Remembering Lina Wertmüller: A Trailblazer Whose Best Films, Like ‘Seven Beauties,’ Swept You Away
Owen Gleiberman Chief Film CriticIf you weren’t around at the time, it’s hard to communicate just what a splashy, dominating place the Italian filmmaker Lina Wertmüller occupied during the 1970s. Wertmüller, who died on Thursday at 93, was far from the first celebrated woman director — just think of Agnès Varda, Shirley Clarke, Elaine May, Lois Weber, Ida Lupino, Dorothy Arzner, or Barbara Loden.