Seven Beauties (Pasqualino Settebellezze)

Released 1976
Stars Giancarlo Giannini, Fernando Rey, Shirley Stoler, Piero Di Iorio
Directed by Lina Wertmüller

"Seven Beauties" is a tale of two movies. Half of it is a drama that's told in the present time, and the other half is a supposed comedy that's shown through flashbacks. The two halves are woven together into a frustrating whole. It's frustrating because I loved everything about the drama, but I despised nearly everything about the flashbacks. The movie is about a soldier, Pasqualino Frafuso, who deserts the Italian army and is captured by German soldiers who place him in a concentration camp. Then through flashbacks, we see Pasqualino's path to becoming a soldier.

Summary by Bill Alward, January 27, 2002

For the full review, click here.