Review of Seven Beauties (1975) by Yuki A — 26 Jul 2009

A satire comedy and anti-war movie which turns very good near the end. Part of it I don't know why I always like watching freaky fat lady in a movie, and many Italian movies have that kind of character. To name a few we can always remember Saraghina in Fellini's Otto e Mezzo or the fat lady in Amarcord.

"He who fights and runs away Lives to fight another day" seems to pretty well summarise Pascalino's (the main character) attitude to life. And like Wertmuller's previous movie, Swept Away, Seven Beauties is also about surviving with every single effort a human can do. Pasqualino who was mad at his sister at the beginning, now sells his body to a mad fat Nazi concentration camp leader. And the sex scene between Pasqualino and the mad Nazi leader is one of the most hilarious n weird sex scene I've watched. It doesn't feel filthy, but Wertmuller handles it gracefully so it doesn't fall into silly and cheap comedy.