You disgust me. Your thirst for life disgusts me. You have no ideals. You have found the strength for an erection, that’s why you'll survive.

Seven Beauties


The Pitch:

I am not a holocoust movie's fan at all, but I dicided to watch this one because of Lina Wertmueller, who was the first woman ever nominated for directing a feature.

High Points:

It is such a picaresque story which follows the life of its hero, Pasqualino, wonderfully played by Giancarlo Giannini.

Plus, I liked the graphic depiction of concentration camp scenes. It is very well-done!

Low Points:

The audio. I had a difficulty understanding the dialogue on the USA DVD version.


Comments:

SEVEN BEAUTIES is such a stunning film. I cannot deny that sometimes, it's hard to follow the weird situations that Wertmuller's camera depicts, but the cast is just excellent, in special, Giannini and Shirley Stoler , the latter played the unattractive female commandant that Pasqualine tries to seduce to get out from the concentration camp. Stoler is so great, specially when her character says: "First you eat, then you fuck.” The sex scene between Giannini and Stoler is funny and bizarre.

The film was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Actor in a Leading Role, Best Director, Best Foreign Language Film and Best Original Screenplay.