Canto del Paradiso, live from the Salone dei Corazzieri at the Quirinale, in the presence of the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella and the Minister of Culture Dario Franceschini.
As the director of the Biennale Cinema recalled, "Roberto Benigni, with admirable eclecticism, without ever giving up being himself, has gone from taking on the role of one of the most extraordinary comedians of the rich gallery of Italian interpreters, to those as a memorable director capable of making films of enormous popular impact, ultimately becoming the most appreciated interpreter and popularizer of Dante's Divine Comedy "
