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IMDbPro

Lina Wertmüller(1928-2021)

  • Writer
  • Director
  • Additional Crew
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
Lina Wertmüller
Watch Official Trailer
Play trailer1:31
Behind the White Glasses (2015)
1 Video
11 Photos
During the 1970s, Lina Wertmüller emblazoned her name into the pantheon of Italian cinema with a series of intensely polemical, deeply controversial and wonderfully entertaining films. Among the most politically outspoken and iconoclastic members of the second generation of postwar directors - the direct heirs to the neo-realists - Wertmüller was also one of the first woman directors to be internationally recognized and acclaimed. Armed with a keenly satiric and Rabelaisian humor, Wertmüller reinvented the narrative forms and character types of Italian comedy to create one of the rare examples of a radical, politically galvanized cinema that managed to achieve widespread popularity. Indeed, the fierce invectives against social, cultural and historical inequities at the heart of Wertmüller's mid-1970s masterworks Love and Anarchy, Seven Beauties and Swept Away seemed only to help the films find an appreciative audience, especially in the United States, where they broke box office records for foreign films and even secured Wertmüller an Oscar nomination for Best Director - the very first woman named for this category. Although Wertmüller remains a well-known name, her remarkable films are strangely overlooked and only selectively revisited. And yet, the incredible energy and daring of her most popular works is equally present in lesser-known masterpieces such as All Screwed Up and The Seduction of Mimi, films that are both extremely topical and yet still totally relevant today.
BornAugust 14, 1928
DiedDecember 9, 2021(93)
BornAugust 14, 1928
DiedDecember 9, 2021(93)
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
  • Nominated for 2 Oscars
    • 14 wins & 19 nominations total

Photos11

Lina Wertmüller in TCM Remembers 2021 (2021)
Lina Wertmüller and Valerio Ruiz in Behind the White Glasses (2015)
Lina Wertmüller
Lina Wertmüller
Giuseppe Rotunno and Lina Wertmüller
Lina Wertmüller at an event for Seven Beauties (1975)
Lina Wertmüller
Geena Davis, David Lynch, Wes Studi, and Lina Wertmüller
Lina Wertmüller
Lina Wertmüller in Behind the White Glasses (2015)

Known for

Giancarlo Giannini in Seven Beauties (1975)
Seven Beauties
7.7
  • Writer
  • 1975
Giancarlo Giannini and Mariangela Melato in Swept Away (1974)
Swept Away
7.5
  • Writer
  • 1974
The Basilisks (1963)
The Basilisks
7.2
  • Writer
  • 1963
Camorra (A Story of Streets, Women and Crime) (1985)
Camorra (A Story of Streets, Women and Crime)
5.7
  • Writer
  • 1985

Credits

Edit
IMDbPro

Writer

  • Roma, Napoli, Venezia... in un crescendo rossiniano (2014)
    Roma, Napoli, Venezia... in un crescendo rossiniano
    • written by
    • Short
    • 2014
  • Sergio Assisi and Gabriella Pession in Mannaggia alla miseria! (2009)
    Mannaggia alla miseria!
    • screenplay
    • story (as Lina Job Wertmuller)
    • TV Movie
    • 2009
  • Too Much Romance... It's Time for Stuffed Peppers (2004)
    Too Much Romance... It's Time for Stuffed Peppers
    • Writer
    • 2004
  • Madonna, Adriano Giannini, and Bruce Greenwood in Swept Away (2002)
    Swept Away
    • Writer (1974 screenplay Travolti da un insolito destino nell'azzurro mare d'agosto, uncredited)
    • 2002
  • Francesca e Nunziata (2001)
    Francesca e Nunziata
    • Writer
    • TV Movie
    • 2001
  • Ferdinando e Carolina (1999)
    Ferdinando e Carolina
    • writer
    • 1999
  • The Blue Collar Worker and the Hairdresser in a Whirl of Sex and Politics (1996)
    The Blue Collar Worker and the Hairdresser in a Whirl of Sex and Politics
    • screenplay
    • story
    • 1996
  • The Nymph (1996)
    The Nymph
    • Writer
    • 1996
  • Ciao, Professore! (1992)
    Ciao, Professore!
    • Writer
    • 1992
  • Saturday, Sunday and Monday (1990)
    Saturday, Sunday and Monday
    • screenplay
    • 1990
  • Up to Date (1989)
    Up to Date
    • screenplay
    • story
    • 1989
  • Hartmut Becker and Dominique Sanda in Il decimo clandestino (1989)
    Il decimo clandestino
    • screenplay
    • TV Movie
    • 1989
  • Summer Night with Greek Profile, Almond Eyes and Scent of Basil (1986)
    Summer Night with Greek Profile, Almond Eyes and Scent of Basil
    • Writer
    • 1986
  • Camorra (A Story of Streets, Women and Crime) (1985)
    Camorra (A Story of Streets, Women and Crime)
    • Writer
    • 1985
  • Enrico Montesano in Sotto... sotto (1984)
    Sotto... sotto
    • screenplay
    • story
    • 1984

