Seven Beauties (1975)

Pasqualino Settebellezze

Narrator: The ones who don't enjoy themselves, even when they laugh.
Oh, yeah.
The ones who worship the corporate image, not knowing that they work for someone else.
Oh, yeah.
The ones who should have been shot in the cradle.
Pow! Oh, yeah.
The ones who say, “Follow me to success, but kill me if I fail,” so to speak.
Oh, yeah.
The ones who say, “We, Italians, are the greatest he-men on earth.”
Oh, yeah.
The ones who are from Rome. The ones who say, “That's for me.” The ones who say, “You know what I mean?”
Oh, yeah.
The ones who vote for the right because they're fed up with the strikes.
Oh, yeah.
The ones who vote white in order not to get dirty. The ones who never get involved with politics.
Oh, yeah.
The ones who say, “Be calm. Calm.” The ones who still support the king. The ones who say, “Yes, sir.”
Oh, yeah.
The ones who make love standing in their boots and imagine they're in a luxurious bed. The ones who believe Christ is Santa Claus as a young man.
Oh, yeah.
The ones who say, “Oh, what the hell?” The ones who were there. The ones who believe in everything, even in God. The ones who listen to the national anthem.
Oh, yeah.
The ones who love their country. The ones who keep going and going, just to see how it will end.
Oh, yeah.
The ones who are in garbage up to here.
Oh, yeah.
The ones who sleep soundly, even with cancer.
Oh, yeah.
The ones who, even now, don't believe the world is round.
Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.
The ones who are afraid of flying.
Oh, yeah.
The ones who have never had a fatal accident.
Oh, yeah.
The ones who've had one. The ones who, at a certain point in their lives, create a secret weapon.
Christ, oh, yeah.
The ones who are always standing at the bar. The ones who are always in Switzerland. The ones who started early, haven't arrived and don't know they're not going to.
Oh, yeah.
The ones who lose wars by the skin of their teeth.
Oh, yeah.
The ones who say, “Everything is wrong here.” The ones who say, “Now let's all have a good laugh.”
Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.

Pasqualino Frafuso: What the hell?

Pasqualino Frafuso: So I said to my men, where are we going? What are we doing, running around like this? Who wants to go around killing? Let's go. Go back home. You can't work for people who send you with cardboard shoes. Here, where when you blow your nose you get a crystal chandelier and when you shit you get icicles.

Pasqualino Frafuso: How long is this river?
Francesco: It must be the Rhine.
Pasqualino Frafuso: Where is that?
Francesco: It's still in Germany.
Pasqualino Frafuso: Then it's still a pain in the ass.

Pasqualino Frafuso: Who were they?
Francesco: Maybe they are the Jews.
Pasqualino Frafuso: That's impossible.
Francesco: It's possible. And we're as guilty as they are. We're accomplices to those rotten shits.
Pasqualino Frafuso: Why do you think that we're accomplices?
Francesco: Because we didn't make a sound, didn't come out and spit in their faces. We could have, but we ran instead.
Pasqualino Frafuso: That's crazy. How could we have? They'd have come after us and we'd be shot. Useless suicide.
Francesco: No, it wouldn't have been useless because in the face of certain things you've got to say no, and instead I said yes to Mussolini, to duty and to all that crap.

Francesco: In this war I've killed bastards I didn't even know.
Pasqualino Frafuso: I killed before the war, but I had my reasons.
Francesco: I kill like an idiot, for no reason.
Pasqualino Frafuso: I did it for a woman. I killed for a woman.

Signora Frafuso: A woman is a woman, Pasqualino. And a woman, even one who is an evil person, has a little good for someone who can reach her heart. There's a bit of sugar always there.

Pasqualino Frafuso: I had a vision. Something my mama said. That bit of sugar, I know it's there. No matter how rotten she is, or how evil, she must need love. I'm right, Franche. You're educated, but in the matter of women I'm way ahead of you.
Francesco: I'm sure.
Pasqualino Frafuso: You know what I used to be called? Pasqualino Seven Beauties.
Francesco: They did?
Pasqualino Frafuso: Yes, because I'm ugly.
Francesco: You look terrible, all right.
Pasqualino Frafuso: But that was the point. In spite of my looks, I appealed to women. They loved me. People were amazed. They'd say, “It's unbelievable. He's repulsive.” Others replied, “He must have the Seven Beauties.” That's how it came to be my name, see?
Francesco: No, but I believe you.

Pedro: I'm a death expert. I know an anarchist whose bombs didn't work. Mussolini, Hitler, Salazar. I've got failure after failure. These people have made a business out of death.

