Seven Beauties     

By Tom Keogh

Lina Wertmüller's harrowing 1976 film stars Giancarlo Giannini as a petty crook with seven unattractive sisters to support, and it features a picaresque, World War II-era journey through a prison asylum, army service, and a Nazi concentration camp. Wertmüller is more indulgent in highbrow sadomasochism than she is real profundity, but there's no denying that the film is powerful in its story of subjugation and survival. A climactic scene in which Giannini saves his skin at the camp by seducing its disgusting female commandant is unnervingly honest. Giannini became a Super70s international icon partially on the basis of this work. The DVD release has optional English and Italian soundtracks, production notes, and filmographies of the talent.

Academy Awards

Seven Beauties received Academy Awards nominations for Actor (Giancarlo Giannini), Directing (Lina Wertmuller), Writing (Best Screenplay written directly for the screen; Lina Wertmuller) and Foreign Language Film Award.

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