Swept Away-1974

Director Lina Wertmüller

Starring Giancarlo Giannini, Mariangela Melato

Scott’s Review #72

Reviewed June 27, 2014

Grade: B+

Swept Away (1974) is an Italian version of the film, remade in 2004 starring Madonna.

A wealthy, spoiled woman is stranded on a deserted island with her male servant.

The 1974 film is superb and, at times, deeply disturbing, as scenes of humiliation are almost too much to watch.

The theme is about the class system- the haves and the have-nots, and what happens when roles are reversed, and individuals are stripped of titles, is interesting, shocking, and, at times, troubling.

I was stunned, yet mesmerized, by a very animalistic scene in which a man beats a woman. At first, the man is the sympathetic one and the woman is despised, then the roles are shockingly reversed.

Amazingly, the film was directed by a woman, Lina Wertmüller, a brave, underappreciated German director.

When the pair is inevitably rescued and returns to normalcy, the plot takes a dynamic turn.