Directors: Lina Wertmuller
Provocative, outrageous, and larger-than-life, the films of this week’s spotlight comprise the early work of filmmaker Lina Wertmuller, the first woman nominated for a Best Director Oscar (for Seven Beauties). This week we offer a tribute to the Italian iconoclast’s controversial work.
Behind the White Glasses
(Dietro gli occhiali bianchi)
A deep dive into the life of the first woman nominated for the Best Director Oscar.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Italy • 2015
- Director Valerio Ruiz
- Cast Lina Wertmüller, Massimo Wertmüller, Martin Scorsese, Sophia Loren, Harvey Keitel, Rutger Hauer
- Genre Documentary
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube, Kanopy
Ferdinando and Carolina
(Ferdinando e Carolina)
A lusty Italian ruler must marry, and an Austrian empress has her daughter ready to become his wife.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Italy, France • 1999
- Director Lina Wertmüller
- Cast Sergio Assisi, Gabriella Pession, Nicole Grimaudo, Adriano Pantaleo, Lola Pagnani, Carlo Caprioli
- Genre Comedy, Drama, History, Romance
- Available on Apple TV, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Kanopy
Summer Night with Greek Profile, Almond Eyes and Scent of Basil
(Notte d'estate con profilo greco, occhi a mandorla e odore di basilico)
A charming billionaire kidnaps a criminal and locks him up in her private villa in Sardinia.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Italy • 1986
- Director Lina Wertmüller
- Cast Mariangela Melato, Michele Placido, Roberto Herlitzka, John Steiner, Arnaldo Ninchi
- Genre Comedy
- Available on Kino Film Collection, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Kanopy
A Night Full of Rain
(La fine del mondo nel nostro solito letto in una notte piena di pioggia)
A communist journalist and an American liberal photographer try to cohabit with their different perspectives of love and life.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Italy, Canada • 1978
- Director Lina Wertmüller
- Cast Giancarlo Giannini, Candice Bergen, Michael Tucker, Mario Scarpetta, Lucio Amelio, Massimo Wertmüller
- Genre Drama
- Available on Apple TV, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Hoopla
Blood Feud
(Fatto di sangue fra due uomini per causa di una vedova. Si sospettano moventi politici)
A recent widow is romanced by both an attorney and a local crook.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Italy, United Kingdom • 1978
- Director Lina Wertmüller
- Cast Sophia Loren, Marcello Mastroianni, Giancarlo Giannini, Turi Ferro, Mario Scarpetta, Antonella Murgia
- Genre Thriller
- Available on Amazon Video, Tubi TV, The Roku Channel, Shout! Factory TV, Plex, Plex Channel
Seven Beauties
(Pasqualino Settebellezze)
To survive, an Italian thief submits to the female commandant of a Nazi prison camp.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Italy • 1975
- Director Lina Wertmüller
- Cast Giancarlo Giannini, Fernando Rey, Shirley Stoler, Elena Fiore, Roberto Herlitzka, Piero Di Iorio
- Genre Comedy, Drama, War
- Available on Criterion Channel, Kino Film Collection, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube, Kanopy, Hoopla
All Screwed Up
(Tutto a posto e niente in ordine)
A multitude of immigrants, struggling to survive in Milan, rent an apartment and face the reality of everyday life in the metropoly.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Italy • 1974
- Director Lina Wertmüller
- Cast Luigi Diberti, Lina Polito, Sara Rapisarda, Giuliana Calandra, Isa Danieli, Cesare Gelli
- Genre Comedy, Drama
- Available on Kino Film Collection, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Amazon Video, YouTube, Kanopy
Swept Away
(Travolti da un insolito destino nell'azzurro mare d'agosto)
A spoiled rich woman and a brutish Communist deckhand become stranded on a desert island.
- ✭
- Italy • 1974
- Director Lina Wertmüller
- Cast Mariangela Melato, Giancarlo Giannini, Riccardo Salvino, Isa Danieli, Aldo Puglisi, Eros Pagni
- Genre Comedy, Drama, Romance
- Available on OVID, Kino Film Collection, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube, Kanopy, Hoopla
Love and Anarchy
(d'amore e d'anarchia)
A melancholy farmer takes up residence in a Roman brothel as he and an anarchist prostitute plot to assassinate Mussolini.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Italy, France • 1973
- Director Lina Wertmüller
- Cast Giancarlo Giannini, Mariangela Melato, Lina Polito, Eros Pagni, Pina Cei, Elena Fiore
- Genre Drama
- Available on Kino Film Collection, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Amazon Video, YouTube, Kanopy
The Seduction of Mimi
(Mimì metallurgico ferito nell'onore)
Mimi, forced to leave his family in Sicily, finds a job in a factory in Turin, where he gets involved in an extramarital affair.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Italy • 1972
- Director Lina Wertmüller
- Cast Giancarlo Giannini, Mariangela Melato, Agostina Belli, Livia Giampalmo, Luigi Diberti, Turi Ferro
- Genre Comedy
- Available on OVID, Kino Film Collection, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Amazon Video, YouTube, Kanopy, Hoopla
The Belle Starr Story
(Il mio corpo per un poker)
The story of a woman in the West
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Italy • 1968
- Director Lina Wertmüller, Piero Cristofani
- Cast Elsa Martinelli, George Eastman, Robert Woods, Francesca Righini, Bruno Piergentili, Bruno Corazzari
- Genre Western
- Available on FlixFling, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube, Tubi TV, The Roku Channel, Hoopla, Plex, Plex Channel
The Basilisks
(I basilischi)
The uneventful lives of three young men who live in a small, poverty-stricken village in southern Italy.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Italy • 1963
- Director Lina Wertmüller
- Cast Stefano Satta Flores, Antonio Petruzzi, Rosanna Santoro, Sergio Ferranino, Luigi Barbieri, Flora Carabella
- Genre Drama
- Available on Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, Amazon Video