How we cite our quotes: All quotations are from Life Is Beautiful.
Quote #1
GUIDO: Nice to meet you. I'm Prince Guido.
ELEONORA: Prince?
GUIDO: I'm a prince, I am. All this is mine. Here starts the prince's principate. I'll call this place Addis Ababa. I'll change it all. Out go the cows, in come the camels.
ELEONORA: Camels?
GUIDO: Even a few hippopotamus. I must go. I'm meeting with the princess.
Guido's no prince; he's a waiter. That's about as far on the social ladder from being a prince as you can get. He doesn't have the power to own a principate and fill it with hippos—which, just for the record, is a bad idea. But this is our first clue that Guido's power comes from his princely imagination.
Quote #2
GUIDO: I need your signature to open a bookstore.
SECRETARY: Mr. Rodolfo, I told him.
GUIDO: Just one signature.
RODOLFO: No, I can't. My substitute will be here in an hour. Ask him.
GUIDO: All I need is a signature.
RODOLFO: We close at one here.
GUIDO: It's ten to one.
RODOLFO: File a complaint.
We're getting flashbacks to the DMV? Bureaucracy is still alive and well (fortunately without Nazis, though). By the power of Greyskull, Rodolfo has some clout. As a government official, he has the ability to improve people's lives by, say, letting them open bookstores. Does he use this power for good? Nope!
Quote #3
LESSING: Urgent telegram. I must go to Berlin immediately. What are these flowers?
GUIDO: They're for your departure.
LESSING: I'll take just one. I'll take it to my wife: Guido's flower. I truly enjoyed myself with you. You're the most ingenious…waiter I've ever come across.
GUIDO: Thank you. You're the customer with the most culture I've ever served.
LESSING: Thank you.
In their relationship, Guido and Dr. Lessing appear to be equals. Sure, Dr. Lessing is a doctor and high-ranking official, while Guido's a waiter. But they manage to build a friendship based on mutual respect for the other's intelligence and culture. But can it survive the realities of their social differences? Stay tuned.