Lina Wertmüller

Directing

Lina Wertmüller

Born — Died

1928-08-14 — 2021-12-09

Place of birth

Rome, Italy

Known for

Directing

Credits

73 titles

Lina Wertmüller (14 August 1926 - 9 December 2021) was an Italian film writer and director of aristocratic Swiss descent. In 1976, she became the first woman ever to be nominated for an Academy Award for Directing with the film Seven Beauties. Description above from the Wikipedia article Lina Wertmüller, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Known for

Midi trente poster
6.0

No synopsis available yet.

Midi trente

1972

Ennio poster
8.3

A portrait of Ennio Morricone, the most popular and prolific film composer of the 20th century, the one most loved by the international public, a two-time Oscar winner and the author of over five hundred unforgettable scores.

Ennio

2022

Seven Beauties poster
7.4

Pasqualino Frafuso, known in Naples as "Pasqualino Seven Beauties" is 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.

Seven Beauties

1975

Brother Sun, Sister Moon poster
7.1

In his delirium from his return from war, Francesco Bernardone goes back in his memories to the days when he lived for parties and carnal pleasures. He slowly recovers, but after the illness he is no longer the Francesco that everybody knew. Instead of spending hours in taverns, he meditates on the beauty of God's creatures, soon renouncing his riches and his family with plans to rebuild an abandoned church and his life.

Brother Sun, Sister Moon

1972

Violent City poster
6.0

A hitman is double-crossed by his girlfriend and barely escapes a murder attempt. He then sets out to take his revenge on the woman and the gang boss who put her up to it.

Violent City

1970

Sotto Sotto poster
3.9

Ester finds herself sexually attracted to her newly divorced friend Adele. When Ester admits another love to her hot-headed husband, he searches manically for the rival, who he never suspects is a woman.

Sotto Sotto

1984

Film credits

2020s · 4 titles

2010s · 14 titles

Welcome Mr. President! poster
6.2

In a small mountain village lives a man with a challenging name, Giuseppe Garibaldi (one of Italy's "fathers of the fatherland"), but everybody call him with the nickname Peppino. Love fishing, the company of friends, the library where he works as a precarious employee. He is an optimistic person even if his child accuse him of being a wannabe. One day, due to a mess of politicians, an amazing thing happens: Peppino is mistakenly elected President of the Italian Republic. Pulled out from his quiet life, is to play a role for which he knows he is obviously inappropriate, but his common sense and his instinctive gestures are incredibly effective, except for the etiquette, for which he is in trouble. The inflexible and fascinating Deputy Secretary General of the Presidency of the Republic, Janis Clementi, is anxious to no avail in an attempt to regulate the unpredictable actions of the President...

Welcome Mr. President!

2013

Behind the White Glasses poster
6.3

It is a musical portrait that shines a spotlight on unknown aspects of the creative, visionary and groundbreaking talent of filmmaker and writer, Lina Wertmüller.

Behind the White Glasses

2015

L'ultimo gattopardo - Ritratto di Goffredo Lombardo poster
5.0

No synopsis available yet.

L'ultimo gattopardo - Ritratto di Goffredo Lombardo

2010

Sergio Corbucci: The Smiling Man poster
NR

A documentary about the Italian director Sergio Corbucci.

Sergio Corbucci: The Smiling Man

2015

Water and Sugar – Carlo Di Palma: The Colours of Life poster
5.2

An account of the life and work of legendary cinematographer and director Carlo Di Palma (1925-2004) and an emotional journey through the great moments of cinema, from Italian neorealism to the masterpieces of Woody Allen.

Water and Sugar – Carlo Di Palma: The Colours of Life

2017

Thus Spoke De Crescenzo poster
7.5

Tracing the journey of a free thinker, engineer, writer, scriptwriter, actor and director through his life and work, Così Parlo De Crescenzo harnesses the energy of a man determined to transform the lives and culture of those around him. Born in Naples, Luciano De Crescenzo graduated in engineering and worked as a programmer for IBM until 1976, when he escaped the routine of his 'corporate prison' and published his first book.

Thus Spoke De Crescenzo

2017

Cinema Italiano: Moments of Truth poster
NR

Documentary about Italian cinema.

