Lina Wertmuller death: First Oscar-nominated female director dies aged 93

Italian filmmaker was famous for her works ‘Swept Away’ and ‘Seven Beauties’

Lina Wertmuller (Flavio Lo Scalzo/AGF/Shutterstock)

Lina Wertmuller, a provocative director and cult figure on the New York film scene, has died aged 93.

She died overnight in Rome surrounded by her family, the LaPresse news agency reported, quoting her relatives.

The Italian filmmaker was famous for her bold films that combined sex and politics, such as Swept Away and Seven Beauties.

Wertmuller, who won a lifetime achievement Oscar in 2019, became the first woman to be nominated in the directing category at the Academy Awards for her film Seven Beauties in 1977.

The film is set in 1930s Italy and follows Pasqualino (Giancarlo Giannini), a Sicilian thug who kills a man who disgraced his sister. He pleads insanity and escapes imprisonment by joining the military, but then goes rogue. He is eventually packed off to a concentration camp where he will do anything to surive, including seducing one the female guards.

Culture Minister Dario Franceschini paid tribute to Wertmuller, saying her “class and unmistakable style” had left its mark on global cinema.

Wertmuller’s films often featured controversial social commentary and satirical anti-establishment messages. Among her most famous works were 1972’s Seduction of Mimi, 1973’s Love and Anarchy and 1974’s Swept Away.

Swept Away divided critics, with some condemning it for its violence against women. Critic Anthony Kaufman said it was “possibly the most outrageously misogynist film ever made by a woman”.

Lina Wertmuller in 1975 (Glasshouse Images/Shutterstock)

Wertmuller was amused by long film titles. The full title of Swept Away is Swept away by an unusual destiny in the blue sea of August. The names of her films were invariably shortened for international release.

She is entered in the Guinness Book of Records for the longest film title: Un fatto di sangue nel comune di Siculiana fra due uomini per causa di una vedova. Si sospettano moventi politici. Amore-Morte-Shimmy. Lugano belle. Tarantelle. Tarallucci e vino. That 1979 film is better known under the name Blood Feud.

The director was as well known for her eccentric image as she was her films. She was five feet tall and wore bold eye makeup, had colourful hair and a ring on every finger. She once admitted to owning hundreds of pairs of the white-rimmed glasses that became her trademark look.

In 2015, Wertmuller was the subject of a biographical film directed by Valerio Ruiz titled Behind the White Glasses.

She worked closely with her set designer husband, Enrico Job, who died in 2008.

Wertmuller is survived by their daughter, Maria Zulima Job.