Director

  • E una domenica sera di novembre
    • Director
    • TV Movie
    • 2022
  • Roma, Napoli, Venezia... in un crescendo rossiniano (2014)
    Roma, Napoli, Venezia... in un crescendo rossiniano
    • Director
    • Short
    • 2014
  • Carmen (2010)
    Carmen
    • Director (directed for stage)
    • TV Movie
    • 2010
  • Sergio Assisi and Gabriella Pession in Mannaggia alla miseria! (2009)
    Mannaggia alla miseria!
    • Director (as Lina Job Wertmuller)
    • TV Movie
    • 2009
  • Too Much Romance... It's Time for Stuffed Peppers (2004)
    Too Much Romance... It's Time for Stuffed Peppers
    • Director
    • 2004
  • Francesca e Nunziata (2001)
    Francesca e Nunziata
    • Director
    • TV Movie
    • 2001
  • Ferdinando e Carolina (1999)
    Ferdinando e Carolina
    • Director
    • 1999
  • The Blue Collar Worker and the Hairdresser in a Whirl of Sex and Politics (1996)
    The Blue Collar Worker and the Hairdresser in a Whirl of Sex and Politics
    • Director
    • 1996
  • The Nymph (1996)
    The Nymph
    • Director
    • 1996
  • Kafka (1992)
    L'encyclopédie audio-visuelle
    • Director
    • TV Series
    • 1993
  • Ciao, Professore! (1992)
    Ciao, Professore!
    • Director
    • 1992
  • Saturday, Sunday and Monday (1990)
    Saturday, Sunday and Monday
    • Director
    • 1990
  • 12 registi per 12 città (1989)
    12 registi per 12 città
    • Director (segment Bari)
    • 1989
  • Up to Date (1989)
    Up to Date
    • Director
    • 1989
  • Hartmut Becker and Dominique Sanda in Il decimo clandestino (1989)
    Il decimo clandestino
    • Director
    • TV Movie
    • 1989

Additional Crew

  • Revenge Room (2020)
    Revenge Room
    • Ambassador
    • Short
    • 2020
  • Carmen (2010)
    Carmen
    • staged by
    • TV Movie
    • 2010
  • Gian Maria Volontè in Documenti su Giuseppe Pinelli (1970)
    Documenti su Giuseppe Pinelli
    • support (uncredited)
    • 1970

Videos1

Official Trailer
Trailer 1:31
Official Trailer

Personal details

Edit
  • Official sites
    • Artist's
    • BFI
  • Alternative names
    • George H. Brown
  • Born
    • August 14, 1928
    • Rome, Lazio, Italy
  • Died
    • December 9, 2021
    • Rome, Lazio, Italy(Undisclosed)
  • Spouse
    • Enrico Job1965 - March 4, 2008 (his death, 1 child)
  • Children
    • Maria Zulima Job
  • Parents
      Federico Wertmüller von Elgg Spanol von Braueich
  • Publicity listings
    • 1 Interview
    • 3 Articles
    • 1 Pictorial

Did you know

Edit
  • Trivia
    The first woman ever to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Direction.
  • Quotes
    A truly creative new director? Well, the whole world is waiting. And here (the U.S.), the directors with real genius seem to have become so enamored of success that they've become seduced by the chance to make big money by turning out a flashy product for young people. When I was young, I ran to see Astaire and Rogers, Huston, Lubitsch - they were formative for me. I also read Flash Gordon when I was 6, but if I were still reading it when I was 16, I'd have been an imbecile. So what I'm saying is that these directors who are so in love with success, no matter how great their talent, are ultimately disappointing. This is all part of the crisis. Now, when it comes to the better exponents of this kind of film, I admit I run to see them too. I adore the work of Lucas and Spielberg. I'm certainly not trying to minimize their talents, but I'd love to see what they could do when they aren't leading us from reality.
  • Trademarks
      Often casts Giancarlo Giannini

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