Seven Beauties (1975)

The defense of honor, a strong value in Neapolitan society, and his 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 2 wins & 5 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 Salvatore
Aristide Caporale	...	Madman (as Aristide Caporali)

Storyline

Pasqualino, an Italian everyman, deserts the army during World War II. Germans capture him and send him to a prison camp, where he does just about anything to survive. In lengthy flashbacks, we see him and his family of seven unattractive sisters (the seven beauties), his accidental murder of one sister's lover, his confession and imprisonment, his calculated switch to an asylum, his rape of a patient, and his volunteering to be a soldier to escape confinement. To the chagrin of his obese German captor, his weak and cowardly character enables him to survive the war and return to Naples where he has a plan to survive the next world catastrophe.

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Plot Keywords:

starvation | title directed by female | murder | honor | f rated | 

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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

Details

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian German Neapolitan Spanish

Release Date:

21 January 1976 (USA)

Also Known As:

Seven Beauties

Filming Locations:

Naples, Campania, Italy

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$1,536, 14 April 2017, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$11,962, 9 June 2017

Company Credits

Production Co:

Medusa Distribuzione

Technical Specs

Runtime:

116 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 the Academy Award for Best Director. The only other women to be so nominated are Jane Campion for The Piano (1993), Sofia Coppola for Lost in Translation (2003), Kathryn Bigelow for The Hurt Locker (2008), and Greta Gerwig for Lady Bird (2017). Bigelow is the only one of the five to have won the award.

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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

Reviewing a Masterpiece

Never before and never after Pasqualino Settebellezze, Lina Wertmuller regained her explosive ability to depict human misery. It's her best work and the best example of her dualistic thematic stories always centered on conflicting aspects of gender and politics. Her creation of the Nazi bitch surpasses all expectations about her anti feminism. A Gem!