The Films of Lina Wertmüller

During the 1970s, Lina Wertmüller emblazoned her name into the pantheon of Italian cinema with a series of intensely polemical, deeply controversial and wonderfully entertaining films. Among the most politically outspoken and iconoclastic members of the second generation of postwar directors, Wertmüller was also one of the first female directors to win international recognition and acclaim, becoming the first woman to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director in 1977.

Presented here are seven films by the first woman every nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director, plus Valerio Ruiz's definitive documentary on the Italian master, BEHIND THE WHITE GLASSES.


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The Seduction of Mimi

A blistering satire of Italy in the 1970s, THE SEDUCTION OF MIMI takes aim at a corrupt government, compromised labor leaders and the Neanderthal sexual politics of men in power, with uproarious results.

Language: Italian with English Subtitles

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Love & Anarchy

Giancarlo Giannini won the best acting prize at the Cannes Film Festival for his achingly sensitive portrayal of Tunin, a freckle-faced innocent who became an accidental anarchist.

Language: Italian with English Subtitles

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All Screwed Up

An anarchically outrageous comedy from Lina Wertmüller, ALL SCREWED UP is ripe for rediscovery, an accomplishment as impressive as the classics she made before and after: Love and Anarchy (1973) and Swept Away (1974).

Language: Italian with English Subtitles

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Swept Away

NEW 2K RESTORATION! Set against the backdrop of the beautiful Mediterranean, SWEPT AWAY is Lina Wertmüller's most famous and controversial film about sex, love and politics. On an elegant yacht cruising off the coast of Sardinia, Raffaella, a rich and stunning capitalist, enjoys tormenting Gennarino, a Communist sailor. Fate weaves a different scenario and roles become reversed when the two find themselves stranded together on a deserted island.

Language: Italian with English Subtitles

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Seven Beauties

A petty thief who lives off of the profits of his seven sisters while claiming to protect their honor at any cost, Pasqualino is arrested for murder and later sent to fight in the army after committing sexual assault. The Germans capture him and he gets sent to a concentration camp where he plots to make his escape by seducing a German officer.

Language: Italian

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Summer Night

Mariangela Melato stars as Signora Bolk, a self-made tycoon interested in ecological preservation. She is fed up with the terrorists who poach Italy's rich beauty, and as part of a crazy retaliation scheme she hires a former CIA agent to abduct the number one violator, Giuseppe 'Beppe' Catania. Catania is taken to her villa on a private island where he insists that as a man, he cannot go without sex.

Language: Italian w/English subtitles

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Ferdinando & Carolina

As the monarchies of Europe hold their breath, something unexpected happens. King Ferdinando and Carolina share one common interest--a rollicking, orgiastic celebration of the senses, and plunge with gusto into the silken bed sheets to uphold their regal duties.

Language: Italian

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Behind the White Glasses

A deep dive into the ground breaking life and career of Lina Wertmüller, the first woman ever nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director for her masterpiece SEVEN BEAUTIES.

Language: Italian

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The Belle Starr Story

A rip-roaring Spaghetti Western starring Elsa Martinelli and directed by the legendary Lina Wertmüller. Abused and dominated by men in her youth, Belle Starr (Martinelli) now out-rides, out-smokes, out-shoots, and out-gambles them as she makes her way around the Old West, usually wearing male garb.


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