Cinema Italiano: Moments of Truth

2014

No artwork available
2.5

February 20, 1958: the Italian Parliament approved Law No. 75, the "Merlin Law": the end of an institution of Italian society for ages: the brothel. The Italian writer Dino Buzzati likens the event to the fire in the library of Alexandria in Egypt. The brothel is an institution that has spanned the centuries,thru different aspects, different forms. It is an institution that, in Italy, at least officially no longer exists. But it is also an institution that in other countries, still exists. The doc offers a journey that will start from the ruins of Pompeii brothel to get to the lights of Artemis in Berlin, with its soft drinks and its attention to the well-being and to the erotic papyrus from the Egyptian Museum of Turin and the giant Paradise in Girona, that El Pais has called the biggest brothel in Europe.

Case Chiuse

2011

Tutte le storie di Piera poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Tutte le storie di Piera

2014

Noi c'eravamo poster
10.0

No synopsis available yet.

Noi c'eravamo

2011

Searching for Mr. Rugoff poster
7.0

The feature documentary Searching for Mr. Rugoff is the story of Donald Rugoff, who was the crazy genius behind Cinema 5, the mid-century theater chain and film distribution company. Rugoff was a difficult (some would say impossible) person but was also the man who kicked art films into the mainstream with outrageous marketing schemes and pure bluster. Rugoff's impact on cinema culture in the United States is inestimable, and his influence on the art film business-from the studio classics divisions to the independent film movement to the rise of the Weinsteins-is undeniable. Yet, mysteriously, Rugoff has become a virtually forgotten figure. The story is told through the eyes of former employee Ira Deutchman, who sets out to find the truth about the man who had such a major impact on his life, and to understand how such an important figure could have disappeared so completely.

Searching for Mr. Rugoff

2019

Roma Kaputt Mundi poster
NR

This documentary tells the story of Rome's contemporary art scene, so far from the stereotypes that have represented it until now.

Roma Kaputt Mundi

2018

Women Directors poster
NR

Registe, talking on a blade is an Italian documentary about the Italian Cinema signed by women and about the pioneer of the Silent Cinema Elvira Notari (1875-1946) plays by Maria De Medeiros. The directors interviewed are the most important Italian women directors: Lina Wertmüller, Cecilia Mangini, Francesca Archibugi, Francesca Comencini, Wilma Labate, Cinzia Th Torrini, Roberta Torre, Antonietta De Lillo, Giada Colagrande, Donatella Maiorca, Ilaria Borrelli and others.

Women Directors

2014

Lina Wertmüller poster
NR

Filming Lina at her place next to Piazza del Popolo was a great experience to check on her way of movie making: "I'm not looking for a story, the story calls me!"

Lina Wertmüller

2010

2000s · 8 titles

How We Got the Italian Movie Business Into Trouble: The True Story of Franco and Ciccio poster
6.9

No synopsis available yet.

How We Got the Italian Movie Business Into Trouble: The True Story of Franco and Ciccio

2004

No artwork available
NR

No synopsis available yet.

L'uomo dalla bocca storta

2009

Vittorio D. poster
6.3

A documentary about Vittorio de Sica with clips of his films and testimonials from friends and family.

Vittorio D.

2009

Sophia: Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow poster
6.0

Documentary exploring the formidable life and career of Italian film star Sophia Loren. With interviews with the actress herself, as well as thoughts from colleagues and admirers, including Woody Allen.

Sophia: Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow

2007

The Magic of Fellini poster
3.5

Documentary with interviews and clips of Fellini's movies.

The Magic of Fellini

2002

Marcello, una vita dolce poster
5.2

After shooting to fame with Federico Fellini’s “La Dolce Vita” (1960), actor Marcello Mastroianni (1924-1996) starred in more than 160 films in his nearly half-a-century career. Directors Mario Canale and Annarosa Morri look into the melancholic charm of one of the most famous Italian actors through interviews with his two daughters, Barbara and Chiara; directors Fellini and Luchino Visconti; actresses Claudia Cardinale and Anouk Aimee; and in archival footage of Mastroianni himself. The subject matter ranges from Mastroianni’s passion for kidney-bean pasta and his addiction to the telephone to his famous laziness, humility and talent. Shown in black-and-white, Mastroianni — elegantly holding a cigarette in between his fingers — is undeniably the dandy.

