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.

I watched this film just recently all the way through, having watched just a part of it years before. I kept thinking of "Life is beautiful" and how upset I was with that film. By upset I mean disgusted with the premise. I could not imagine what that film wanted me to. Seven Beauties goes back to the exact same landscape and arrives at a completely different portrayal.

I must confess that I consider Giancarlo Giannini to be one of the greatest actors ever to appear on film in any language. His style is different than say Al Pacino, Robert DeNiro or Jack Nicholson. With Giannini what always blows me away is what he can do with his eyes and simple facial gestures. Take for example the scene where in this film he is in court awaiting the sentence for murder. His eyes catches those of a young woman he had met in the street and with whom he does a light hearted bit of flirting. Their eyes meet and entire paragraphs of dialog go back and forth between them and not a word is spoken. I was just dumbfounded. Who acts this way anymore? Just about no one. His style often reminds me of the silent greats like Chaplin (in particular) who had to emote through their faces because the audience could not hear them speak.

What is this film about? Is it just an anti-Nazi rant? Not really. Wertmuller at her best, had a full palette of dramatic colors splashing about and this is perhaps her best movie. Pasqualino Frafuso as a character is both hilarious, a complete puff-ball of inflated over confidence, a sole defender of his down and out family's honor and much more. As a bumbling tough-guy-wannabe, he manages to get himself into an insane asylum; perhaps the central motif of the entire movie. He moves from one insane chapter into another. (Major spoiler)...as a survivor, we are not sure what state of mind or soul he is in when he comes back to his family.

There is a key element of the dialog mirroring the directors social ethos. When Pasqualino and another Italian soldier witness German soldiers killing (what they presume) are Jews and dumping their bodies into mass graves) and in fleeing the scene the other soldier is gripped with a terrible sense of guilt...we must take note of a key message. Should we turn away when gross injustice is done to our common man or should we protect ourselves with the certainty of silence? The concentration camp scenes are very harrowing but what is incredible in this film is that despite the utterly bleak reality, we can laugh a just a little bit. It is a macabre humor, very black and teetering on a dream like quality. I am reminded of some scenes in Fellini's "Satyricon".

The German commandant is a woman (most unlikely in real life) and is depicted in an over the top portrayal of life hating, totally unattractive female, who is all too aware that her war is going to wind down and she is on the loosing side. She absolutely hates the Italians she has to incarcerate and she barbarically enjoys killing them at random. That Pasqualino decides that he can seduce her is both comical and very sad at the same time. That he succeeds is beyond his or our own vivid imagination. The one thing he knew for sure was that as a very unattractive woman she most certainly was starved for sexual gratification, even if it must come from someone she hated and loathed. That is the deal with the devil he plays in order to eat and survive. Did he sell his soul to the dark side at this point? We do not get a clear answer and that is another strength in the drama. Wertmuller is telling us that there is always much more gray than colored outlines when we look to define moral limitations, and the choices made under enormous duress. What would we do to survive such hell? Are we so sure we would not lower ourselves to ANY level in order to survive? Many did and that is her point. We are not encouraged to take sides and judge. We are reminded that life sometimes takes over and we are washed away in currents much stronger than our simple moral and ethical compass we felt so sure of as a younger person.

Ultimately this film satisfies as a monumental drama on so many levels. Pasqualino's sisters and mother (as actors) are outstanding, especially the eldest sister, who is made to look more ugly than ugly. The struggle to find a place in life with the burden of such horrid looks is held up in a severe way; however, we are also aware that it is over done and very exaggerated. Like some fulsome opera drama, her struggle to find safety, financial freedom and social esteem mirror the struggles of millions of others in the lower, working classes. A very familiar theme in Italian cinema. That her brother, another who felt himself to be an ugly duckling, manages to reach his own level of self-sufficiency, at the cost of hell on earth, ties a very nice parallel to her own travails. A family touched by tragedy on many levels, they miraculously survive the war intact.

Seven Beauties is worth many viewings. A richly textured, very well written drama of very intense contrasts, a perfect vehicle for outstanding acting at both comedic and dramatic heights. One of the best films I've ever seen. My personal favorite of Giannini's, equal to or even surpassing his performance in Swept Away. Perhaps Wertmullers most coherent social commentary/drama masterpiece.

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.