Christmas seems as good a time as any to remind audiences that life is beautiful. Star Movies does just that. On December 25 at 9:30 PM, the channel will Life is Beautiful, a heartwarming tale calculated to make viewers laugh even in the face of tragedy.

Life is Beautiful is all about a father (director Roberto Benigni), who along with his young son, are sent to a concentration camp during the Nazi reign. To spare his son the traumatic experience, Benigni pretends that the whole saga is nothing more than a game that everyone, adult and child alike, can play. The film proves that if one uses one's imagination, one can make light shine in the darkest of places.

 In one hilarious scene early in the film, officials mistake Bemigni for a Mussolini representative. He is expected to talk about the greatness of the Aryan Race in a school. He pretends that he is the perfect Aryan specimen and shows off his body to the most comical effect. 

In the camp, he tells his son that one of the game's challenges is that all kinds of hardships will be presented to them like cramped quarters, but come what may they cannot voice any complaint. If they do, they will be sent packing home early. He says that the more silent they remain, the more points they get. If they are able to collect 1000 points, they will get the grand prize of a tank. 

He dismisses stories of evil that his son tells him saying that is just a tactic on the part of the other 'competitors' to gain the upper hand. This way, the father is able to give his son the simple pleasures of life and the child's innocence is preserved.

The film bagged Oscars for the best evocative score, best foreign language film and best actor for Roberto Benigni. The real star, however, is Giorgio Cantarini as the five-year-old boy who shows wisdom far beyond his years.