Age: 73
male
Roberto Benigni, (born October 27, 1952, Misericordia, Arezzo, Italy), Italian actor and director known for his comedic work, most notably La vita è bella (1997; Life Is Beautiful), for which he won an Academy Award for best actor. Benigni was the son of a poor tenant farmer who had worked in a German forced-labour camp during World War II. The elder Benigni used humour in retelling his experiences, which helped shape his son’s comedic skill. Benigni briefly attended a Jesuit seminary in Florence, and, after a stint as a magician’s assistant, he joined an underground theatre group in the late 1960s.
A young warlord rises from the fractured heart of Europe, driven by a conviction that unity is worth any cost. Set in the brutal uncertainty of the Early Middle Ages, Charlemagne follows a Frankish king as he expands a fragile realm through relentless conquest, political cunning, and religious devotion. As he wages war against Saxons, Lombards, and rival claimants, his empire grows—but so does the weight of what he demands from those he conquers. Forced conversions, mass executions, and the quiet erasure of older gods haunt every victory. At the center of the film is a man torn between two visions of himself: a divinely appointed protector of Christendom and a ruler who knows his empire is built on blood. Court intrigue, betrayals within his own family, and the looming authority of the Church test his control as much as the battlefield does. His coronation as Emperor is framed not as triumph, but as a moment of irreversible transformation—where ambition hardens into legacy. Charlemagne is a historical epic focused less on glory than on consequence, portraying the creation of Europe as an act of will, violence, and faith—and asking whether unity achieved through force can ever truly endure.
