If you ever see Italian director Lina Wertmueller's "Swept away by a Mysterious Destiny in the Blue Sea of August" at a DVD store, or Netflix, or the TV guide, please do not dismiss it as being the same as "Swept Away" with Madonna, which was an incredibly boring film from beginning to end. Wertmueller's "Swept away by a Mysterious Destiny in the Blue Sea of August" is so much better than that.
During the early 1970s, Lina Wertmueller went through what was arguably the most creative period in her career. She was writing and directing films like "Love and Anarchy," "Seven Beauties" and "Swept away by a Mysterious in the Blue Sea of August." And what is so great about this latter film with such a long title? For one, "Swept Away" is actually about something: Marxism, class struggle, love on a deserted island and people rediscovering themselves and these themes are all dealt with in a novel and highly intelligent way. "Swept Away" has great actors, like Giancarlo Giannini as the sexist and communist Italian sailor Gennarino Carunchio and Mariangela Melato as the snobbish Italian aristocrat Rafaella Lanzetti, who are transformed into lovers by the crucible of class warfare while on a deserted island. The great thing about these two characters, Gennarino and Rafaella, is that they are not solely good or solely evil. They possess many bad and good traits and we discover, over the course of the film, that although they do horrible things to each other (Gennarino is by far the worst) we end up sympathizing with them on a human level in spite of ourselves.
For these three reasons alone - the plot, the actors and the character development - this film already has a home run. But in addition, "Swept Away" is also a wonderfully musical film which breathes life into the gorgeous cinematography of the deserted island in particular and imbues each visual with meaning. A brilliant film.
During the early 1970s, Lina Wertmueller went through what was arguably the most creative period in her career. She was writing and directing films like "Love and Anarchy," "Seven Beauties" and "Swept away by a Mysterious in the Blue Sea of August." And what is so great about this latter film with such a long title? For one, "Swept Away" is actually about something: Marxism, class struggle, love on a deserted island and people rediscovering themselves and these themes are all dealt with in a novel and highly intelligent way. "Swept Away" has great actors, like Giancarlo Giannini as the sexist and communist Italian sailor Gennarino Carunchio and Mariangela Melato as the snobbish Italian aristocrat Rafaella Lanzetti, who are transformed into lovers by the crucible of class warfare while on a deserted island. The great thing about these two characters, Gennarino and Rafaella, is that they are not solely good or solely evil. They possess many bad and good traits and we discover, over the course of the film, that although they do horrible things to each other (Gennarino is by far the worst) we end up sympathizing with them on a human level in spite of ourselves.
For these three reasons alone - the plot, the actors and the character development - this film already has a home run. But in addition, "Swept Away" is also a wonderfully musical film which breathes life into the gorgeous cinematography of the deserted island in particular and imbues each visual with meaning. A brilliant film.