Marcello, una vita dolce

2006

The Last Sequence poster
6.3

A documentary on Fellini’s lost alternate ending for 8½

The Last Sequence

2003

Come diventai Alida Valli poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Come diventai Alida Valli

2008

1990s · 3 titles

Series credits

Behind the camera

Seven Beauties poster
7.4

Pasqualino Frafuso, known in Naples as "Pasqualino Seven Beauties" is 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.

Seven Beauties

1975

Seven Beauties poster
7.4

Pasqualino Frafuso, known in Naples as "Pasqualino Seven Beauties" is 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.

Seven Beauties

1975

Seven Beauties poster
7.4

Pasqualino Frafuso, known in Naples as "Pasqualino Seven Beauties" is 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.

Seven Beauties

1975

Brother Sun, Sister Moon poster
7.1

In his delirium from his return from war, Francesco Bernardone goes back in his memories to the days when he lived for parties and carnal pleasures. He slowly recovers, but after the illness he is no longer the Francesco that everybody knew. Instead of spending hours in taverns, he meditates on the beauty of God's creatures, soon renouncing his riches and his family with plans to rebuild an abandoned church and his life.

Brother Sun, Sister Moon

1972

Violent City poster
6.0

A hitman is double-crossed by his girlfriend and barely escapes a murder attempt. He then sets out to take his revenge on the woman and the gang boss who put her up to it.

Violent City

1970

Sotto Sotto poster
3.9

Ester finds herself sexually attracted to her newly divorced friend Adele. When Ester admits another love to her hot-headed husband, he searches manically for the rival, who he never suspects is a woman.

Sotto Sotto

1984

Sotto Sotto poster
3.9

Ester finds herself sexually attracted to her newly divorced friend Adele. When Ester admits another love to her hot-headed husband, he searches manically for the rival, who he never suspects is a woman.

Sotto Sotto

1984

Love and Anarchy poster
7.7

When his anarchist friend is killed trying to assassinate Mussolini, Tunin decides it's up to him to finish the job. While visiting a brothel, he meets a prostitute named Salome, who agrees to help, as her former boyfriend was also killed by Mussolini. They enlist the aid of another prostitute and hatch an elaborate plan, but as the fateful day quickly approaches, the women have second thoughts.

Love and Anarchy

1973

Love and Anarchy poster
7.7

When his anarchist friend is killed trying to assassinate Mussolini, Tunin decides it's up to him to finish the job. While visiting a brothel, he meets a prostitute named Salome, who agrees to help, as her former boyfriend was also killed by Mussolini. They enlist the aid of another prostitute and hatch an elaborate plan, but as the fateful day quickly approaches, the women have second thoughts.

Love and Anarchy

1973

Swept Away poster
7.4

A wealthy woman's yachting holiday with friends in the Mediterranean Sea takes an unexpected turn when she and one of the boat's crew are stranded on a desert island. Her capitalist beliefs and his communist convictions clash, but during their struggle to survive, social roles are reversed and heated passions come alive.

Swept Away

1974

Swept Away poster
7.4

A wealthy woman's yachting holiday with friends in the Mediterranean Sea takes an unexpected turn when she and one of the boat's crew are stranded on a desert island. Her capitalist beliefs and his communist convictions clash, but during their struggle to survive, social roles are reversed and heated passions come alive.

Swept Away

1974

A Night Full of Rain poster
5.3

When romantic journalist Paolo rescues American photographer Lizzy from a scuffle in an Italian village, his efforts at romance lead nowhere. But when they meet again in San Francisco, Paolo succeeds in wooing her. Can their love overcome the differences between the traditional Italian Communist and the modern, liberated American woman that threaten to tear the two apart?

A Night Full of Rain

1978

A Night Full of Rain poster
5.3

When romantic journalist Paolo rescues American photographer Lizzy from a scuffle in an Italian village, his efforts at romance lead nowhere. But when they meet again in San Francisco, Paolo succeeds in wooing her. Can their love overcome the differences between the traditional Italian Communist and the modern, liberated American woman that threaten to tear the two apart?

A Night Full of Rain

1978

When Women Had Tails poster
4.3

Seven orphan cavemen grow up on a little island all by themselves. After a fire burns all vegetation they set out to find a new place to live.

