This site uses technical, analytics and third-party cookies.
By continuing to browse, you accept the use of cookies.

Preferences cookies

Pasqualino Settebellezze (Seven Beauties)

pasqualino posterSeven Beauties: The Movies by Lina Wertmüller

The retrospective Seven Beauties, dedicated to acclaimed Italian filmmaker Lina Wertmüller and organized by the Italian Cultural Institute in collaboration with the Randwick Ritz Cinema and Cinema Reborn, with the support of the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage, continues with the screening of the movie Pasqualino Settebellezze (Seven Beauties) (1975).

Irreverent, rule-breaking and impossible to define, Italian filmmaker Lina Wertmüller broke ground as the first woman to be nominated for an Oscar as Best Director in 1977. An unabashed feminist and non-conformist, her films take the absurdities of society and turn them on their heads – the results being sometimes witty, sometimes shocking, always political. The series celebrates her work with seven of her best films.

The movie will be introduced by Associate Professor Giorgia Alù, who teaches Italian Studies at the University of Sydney. Her research interests range from modern and contemporary Italian literature, Italian cultural and social history to comparative literature and visual studies.

Pasqualino Settebellezze (Seven Beauties) (1975)giannini wertmuller

Cast: Giancarlo Giannini, Fernando Rey, Shirley Stoler, Elena Fiore

In 1930s Italy, Pasqualino (Giancarlo Giannini), a low-level Sicilian thug, kills a man who disgraced his sister. Pasqualino pleads insanity and manages to escape imprisonment by joining the military, but he decides to go disappear when things get too heavy. Unfortunately, he soon finds himself stuck in a concentration camp. There, Pasqualino vows to do anything in order to survive – even if that means seducing an obese, female German camp commandant (Shirley Stoler) – or betraying his own pals.

For Seven Beauties, Lina Wertmüller became the first woman to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Director. The film received three other Academy Award nominations, including one for Best Foreign Language Film.

Information and bookings:

https://www.ritzcinemas.com.au/festivals/seven-beauties-by-lina-wertmller and 02 8324 2500

  • Organized by: Istituto Italiano di Cultura
  • In collaboration with: Cinema Reborn