La Vita i Bella is set during the Second World War. Guido, Dora, and Giosuy live in the city. The first half of the movie tells viewers how Guido and Dora fell in love. We watch as Guido meets Dora when she falls on top of him from out of a barn. Then we see him continue to find her and make her laugh. Finally she runs away with him during her engagement party to the rude Rodolfo.

On Giosuy's birthday one year, Dora comes home to find that Guido and Giosuy are missing. She hurries to find them and discovers that they have been put on a train heading toward a concentration camp. She is not required to go, but she demands that the soldiers allow her on the train.

The whole family ends up in the camp, but Dora is alone on the women's side. Guido...