Writer-director Lina Wertmuller hit the peak of her international renown with this film and its very different predecessor, "Swept Away." This one is a funny, stark, tragicomic account of a sheer opportunist -- one might call it Wertmuller's version of "The Conformist." Pasqualino Frafuso (Giannini) is a small-time hood who is known jokingly as "Seven Beauties" for his seven ugly sisters. In a bid for social respect (in his milieu, anyway), he kills the paramour of one his sisters, a grossly overweight crime boss, and disposes of the body in a lengthy scene of grotesque humor. Later, he finds himself in a German prisoner-of-war camp, where he befriends a sardonic anarchist (Rey), and decides his only way out is to try to romance the cold, obese commandant (Stoler). Graphic and abrasive, the film could never be accused of subtlety (Wertmuller puts "The Ride of the Valkyries" on the soundtrack during a cool look at Nazis massacring civilians), but it is certainly memorable. Do try to view the subtitled copy, though; the dubbed version is terrible.
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The review of this Movie prepared by David Loftus
