Roberto Benigni

Date

2005

Description

Creator of the image: Henry Leutwyler
Date of the image creation: 2005
Medium of the image: Photograph
Person depicted: Roberto Benigni

This photo was taken for the French Magazine, Madame Figaro, and has since been copied by a number of internet artists in drawings and paintings. Roberto Benigni raises his eyebrows, widens his eyes, withdraws his chin, and looks over his shoulder at the professional camera-person. His large forehead is encircled by a receding halo of unkept curly hair, and his white skin stands out against the darken background. The expressive effect of Benigni's pose is comic. He exudes a playfulness and a life-loving warmth.

Roberto Benigni (1952) is an actor, comedian, writer, director, poet, musician, and Dante enthusiast. Outside Italy, he is best known for his 1997 film, Life is Beautiful, which won two Academy Awards, and for his collaborations with Jim Jarmusch. Within Italy, he first came to recognition in the 1970s, initially as a stage performer, then a television actor, and then general public figure. Life is Beautiful was directed, co-written and staring Benigni, tells the touching and tragic story of a Jewish father and son imprisoned in a Nazi concentration camp, with the father explaining the whole experience to him as an elaborate game that he needs to play by the rules of in order to win. Benigni’s own father spent time in such a camp, and so there is a personal edge to the film.

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