WERTMULLER’S LIGHT ‘SUMMER’ FILM

“Film is a kind of literature for the times, which is why it is (that) important films not be escapist,” said director Lina Wertmuller, her eyes widening behind her signature white-rimmed glasses.

The Italian director of such movies as “Love and Anarchy,” “Swept Away” and “Seven Beauties” was here recently to help promote her latest film, “Summer Night,” which she said was “playful” in contrast to its strongly political predecessors. (“Summer Night” is currently playing at both the Cineplex Odeon complexes in Beverly Center and Universal City.)

The film focuses on a beautiful, eccentric billionaire (played by Mariangela Melato, star of “Swept Away” and other Wertmuller films) and her vengeful plan to kidnap an internationally known terrorist in return for the millions in ransom he and his comrades have collected through similar schemes over the years. As is Wertmuller’s fashion, however, the class conflict involves sex as well as politics--in this case, quite comically.

“I wanted to make a light film, set in the summer, after making so many serious, heavy (films), but, naturally, my approach is always political,” Wertmuller said through an interpreter, calmly posing for pictures in her Park Avenue hotel suite as she breezed through familiar dialogue. In previous interviews, Wertmuller has proven that for her, discussions of art and politics are inseparable.

“I think the best way to deal with such subjects as terrorism, the Third World, class conflict . . . is through comedy, as a way of freeing oneself from the cliches of the genres,” Wertmuller said, adding, “and for me, it’s like taking a vacation. I can play around, but always with the political, social problems that are central to my films.”

In her latest film, Wertmuller said she was trying to tackle the conflict between the rich and powerful--industrialists, in this case--and the Third World, as represented by the terrorist, who opposes them.

“The industrialists think they are the great technological motors of the world--the future for humanity; and, of course, the Third World is totally counter to this idea,” she said. “(In the film) I’ve simply reversed the roles, and the rules of the game.

“This conflict has always existed in the world--otherwise, everything would be distributed evenly--and probably always will, and maybe the world will come to an end because of this conflict,” she continued. “Our whole society is in a fervor of change and, hopefully, even a desire for growth, and we film makers are a part of this change.

“The good thing about our profession is that we never know what’s going to happen. . . . We’re all players in a world of change,” Wertmuller said. “Who would have thought that the American cinema would ever have been dedicated to kids’ movies, for instance? We each have to do what we believe to be our duty, and my duty is to do the kinds of movies that interest and please me.

“I’m not frightened by the films that are made; I’m frightened by the rest of the world--by nuclear power, overpopulation, terrorism--and I think it would be a terrible thing if films were no longer relevant to the public and to the world.”

Wertmuller acknowledged that some of her films, such as her 1983 political satire, “A Joke of Destiny,” have been received poorly by both the public and the critics. Her most recent films have not been greeted in this country with the wave of success she experienced here during the 1970s with films such as “Swept Away.”

Nevertheless, in 1985, she became the first foreign director to receive the Crystal Award for outstanding life achievement in the arts from the Los Angeles chapter of Women in Film. And whenever one of her new films opens in New York, she is surrounded with much media attention, such as on her recent visit here.

“I’m not out to try to please the public or the critics, or to fit in with the mood of the moment,” said Wertmuller. “All I can do is continue to make the kinds of films that please and interest me, and hope they please and interest others. Anything else would be a betrayal of myself as an artist.”