When Women Had Tails

1970

All Screwed Up poster
6.5

Southern Italian workers relocate to Milan and adjust to life in the city, where they reside in a house together. Among the group are country boys Gigi and Carletto, who are overwhelmed by urban living. While some find work at a hectic restaurant, others are employed at a grim slaughterhouse. However, when some of the migrant workers are unable to make ends meet, they resort to theft, worsening their situations.

All Screwed Up

1974

All Screwed Up poster
6.5

Southern Italian workers relocate to Milan and adjust to life in the city, where they reside in a house together. Among the group are country boys Gigi and Carletto, who are overwhelmed by urban living. While some find work at a hectic restaurant, others are employed at a grim slaughterhouse. However, when some of the migrant workers are unable to make ends meet, they resort to theft, worsening their situations.

All Screwed Up

1974

Summer Night with Greek Profile, Almond Eyes and Scent of Basil poster
5.4

A charming billionaire manager kidnaps a criminal and locks him up in her private villa in Sardinia.

Summer Night with Greek Profile, Almond Eyes and Scent of Basil

1986

Summer Night with Greek Profile, Almond Eyes and Scent of Basil poster
5.4

A charming billionaire manager kidnaps a criminal and locks him up in her private villa in Sardinia.

Summer Night with Greek Profile, Almond Eyes and Scent of Basil

1986

Ferdinando and Carolina poster
6.4

1820s Naples: On his death bed, King Ferdinando I tries to escape the ghosts of his bloody kingship by recounting his youth, when he was allowed a life of frivolity. However, then he was obliged to marry Mary Caroline of Austria, daughter of Empress Mary Theresa, in a political convention: unexpectedly, they became happy lovers, until court power games divide them, and a life-changing historical season arrived.

Ferdinando and Carolina

1999

Ferdinando and Carolina poster
6.4

1820s Naples: On his death bed, King Ferdinando I tries to escape the ghosts of his bloody kingship by recounting his youth, when he was allowed a life of frivolity. However, then he was obliged to marry Mary Caroline of Austria, daughter of Empress Mary Theresa, in a political convention: unexpectedly, they became happy lovers, until court power games divide them, and a life-changing historical season arrived.

Ferdinando and Carolina

1999

The Seduction of Mimi poster
7.1

Sicilian dockworker Mimi inadvertently becomes embroiled in an increasingly complicated array of personal conflicts. When he loses his job after voting against a Mafia kingpin in an allegedly secret election, Mimi leaves his wife to find new employment. He moves to Turin, where he engages in an affair with a Communist organiser. Soon, Mimi finds himself juggling two demanding relationships while plotting revenge against the corrupt forces that ruined his life.

The Seduction of Mimi

1972

The Seduction of Mimi poster
7.1

Sicilian dockworker Mimi inadvertently becomes embroiled in an increasingly complicated array of personal conflicts. When he loses his job after voting against a Mafia kingpin in an allegedly secret election, Mimi leaves his wife to find new employment. He moves to Turin, where he engages in an affair with a Communist organiser. Soon, Mimi finds himself juggling two demanding relationships while plotting revenge against the corrupt forces that ruined his life.

The Seduction of Mimi

1972

Ciao, Professore! poster
7.2

A bureaucratic snafu sends Marco Tullio Sperelli, a portly, middle-aged northern Italian, to teach third grade in a poor town outside Naples

Ciao, Professore!

1992

Ciao, Professore! poster
7.2

A bureaucratic snafu sends Marco Tullio Sperelli, a portly, middle-aged northern Italian, to teach third grade in a poor town outside Naples

Ciao, Professore!

1992

Camorra (A Story of Streets, Women and Crime) poster
6.0

After Annunziata opens up a hostel with her friend Antonio, she is saved from being raped by a Camorra boss as the gangster is suddenly killed. The killer escapes before Annunziata is able to see who it was. Following this murder are several others, and always with the same “signature” — a syringe in one of the testicles of the victims. As the gangsters continue to be killed off, the identity of the killer – or killers – slowly becomes obvious.

Camorra (A Story of Streets, Women and Crime)

1986

Camorra (A Story of Streets, Women and Crime) poster
6.0

After Annunziata opens up a hostel with her friend Antonio, she is saved from being raped by a Camorra boss as the gangster is suddenly killed. The killer escapes before Annunziata is able to see who it was. Following this murder are several others, and always with the same “signature” — a syringe in one of the testicles of the victims. As the gangsters continue to be killed off, the identity of the killer – or killers – slowly becomes obvious.

