REVIEWED
"Why be part of the system? Of that monstrous machine that cripples us all?"
- Raffaella (Mariangela Melato)
What sets off like a simple story of survival, when an heiress Raffaella gets stranded on a small Mediterranean island with her lowly boat hand named Giancarlo, spins out of control when they begin to fight over their sex, class, and political persuasions. Then their dynamic switches power, when Giancarlo realizes hes now in charge because Raffaella can't cope in the wild without his knowledge.
Having skipped the Madonna/Guy Ritchie remake, due to a total lack of interest. Lina Wertmüller's original 'Swept Away' (1974) isn't a movie I expected to like half as much as I did. The plot sounds like romantic slush, it does at times border on the cheesy but its a surprising effective way of throwing two drastically differing personalties together and stripping them of everything they had. The acting between the pair is phenomenal, Giancarlo Giannini goes from being the dogsbody to emperor of his own kingdom, and Mariangela Melato goes in reverse from being the snooty lady of leisure to hands-on slave. They both go through so many emotional changes from being funny & relaxed, argumentative & nasty down to being total savages. it features beautiful oceanic scenery thanks to lush cinematography by Wertmüller's husband, and fine music thats not unlike a spaghetti western score at times. I'd have not bothered with this outside of the interest its sparked on LB'd, but I'm glad I eventually took the bait and plunged in. Its rare you'll see me rate a romantic movie this high, I was even tempted to go higher but feel it lost itself a touch towards the end.
[Personal Reasons For Remembering]
Getting back to male female primal states. The sexual tension coupled with mutual disgust. Theres several great dialogs between the pair, but I really loved the one they see the ship close by and they've got to decide if they hide and lose their former life's for good, or if they try attract its attention.
Originally taken from Letterboxd
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