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Seven Beauties

Original title: Pasqualino Settebellezze
  • 1975
  • R
  • 1h 56m
IMDb RATING
7.7/10
6.8K
YOUR RATING
Giancarlo Giannini in Seven Beauties (1975)
We take a look back at cinematic history and celebrate the pioneering women directors and their groundbreaking work. Here's a list of the 111 films featured in our tribute video. https://imdb.to/WomenDirectorsPlaylist
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ComedyDramaWar

The defense of honor, a strong value in Neapolitan society, and its effects on the life of everyman Pasquale Frafuso.The defense of honor, a strong value in Neapolitan society, and its effects on the life of everyman Pasquale Frafuso.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
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    7.7/10
    6.8K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Lina Wertmüller
    • Writer
      • Lina Wertmüller
    • Stars
      • Giancarlo Giannini
      • Fernando Rey
      • Shirley Stoler
    • 53User reviews
    • 42Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Nominated for 4 Oscars
      • 2 wins & 9 nominations total

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    Clip 5:09
    A Salute to Women Directors

    Photos62

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    Top cast25

    Edit
    Giancarlo Giannini
    Giancarlo Giannini
    • Pasqualino Frafuso
    Fernando Rey
    Fernando Rey
    • Pedro
    Shirley Stoler
    Shirley Stoler
    • The Prison Camp Commandant
    Elena Fiore
    Elena Fiore
    • Concettina Frafuso
    Piero Di Iorio
    • Francesco
    Enzo Vitale
    • Don Raffaele
    Roberto Herlitzka
    Roberto Herlitzka
    • Socialist
    Lucio Amelio
    • Lawyer
    Ermelinda De Felice
    • Signora Frafuso
    Bianca D'Origlia
    • The Psychiatrist
    Francesca Marciano
    Francesca Marciano
    • Carolina
    • (as Francesca Marciani)
    Mario Conti
    • Totonno
    Barbara Valmorin
    Barbara Valmorin
    • The Prison Camp Commandant's Secretary
    Emilio Salvatore
    Aristide Caporale
    • Madman
    • (as Aristide Caporali)
    Pasquale Vitiello
    Luciano Foti
    • Kapo
    • (uncredited)
    Veriano Ginesi
    • Smoking Patient in Aversa
    • (uncredited)
    • Director
      • Lina Wertmüller
    • Writer
      • Lina Wertmüller
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews53

    7.76.7K
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    Featured reviews

    10NYC Lion

    A Must See Masterpiece

    I've watched this movie dozens of times in the last thirty years and it's still a treat. I just bought the new DVD version and I'm in love with Lina again.

    It's a roller-coaster ride with scenes of the grotesque against visions of sublime beauty. And, Thank You, Lina, for the courtroom scene of poignant conversation without words.

    The theme of the movie is simply that we too often accept survival as an excuse to abandon honor, integrity and fundamental humanity. There is a leftist tone that may put some off but that shouldn't detract from the basic message.

    The simple message is told with flawless visuals, hypnotic music and acutely fine acting.

    Please enjoy this important part of cinematic history.
    8larcher-2

    A wild, bleak extravaganza

    A wild, bleak extravaganza in which our Everyman learns to shed everything--even the honor that was the one thing he had--for survival. There's a near-perfect use of images--for example, the use of bright flowered dresses to signify that yet another sister has become a whore--and an equally perfect use of sound, silence, and music. A very, very dark comedy that is largely summed up in the opening sequence, a long litany of those who are to blame. I quote only a few lines: "the ones who don't enjoy themselves even when they laugh. . . the ones who should have been shot in the cradle (pow!). . . the ones who have never had a fatal accident.. . the ones who have had one. . ."

    Avoid the dubbed version; it's terrible.
    8jamesrupert2014

    How low will you go to survive?

    After deserting from the Italian Army, small-time Neapolitan hood Pasqualino 'Seven Beauties' Frafuso is captured by the Germans and sent to a harsh prison camp run by a sadistic female commandant (Shirley Stoler) where he discovers just how low he'll sink to stay alive. The film is an intriguing blend of comedy and brutality as Pasqualino relives (through flashbacks) the events that brought him to the camp (including the murder of his homely sister's pimp and his awkward attempts to dispose of the body). Survival is the underlying theme, as Pasqualino, a small, unprepossessing man, postures and struts to maintain his place in the Naples underworld, then has to find food and shelter when on the run from the Germans (the scene of him chattering to a bemused elderly German woman while stuffing his face on stolen food is priceless), and finally decides that seducing the corpulent commandant is the only way to survive the camp. Throughout the film, the imagery is outstanding, sometimes colourful and bizarre (but not as grotesque as Fellini), other times monochrome and almost painful to look at. The film will not be to everyone's taste but I very much enjoyed it.
    10tomrito

    One of the ten best movies of all time.

