Seven Beauties (1975)

The defense of honor, a strong value in Neapolitan society, and its effects on the life of everyman Pasquale Frafuso.

Director:

Lina Wertmüller

Writer:

Lina Wertmüller

Stars:

Giancarlo Giannini, Fernando Rey, Shirley Stoler

Nominated for 4 Oscars. Another 4 wins & 6 nominations.

Cast

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

Storyline

It's sometime during WWII. Italian national, Neapolitan Pasqualino Frafuso, is a big talking layabout who has grand ideas of his importance, especially in upholding the honor of his family consisting of his mother and his less than attractive seven sisters. He admits to himself that he too is less than handsome, but believes he nonetheless attracts the romantic interest of most women. It is in he upholding the honor of his sisters that he often calls himself Pasqualino Settebellezze, translated Pasqualino "Seven Beauties". Having gone AWOL from military service, he has just gotten off a train as a stowaway in an unknown locale having just met another AWOL soldier, Francesco, they believing they somewhere in Germany, which is indeed a correct assumption. In relaying his less than direct "point A to point B" story in how he arrived at this point in time to Francesco, Pasqualino tells one in which every conscious decision was what he thought would be the path of greatest ease for himself...

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Plot Keywords:

starvation | kapo | murder trial | insane asylum | nazi concentration camp | 

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Taglines:

...that's what they call him.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | War

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Certificate:

R

Did You Know?

Trivia

One of two foreign language films to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director in the same year, the other being Face to Face (1976). This was the first time in Oscar history in which two out of the five nominees were foreign films. This feat would not occur again until 2018 (42 years later); both Roma (2018) and Cold War (2018) were nominated for Best Director at the 91st Academy Awards in early 2019. In fact, 1976 and 2018 are the only instances in which two foreign language films were nominated for Best Director in the same year.

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Quotes

Pasqualino Frafuso: If anyone fails to respect you, you just say you're my fiancée. Like this. Say you're engaged to Pasqualino Seven Beauties.
Carolina: But I'm not your fiancée. It's false.
Pasqualino Frafuso: At the moment. But in a few years things could happen. Never try to predict the weather or the future.

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Alternate Versions

In the United States the film was shown in both a subtitled and English-dubbed versions.

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Connections

Referenced in Sneak Previews: The Top Ten Films of 1976 (1977)

User Reviews

Seven Beauties was my favorite film for 20 years

I saw "Seven Beauties" when I was in college back in 1976. It immediately became my favorite film and stayed that way for 20 years. Now that I am older, I have moved it down the list a bit, but I still love it. I especially love the music and the music scenes. For 20 years I searched for a soundtrack album but never found it. Finally, my brother recommended the obvious: rent the movie and copy the music to an audio tape. The music I am thinking of is in three scenes: the opening montage with the "Oh, yeah" song (which works much better in Italian--don't bother with the dubbed version); the strolling/strutting around the town scene (music only, no lyrics, no dialogue); and the court scene (music only, no lyrics, no dialogue). Those three scenes will stay with me the rest of my life.

Details

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian German Neapolitan Spanish English

Release Date:

21 January 1976 (USA)

Also Known As:

Seven Beauties

Filming Locations:

Naples, Campania, Italy

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$1,536, 16 April 2017

Gross USA:

$12,408

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$12,408

Company Credits

Production Co:

Medusa Distribuzione

Technical Specs

Runtime:

116 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White (opening sequence) Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1