That's Life (1998 film)

That's Life
Poster of the film
ItalianCosì è la vita
Directed byAldo, Giovanni & Giacomo
Massimo Venier
Written byAldo, Giovanni & Giacomo
Massimo Venier
Gino e Michele
Giorgio Gherarducci
Graziano Ferrari
Produced byPaolo Guerra
StarringAldo Baglio
Giovanni Storti
Giacomo Poretti
Marina Massironi
CinematographyGiovanni Fiore Coltellacci
Music byNegrita
Distributed byMedusa Film
Release date
  • 18 December 1998 (1998-12-18)
Running time
108 min
CountryItaly
LanguageItalian
Box office$30 million (Italy)[1]

That's How Life Is (Italian: Così è la vita) is a 1998 Italian comedy film directed by Aldo, Giovanni & Giacomo and Massimo Venier.[1][2]

Plot

[edit]

Aldo Baglio is currently in prison, charged with a counterfeiting crime, and shares his room with his fat cellmate Crapanzano; Giacomo Poretti is an upstanding police officer who dreams of becoming a writer and lives with her sister's family, whose members treat him like an unwanted guest; Giovanni Storti is a children's toy designer who lives with his wife, Elena, who doesn’t seem to love him as much as he does. One morning, Aldo needs to be escorted to the courthouse. The designated police officers are Giacomo and his colleague Antonio. However, Antonio leaves Giacomo alone, who goes to meet Elena instead, and the latter cheats on Giovanni. During the drive, Aldo accidentally finds a gun in a car drawer and decides to hijack the vehicle. In the meantime, Giovanni gets robbed of his car, and as Giacomo’s police car passes by, he tries to stop it to seek help from the policeman, but he ends up being taken hostage, too.

After a long and adventurous journey, the three are found by the police. After a long and dangerous chase, the car falls from a cliff, but somehow they miraculously manage to survive. Aldo, Giovanni and Giacomo then spend the night in an abandoned cemetery, where they meet Clara, a woman Aldo falls in love with. The three hitchhike back to Milan, where, after seeing their corpses in three caskets, and thanks to Clara, they realise they actually died in the car crash. Giovanni finds out that his newly widowed wife has always had an unfaithful relationship with Antonio, while Giacomo discovers that his room has already been rented out and all his possessions, including the book he had been working on for a long time, have been thrown away.

Clara reveals herself as an angel and, together with Aldo, helps the two take revenge before accompanying them to heaven.

Cast

[edit]

Box office

[edit]

The film was the fourth highest grossing film of the year despite only being released during December. It went on to gross over $30 million in Italy.[1]

Accolades

[edit]
Year Award Category Recipient(s) Result Ref.
1999 Nastro d'Argento Best Original Song Negrita Nominated [3]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c Rooney, David (12 January 1999). "Boffo Italo B.O." Variety. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  2. ^ "That's Life (1998)". DVD Planet Store. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  3. ^ "Così è la vita Premi vinti e nomination". ComingSoon.it (in Italian). Archived from the original on 28 April 2021. Retrieved 28 April 2021.
[edit]