Swept Away

Swept Away
by Lina Wertm?ller

Swept Away
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VHS Tape Cover Information

Actor: Aldo Puglisi, Giancarlo Giannini, Isa Danieli, Mariangela Melato, Riccardo Salvino
Director: Lina Wertm?ller
Edition: VHS Tape
Audio: English (Subtitled); English (Original Language)
Format: Color, NTSC, Original recording reissued, Subtitled, Widescreen
Running Time: 116 minutes
Release Date: 1999-02-23
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Publisher: Fox Lorber
Studio: Fox Lorber

VHS Movie Reviews of Swept Away

Movie Review: Straight up abusive, not sexy
Summary: 2 Stars

I'm well aware of how a little locking horns between two people can have a guaranteed sexual frisson, but "Swept Away" really goes over the line into physical abuse. I had been greatly looking forward to this movie because I found the class-battle-goes-sexy-on-desert-island premise tempting, but the result was far from it. After a couple of tense days on a yacht where the wealthy Raffaella torments the crew member Gennarino with her nagging and disrespect, not to mention her endless political pontification, it's obvious that he's not going to hold back when he gets a chance. Perhaps I'm just too used to contemporary ideas about what's ok to do to a woman, but the reportedly "sexy" subjugation that happens is really Gennarino beating up Raffaella. It's not total brutality, but he really does get some blows in there, and it was over the line for what I would acceptably describe as sexy, since you can really feel the malice and not so much the alleged attraction.

I also don't think that the numerous close-ups of Gennarino's bug-eyed look added anything to the movie. They are, in fact, distracting.

What I DID like about the movie was the ending. MILD SPOILER: I found Raffaella's ultimate decision to be the predictable one, but the progress of her relationship on the island has you almost believing that perhaps she's going to abandon all the wonderful (and awful) things that her societal position has brought her.

I didn't find this nearly as thought-provoking as others may have claimed it to be. I hope that perhaps someone will explore the idea of sexual subjugation as a means of righting societal imbalances in a more effective movie in the future - the premise is definitely sexy, but the execution is the tough part.

Summary of Swept Away

Lina Wertm?ller (Seven Beauties) made this pointed, 1975 comedy-drama about class and sex conflicts. Mariangela Melato plays a rich woman marooned on an island with a crude sailor (Giancarlo Giannini). The two initially assume their accustomed class relationship with one another--she expects service, he grumbles about it--but then a revolution takes place and the subjugation is reversed. The film comes down on you like a hammer, but Wertm?ller adroitly traces the shifting nuances of the relationship, and the two stars are excellent. Numerous scenes stick in the memory many years after one viewing. --Tom Keogh

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