One of the earlier examples of a cinematic iconoclast was Lina Wertmuller, born Arcangela Felice Assunta Wertmüller von Elgg Español von Braueich (I jest not) to aristocratic Catholic parents in Rome. Already subversive with baby teeth still in tact, Wertmuller would get herself expelled from countless Catholic schools. She would make it to university, naturally clever as a whip - never one to appease anyone, least her father, who urged her to become a solicitor. The young Lina unapologetically enrolled in the Accademia Pietro Sharoff , a theatrical school. Upon graduating she landed a job as a puppeteer before living her dream as a theater playwright, actress and director. A chance connection with charismatic actor and producer Marcello Mastroianni would result in a meeting with absurdist director Federico Fellini who in turn would hire the budding director to assist him in the directing of his most noteworthy comedy, 8 1/2 (1963).
Wertmuller would soon emerge, replete with guns ablaze, taking her audiences by storm with her disputatious blend of populist cinema. Always one to tackle the major issues and address the most loaded subjects of both past and present in her brand of independent cinema. Wertmuller also made certain she would defy the unspoken rule of never discussing sex,religion and politics at the table with mixed company; each of her efforts be they gallant or grotesque would journey each of the controversial thematics, foregrounding the areas of politics and sex in her signature brazen manner.
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| Wertmuller's Swept Away (1975) (the abysmal remake should have been Swept Under Carpet ) |
She was undeniably one of the strongest female voices in the medium , the Swiss-Italian director, seemingly fearless, delved deep and down to the quick, regardless of how much it hurt. She immediately won America over as both an anti-heroine and cult figure. At first glance, her politics appeared to be extreme leftist - Wertmuller proclaimed being a staunch Socialist when interviewed - and her treatment of suggestive subject matter seemed progressive, with aggressive and empowered self-aware women as conduits of her revolution's messages. Her most noted films include The Seduction of Mimi (1972), Love and Anarchy (1973), and the masterful Swept Away (1975) that stars long time comrade Giancarlo Giannini vis a vis Shirley Stoler who commit the most painfully bizarre 'love-scene' on record (but for your appetite's sake I shall spare you the grisly details).
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| Mimi gets seduced in 1972, Giannini style |
The reaction of Wertmuller's films from both the Left and feminist groups respectively were most demonstrative in the States, where they were breaking unprecedented box-office records for foreign language films. Depending on viewpoint, Wertmuller's ideas were considered either too broad to be defined in social or political terms, or so haphazardly thought-out as to be class-driven and entirely sexist.
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| The Divine Miss W. |
Lina Wertmuller is still very much with us at the age of eighty-seven and active just four years ago when she released the made-for Italian television film; Mannaggia alla miseria, which she both penned and directed.