| Seven Beauties | |
|---|---|
 Italian theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Lina Wertmüller |
| Written by | Lina Wertmüller |
| Produced by |
|
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Tonino Delli Colli |
| Edited by | Franco Fraticelli |
| Music by | Nando de Luca eEnzo Jannacci |
Production company | Medusa Distribuzione |
| Distributed by | Medusa Distribuzione |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 115 minutes |
| Country | Italy |
| Language | Italian |
| Box office | $1.4 million[1] |
Seven Beauties (Italian:Pasqualino Settebellezze, "Pasqualino Sevenbeauties") is a 1975historicalblack comedydramaItalian film written and directed byLina Wertmüller and starringGiancarlo Giannini,Fernando Rey, andShirley Stoler.
Written by Wertmüller, the film is about an Italian everyman who deserts the army during World War II, is captured by the Germans and sent to a prison camp, where he does anything he can to survive. Through flashbacks, we learn about his seven unattractive sisters, his accidental murder of one sister's lover, his imprisonment in an insane asylum—where he rapes a patient—and his volunteering to be a soldier to escape confinement.
For her work on the film, Wertmüller became the first woman nominated for theAcademy Award for Best Director. The film received three otherAcademy Award nominations, including one for Best Foreign Language Film.[2] It also received aGolden Globe Award nomination for Best Foreign Film.[3]
The production design and costume design are by Wertmüller's husband, Enrico Job.
Thepicaresque story follows its protagonist, Pasqualino (Giannini), a dandy and small-time hood in Naples in Fascist and World War II-era Italy.
To defend his family's honor, Pasqualino kills a pimp who had turned his sister into a prostitute. To dispose of the victim's body, he dismembers it and places the parts in suitcases. Caught by the police, he confesses to the murder, but successfully pleads insanity and is sentenced to 12 years in a psychiatric ward. Desperate to get out, he volunteers for theItalian Army. With an Italian comrade, he eventually deserts the army, but they are captured and sent to a Germanconcentration camp.
Pasqualino attempts to survive the camp by providing sexual favors to the female commandant (Stoler). His plan succeeds, but the commandant puts Pasqualino in charge of hisbarracks as akapo. He is told he must select six men from his barracks to be killed to prevent all from being killed. Pasqualino ends up executing his former Army comrade, and is responsible for the death of another fellow prisoner, a Spanishanarchist.
At the war's end, upon his return toNaples, Pasqualino discovers that his seven sisters, his fiancée, and even his mother have all survived by becoming prostitutes. Unfazed, he insists on marrying his fiancée as soon as possible.
Giannini starred in three other films Wertmüller made during this period:The Seduction of Mimi (1972),Love and Anarchy (1973), andSwept Away (1974).
Seven Beauties was filmed on location inNaples, Campania, Italy.[citation needed]
In the opening sequence ofSeven Beauties, spoken overWorld War II archival footage showing the destruction of cities and men, Wertmüller defines the object of her critique—a "particular petty bourgeois social type".[4]
The film's subject is survival. At the time of its release, it was controversial for its graphic depiction ofNazi concentration camps. In his 1976 essay "Surviving",Bruno Bettelheim, while admiring the film's artistry, severely criticized its depiction of the experience of concentration camp survivors.[5] Bettelheim's own views about concentration camps have likewise been critiqued.[6]
OnRotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 67% based reviews from 21 critics, and an average rating of 8/10.[7] In April 2019, a restored version of the film was selected to be shown in the Cannes Classics section at the2019 Cannes Film Festival.[8]
| Year | Award | Category | Nominee(s) | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1977 | Academy Awards | Best Foreign Language Film | Nominated | |
| Best Director | Lina Wertmüller | Nominated[N 2] | ||
| Best Actor | Giancarlo Giannini | Nominated | ||
| Best Screenplay – Written Directly for the Screen | Lina Wertmüller | Nominated | ||
| Boston Society of Film Critics Awards | Best Rediscoveries | Won | ||
| Directors Guild of America Awards | Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures | Lina Wertmüller | Nominated | |
| Golden Globe Awards | Best Foreign Film | Nominated | ||
| New York Film Critics Circle Awards | Best Film | Runner-up | ||
| Best Director | Lina Wertmüller | Runner-up | ||
| Best Screenplay | Runner-up | |||