"Life is Beautiful"

In an inspiring look at the human spirit, personality, and sacrifice, Life is Beautiful, an Italian film from 1997 that my wife and I watched this week, also features beautiful application of game mechanics. If you haven't seen the movie, I would highly recommend it, and I will try not to spoil it here, but I found it particularly interesting how the main character, played by Roberto Benigni, spends much of the film fictionalizing the horrors of WWII concentration camp into a game to help his family survive. Although I think the movie is only just based on a true story, it serves as another possible example of how useful game mechanics could be.