Camorra (A Story of Streets, Women and Crime)

1986

Blood Feud poster
6.5

In pre-World War II Sicily, just as the fascists come to power, two men fall in love with the same woman. The changes in their country's politics ultimately take all three on a journey across the ocean to New York City.

Blood Feud

1978

Blood Feud poster
6.5

In pre-World War II Sicily, just as the fascists come to power, two men fall in love with the same woman. The changes in their country's politics ultimately take all three on a journey across the ocean to New York City.

Blood Feud

1978

The Belle Starr Story poster
6.3

Dominated by men in her youth, Belle Starr now out-shoots and out-gambles them as she makes her way around the West. One man who's her equal is Larry Blackie, with whom she has an on-again, off-again relationship. Together, they become involved in a robbery which goes awry...

The Belle Starr Story

1968

The Belle Starr Story poster
6.3

Dominated by men in her youth, Belle Starr now out-shoots and out-gambles them as she makes her way around the West. One man who's her equal is Larry Blackie, with whom she has an on-again, off-again relationship. Together, they become involved in a robbery which goes awry...

The Belle Starr Story

1968

On a Moonlit Night poster
6.7

An American journalist working for a French newspaper is writing an article on the public reaction to those with AIDS, unaware that he too is infected. Once he finds out, he decides to go into reclusion, leaving his wife and daughter.

On a Moonlit Night

1989

On a Moonlit Night poster
6.7

An American journalist working for a French newspaper is writing an article on the public reaction to those with AIDS, unaware that he too is infected. Once he finds out, he decides to go into reclusion, leaving his wife and daughter.

On a Moonlit Night

1989

Francesca and Nunziata poster
7.5

At the beginning of the century, in Italy, a wealthy woman Francesca (Loren), adopts a poor little girl named Nunziata. The years pass, Nunziata falls in love Federico (Bova), her adoptive brother, son of Francesca.

Francesca and Nunziata

2003

Dear Parents poster
7.0

An Italian woman who has not heard from her daughter for a while travels to London, where the daughter is living, and is shocked to be confronted with the young woman's world. During the brief days they spend together, the women come to acknowledge the insurmountable differences that exist between them despite the love they share.

Dear Parents

1973

Rita the Mosquito poster
6.2

Vivacious co-ed Rita falls in love with her music teacher, who leads a double life: bespectacled professor by day, rock star by night.

Rita the Mosquito

1966

Rita the Mosquito poster
6.2

Vivacious co-ed Rita falls in love with her music teacher, who leads a double life: bespectacled professor by day, rock star by night.

Rita the Mosquito

1966

A Joke of Destiny, Lying in Wait Around the Corner Like a Street Bandit poster
4.8

When the Minister of the Interior accidentally becomes locked inside his computerized, armoured limo following a mechanical failure, it triggers a series of headline-making events, especially as he happens to be in front of his political opponent's home. The event becomes a scandal involving many, including the rival, his feminist daughter, his wife, and her one-time terrorist lover hiding in the basement.

A Joke of Destiny, Lying in Wait Around the Corner Like a Street Bandit

1983

A Joke of Destiny, Lying in Wait Around the Corner Like a Street Bandit poster
4.8

When the Minister of the Interior accidentally becomes locked inside his computerized, armoured limo following a mechanical failure, it triggers a series of headline-making events, especially as he happens to be in front of his political opponent's home. The event becomes a scandal involving many, including the rival, his feminist daughter, his wife, and her one-time terrorist lover hiding in the basement.

A Joke of Destiny, Lying in Wait Around the Corner Like a Street Bandit

1983

Don't Sting the Mosquito poster
5.3

Rita, a vivacious co-ed flees her boarding school with her music teacher, who is also engaged to her. She wants to take part in a singing contest but her father who is dead against it has her kidnapped. He finally gives in when his wife threatens to sing in the contest herself.

Don't Sting the Mosquito

1967

Don't Sting the Mosquito poster
5.3

Rita, a vivacious co-ed flees her boarding school with her music teacher, who is also engaged to her. She wants to take part in a singing contest but her father who is dead against it has her kidnapped. He finally gives in when his wife threatens to sing in the contest herself.

Don't Sting the Mosquito

1967