    I wish you could put this movie under the English title of Seven Beauties so it would be more accessible to people. This is one of the best movies ever made and more people should see it. I was in a state of awe from beginning to end. How could someone make a movie like this? It is hard for Americans to understand this kind of existence because we never have had to experience anything like it. Lina Wertmuller has made a movie about the human condition that our ancestors fought to protect us from having to face. If you want light-hearted entertainment, stay away, but if you want to see just what it took to live through the horror of war, you must see this movie.
    7apzijlstra

    tragic farce?

    Editing, acting, lighting, pacing, they're all very good. The mix of genres makes me wonder. That something funny if not farcical is mixed in with the tragedy of WWII doesn't sit well with me, although I know that some will say that it is the crux. The best part of the movie was perhaps the introduction, the Oh, Yeah part. The scene wherein the two deserters come upon the mass execution has a beautifully grim and nightmarishly terrifying aspect. The whole movie has something of a bad dream, not in the least because of the seemingly realistic scenes which never could have happened and the use of black and white scenes that convey a sense that we have to do with a documentary. Surely, the director is, as Ingmar Bergman said, the magician, and if so, if the audience is being set up, it's only part of the show.

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • 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) and The Power of the Dog (2021), Sofia Coppola for Lost in Translation (2003), Kathryn Bigelow for The Hurt Locker (2008), Greta Gerwig for Lady Bird (2017), Emerald Fennell for Promising Young Woman (2020), Chloé Zhao for Nomadland (2020), Justine Triet for Anatomy of a Fall (2023) and Coralie Fargeat for The Substance (2024). Bigelow won first, followed 11 years later by Zhao, while Campion finally won hers the year after.
    • Goofs
      Seven minutes in, when Pasqualino sees civilians being cut down with machine-gun fire, there is no blood spray when they're shot and subsequently no blood on any of the corpses.
    • 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 yeah. The ones who vote for the right because they're fed up with strikes. Oh yeah. The ones who vote white in order not to get dirty. The ones who never get involved with politics. Oh yeah. The ones who say 'Be calm, calm.' The ones who still support the king. The ones who say 'Yes, sir.' Oh yeah. The ones who make love standing in their boots, and imagine they're in a luxurious bed. The ones who believe Christ is Santa Claus as a young man. Oh yeah. The ones who say 'Oh, what the hell.' The ones who were there. The ones who believe in everything, even in God. The ones who listen to the national anthem. Oh yeah. The ones who love their country. The ones who keep going, just to see how it will end. Oh yeah. The ones who are in garbage up to here. Oh yeah. The ones who sleep soundly, even with cancer. Oh yeah. The ones who, even now, don't believe the world is round. Oh yeah, oh yeah. The ones who are afraid of flying. Oh yeah. The ones who have never had a fatal accident. Oh yeah. The ones who have had one. The ones who, at a certain point in their lives, create a secret weapon, Christ. Oh yeah. The ones who are always standing at the bar. The ones who are always in Switzerland. The ones who started early, haven't arrived, and don't know they're not going to. Oh yeah. The ones who lose wars by the skin of their teeth. Oh yeah. The ones who say 'Everything is wrong here.' The ones who say 'Now let's all have a good laugh.' Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Oh yeah.

    • Alternate versions
      In the United States the film was shown in both a subtitled and English-dubbed versions.
    • Connections
      Edited into Bellissimo: Immagini del cinema italiano (1985)

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    FAQ18

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • January 21, 1976 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • Italy
    • Languages
      • Italian
      • German
      • Neapolitan
      • Spanish
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Siete bellezas
    • Filming locations
      • Naples, Campania, Italy
    • Production company
      • Medusa Distribuzione
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $12,408
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $1,536
      • Apr 16, 2017
    • Gross worldwide
      • $12,619
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 56 minutes
    • Sound mix
      • Mono
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.66 : 1

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