The Tiger and The Snow (La Tigre e la neve)

Benigni returns to the flavour of 1998 world-wide hit 'Life Is Beautiful' – that Chaplin-esque melding of a tragic setting & comic tone – after the critical mauling of his big budget 'Pinocchio' remake.

He plays a renowned poet called Attilio, who teaches with great passion in Rome. Through friend Fuad, an Iraqi poet played by French star Jean Reno, Attilio meets Vittoria (Braschi) and falls in love at first sight. Vittoria is writing a book on Fuad. Despite brushing him off, lovesick Attilio tries and tries again.

Some time later Fuad calls him with bad news – Vittoria, in Iraq to interview Fuad, has been injured in bombings during the US invasion. Unable to simply catch a flight during the war, Attilio palms himself off as a surgeon and joins the Italian Red Cross. Soon he’s on his way to Baghdad on a hijacked camel – in search of Vittoria, to be by her side.