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

The ratio of film shot to film actually used in the final cut was 50 to 1.

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Quotes

Narrator: The ones who don't enjoy themselves, even when they laugh. Oh yeah. The ones who worship the corporate image, not knowing that they work for someone else. Oh yeah. The ones who should have been shot in the cradle... Pow! Oh yeah. The ones who say 'Follow me to success, but kill me if I fail... so to speak.' Oh yeah. The ones who say we Italians are the greatest he-men on earth. Oh yeah. The ones who are noble Romans, the ones who say 'That's for me,' the ones who say 'You know what I mean.' Oh ...

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Connections

Referenced in I Am Self Sufficient (1976)

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.