R.I.P. Lina Wertmuller

[Mister Tee]

For a brief shining moment, she was on top of the world. The Seduction of Mimi and Love and Anarchy had made inroads into the art film market. Swept Away..., with its hot-debate sexual politics, became, by indie standards, a breakout hit. And Seven Beauties, opening in January 1976, got some of the best reviews of any film in that exciting era. The NY Film Critics' awards for 1975 were presented that month, and, when Wertmuller and her star GIancarlo Giannini joined the crowd at Sardi's, it was reported they upstaged the actual winners on hand. A New York Magazine cover story labelled her The Most Important Director Since Bergman.

You'd expect this would have meant a win at the following year's NY vote -- the Circle having voted foreign films the year's best in three of the previous four years. But a year's distance seemed to cool the passions, and Seven Beauties only finished third in the best film/director categories -- behind not only All the President's Men (which received equally unanimous raves) but also Network (which did not). Wertmuller got that breakthrough Oscar directing nomination (along with lead actor for Giannini, and the predictable screenplay), but the film lost best foreign film to Black and White in Color, the first beneficiary of the you-must-see-all-nominees ballot.

It was all downhill for Wertmuller after that. She made a film in English, Candice Bergen starring opposite Giannini, and the critics destroyed it. She retreated to Italy, and made quite a few more films, but not one of them stirred any interest in the American market. In international terms, she was a Cinderella who turned back into a pumpkin.

But Seven Beauties is still a pretty impressive film, and she held that "only female directing Oscar nominee" status for 17 years before Jane Campion joined her. So, a salute to her on her passing.

[anonymous1980]

Story.

R.I.P.