Pasqualino Frafuso: What's the world coming to? How the hell did the world ever get like this? And we let ourselves get killed this way. Nobody says anything. The Jews, who were supposed to be so smart. The brave Russians, who began the revolution. They're not rebelling. My rotten luck, ending up in this shit pile.

Pasqualino Frafuso: Francesco, I don't want to die. I can't accept that. I'm still young. I had a miserable life. I would like to have changed it, but I never managed to. I can't die like this. I just can't die like this. I'll try and get out of here. I'll do it. I'll find a way out of here, starting at this moment.

Pasqualino Frafuso: I want to live, have children, see my children's children, and more, the children of my children's children. All the children I can possibly have.
Pedro: What bullshit, amigo.
Pasqualino Frafuso: You pig! How dare you tell me what to do? How dare you insult me like that? ....
Pedro: Because the more children you have, the faster the end will come.
Francesco: In what sense? Exactly what do you mean?
Pedro: In the year 1400 there were 500 million people on earth. By the year 1850 the amount had doubled to one billion. Now we're all... extremely indignant because of the death of 20 million men. But in 200 or 300 years, there'll be a lot more of us, 30 billion more. So anywhere you go on earth will be worse than here. That's when men are going to butcher one another and murder an entire family for a piece of bread or an apple... and the world will end.

Don Raphael: Imagination. A creative effort's needed.
Pasqualino Frafuso: Easy, no? Like smoking a cigarette.
Don Raphael: Smoking cigarettes, anybody can do that. The man who wants to be something more... needs the guts to perform. The nerve to do things that normally no one else could possibly imagine.

Don Raphael: Don't pay attention to anyone who talks about the American system. Traditional cement shoes were invented here in Sicily. Chicago and New York just make cheap imitations. It's plagiarism. The king-size coffin is our invention. When you see a funeral in Naples, nobody knows how many bodies are in the coffin. When things get busy, two or three can be stuffed in. Depends on the demand. We invented everything here in Naples. For example, you know the ancient graveyard? Well, when they first opened it they found 500 skeletons. Now there are 5,000. The question is, who put the other 4,500 in there? So, as I said, it depends on the demand.

Lawyer: If you screw yourself, I won't take the case. How can I defend you if you tell the truth? “The monster of Naples is captured and confesses.” Whoever heard of such a thing? Confesses?

Pasqualino Frafuso: A rotten comedy, a lousy farce... called living.

Socialist: Political?
Pasqualino Frafuso: Hatchet killer... Pasqualino Porfusso, the Monster of Naples. The act of an unbalanced mind. Twelve years.
Socialist: You're lucky. They gave me 28 years and four months.
Pasqualino Frafuso: Twenty-eight? How did it come to that?
Socialist: I simply thought. It's the most atrocious crime a citizen could commit.

Pasqualino Frafuso: To tell the truth, politics are boring. I've other interests. Papa was a bricklayer. He talked a little Socialism. But I don't think about it anymore... because I think Il Duce is pretty great. To be truthful, he's given us roads. He's given so much, an entire empire. All the other countries are jealous of our leader. Listening to the man speak to us... that voice and those eyes... and his court found me completely insane. But our people are respected. They used to spit at us Italians. On the face? Remember? Besides, there were many strikes, riots, demonstrations. We used to be in terrible condition. Thanks to him, there's been no disorder.
Socialist: He is a marvel. You're right. There has been law and order, and he's done it by outlawing unions and strikes. The result is that salaries in 1919 were up and today people are making less than half, while the cost of living has increased 30 percent. You didn't know that, huh?

Socialist: You mentioned the strikes and the riots. At least then we knew if there was a disease, we could hope to get well. Now we imagine we're strong and we hide the disease. That man will bring our country to war. That's the final catastrophe.

The Prison Camp Commandant: You're in barracks number 23, right? Starting right now, you're in charge of barrack 23. That's an order. As head of barrack 23, you are to designate any six that you like to be eliminated at once. If not, I eliminate all men in that barrack. You are to choose any six. And the others may get something to eat, even survive. You pick six or you'll all be cremated. Understand? Finished. The choice is yours.

Pasqualino Frafuso: We're getting married. There isn't much time to lose. I want children. Many children. Twenty, 30. It's a matter of self-defense. They must be strong. Look at the crowds out there. Soon they'll be murdering each other, families slaughtered for an apple. So we must see to it our family is large. That'll be our defense. Understand?... We'll get married. The sooner the better.

Signora Frafuso: Please, Pasqualino, don't worry. Thank the Madonna for returning you to us. One mustn't look back on what's passed. It's so senseless. What's done is done. Look. Look at yourself, my son. You're beautiful. The war is ended. It's useless to think about these miseries. Pasqualino, you're alive. Alive!
Pasqualino Frafuso: ........ Yes, I'm alive.

—
++ Quotes on the IMDb