Seven Beauties (1975)
"Pasqualino Settebellezze" (original title)

Pasqualino Settebellezze è un giovane malavitoso napoletano che decide di commettere un crimine per farsi un nome in quel mondo. Non è realmente coraggioso ed un giorno uccide per caso ... See full summary »

Director:

Lina Wertmüller

Writer:

Lina Wertmüller

Stars:

Giancarlo Giannini, Fernando Rey, Shirley Stoler

Nominated for 4 Oscars. Another 4 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Giancarlo Giannini	...	Pasqualino Frafuso aka Settebellezze
Fernando Rey	...	Pedro the Anarchist Prisoner
Shirley Stoler	...	The Prison Camp Commandant
Elena Fiore	...	Concettina, a Sister
Piero Di Iorio	...	Francesco - Pasqualino's comrade
Enzo Vitale	...	Don Raffaele
Roberto Herlitzka	...	Socialist
Lucio Amelio	...	Lawyer
Ermelinda De Felice	...	Pasqualino's Mother
Bianca D'Origlia	...	The Psychiatrist
Francesca Marciano	...	Carolina (as Francesca Marciani)
Mario Conti	...	Totonno '18 Carati' - Concettina's pimp
Barbara Valmorin	...	The Prison Camp Commandant's Secretary
Emilio Salvatori
Aristide Caporale	...	Madman (as Aristide Caporali)

Storyline

Pasqualino Settebellezze è un giovane malavitoso napoletano che decide di commettere un crimine per farsi un nome in quel mondo. Non è realmente coraggioso ed un giorno uccide per caso l'uomo che ha ingannato sua sorella Concetta, costringendola a prostituirsi in un bordello. Ma è scoperto e, processato, è condannato a dodici anni di carcere criminale. Per uscire dal carcere, accetta di partire volontario durante la seconda guerra mondiale. Insieme al suo amico Francesco, fugge dalla Russia, ma entrambi sono catturati dai nazisti e deportati in un lager. Qui conosce le peggiori nefandezze della guerra e, per sopravvivere, deve perfino fingere di innamorarsi della perfida, grassa ed orrenda comandante del lager. Alla fine è addirittura costretto ad uccidere Francesco. Molti mesi dopo è liberato dalle armate alleate e torna a Napoli, dove trova tutte le sorelle che si prostituiscono per sopravvivere.

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Plot Keywords:

murder | russia | italian soldier | world war two | title directed by female | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | War

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian German Neapolitan Spanish

Release Date:

21 January 1976 (USA)

Also Known As:

Seven Beauties

Filming Locations:

Naples, Campania, Italy

Company Credits

Production Co:

Medusa Produzione, Jadran Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

115 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

With this film, Lina Wertmüller became the first woman ever nominated for an Academy Award as Best Director.

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Quotes

Pasqualino Frafuso: You'll never take Pasqualino Seven-Beauties! Never will you be able to take him alive!
Policeman: [seizing him] Stop bragging.
Pasqualino Frafuso: So I'm wrong.

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Connections

Featured in Bellissimo: Immagini del cinema italiano (1985)

User Reviews

Captivating parable about the evils of Nazism

Lina Wertmuller had a brief moment in the spotlight back in the mid-seventies, mostly due to the impact of three of her films: "Love and Anarchy," "Swept Away," and "Seven Beauties." Although her career took a nose-dive shortly thereafter, "Seven Beauties" still stands as her best film, and also one of the best films of its era.

Giancarlo Giannini gives a compelling and hilarious performance as Pasqualino Settebellezze, an Italian hood who is sent to prison after killing his sister's lover. He fakes insanity, gets sent to an institution, escapes by joining the military, deserts, gets caught, and is put in a concentration camp. There, he seduces his grotesque female camp commander in order to survive. Giannini makes his character wholly believable, and his presence on-screen (in nearly every scene) keeps the story going from one plot twist to the next. His character has a bumbling, comic presence to him, but also a certain amount of craft and sophistication.

Wertmuller creates a story that works both as slapstick and anti-war drama. Her direction is tight and controlled, and she doesn't flinch away from depicting the brutalities of Nazism. Parts of the film may seem like forerunners of the "gross-out" gags that have populated cinema in recent years, but these moments are actually used to show how the Nazis degraded ordinary innocents and demoralized the world around them. The most interesting aspect of the story is the way Wertmuller compares Hitler's tactics to those of the underground mafia; the Nazis, in the end, come off as hypocritical for persecuting Pasqualino for his crimes. Pasqualino may be a slovenly thug, but placed next to even the lowest-ranking of Hitler's cronies, he's a knight in shining armor.