Seven Beauties (18*) + ScreenTalk with Dr Julia Wagner

Pasqualino (Giancarlo Giannini), a small-time crook living with his seven sisters in Naples under fascist rule, isn’t much of a man. He is the epitome of unchecked machismo, and overreacts to any threats to his ‘honour’.

When he vows revenge on the man who disgraced his sister, he sparks off a self-inflicted descent that leads to internment in a concentration camp, where his desperation to survive is tested to its limit.

Seven Beauties was nominated for four Oscars – Best Director, Best Actor, Best Original Screenplay and Best Foreign Language Film. It’s an astonishing critique of humanity in crisis, with daring bursts of pitch black humour and a tremendous performance from Giannini.

Following this screening, season curator Alex Davidson will be in conversation with film critic and lecturer Dr Julia Wagner.