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IMDbPro

Swept Away

Original title: Travolti da un insolito destino nell'azzurro mare d'agosto
  • 19741974
  • RR
  • 1h 54m
IMDb RATING
7.5/10
6.2K
YOUR RATING
Giancarlo Giannini and Mariangela Melato in Swept Away (1974)
A trip into the Mediterranean sea becomes a trip into the discovery of how society's frameworks of the rich and poor are delicate and temporary.
Play trailer2:59
1 Video
33 Photos
  • Adventure
  • Comedy
  • Drama
A trip into the Mediterranean sea becomes a trip into the discovery of how society's frameworks of the rich and poor are delicate and temporary.A trip into the Mediterranean sea becomes a trip into the discovery of how society's frameworks of the rich and poor are delicate and temporary.A trip into the Mediterranean sea becomes a trip into the discovery of how society's frameworks of the rich and poor are delicate and temporary.
IMDb RATING
7.5/10
6.2K
YOUR RATING
  • Director
    • Lina Wertmüller
  • Writer
    • Lina Wertmüller
  • Stars
    • Giancarlo Giannini
    • Mariangela Melato
    • Riccardo Salvino
Top credits
  • Director
    • Lina Wertmüller
  • Writer
    • Lina Wertmüller
  • Stars
    • Giancarlo Giannini
    • Mariangela Melato
    • Riccardo Salvino
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 53User reviews
    • 35Critic reviews
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 4 wins & 3 nominations

    Videos1

    Trailer [OV]
    Trailer 2:59
    Trailer [OV]

    Photos33

    Swept Away (1974)
    Swept Away (1974)
    Mariangela Melato in Swept Away (1974)
    Giancarlo Giannini in Swept Away (1974)
    Mariangela Melato in Swept Away (1974)
    Giancarlo Giannini and Mariangela Melato in Swept Away (1974)
    Giancarlo Giannini and Mariangela Melato in Swept Away (1974)
    Giancarlo Giannini and Mariangela Melato in Swept Away (1974)
    Giancarlo Giannini and Mariangela Melato in Swept Away (1974)
    Giancarlo Giannini in Swept Away (1974)
    Giancarlo Giannini and Mariangela Melato in Swept Away (1974)
    Giancarlo Giannini in Swept Away (1974)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Giancarlo Giannini
    Giancarlo Giannini
    • Gennarino Carunchioas Gennarino Carunchio
    Mariangela Melato
    Mariangela Melato
    • Raffaella Pavone Lanzettias Raffaella Pavone Lanzetti
    Riccardo Salvino
    Riccardo Salvino
    • Signor Pavone Lanzettias Signor Pavone Lanzetti
    Isa Danieli
    Isa Danieli
    • Annaas Anna
    Aldo Puglisi
    Aldo Puglisi
    • Pippoas Pippo
    Anna Melita
    Giuseppe Durini
    Lucrezia De Domizio
    Luis Suárez
      Vittorio Fanfoni
      Lorenzo Piani
      Eros Pagni
      • Ospite comunistaas Ospite comunista
      • Director
        • Lina Wertmüller
      • Writer
        • Lina Wertmüller
      • All cast & crew
      • See more cast details at IMDbPro

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      Storyline

      Edit

      Did you know

      Edit
      • Trivia
        Was chosen by Premiere magazine as one of the "100 Movies That Shook the World" in the October 1998 issue. The list ranked the most "daring movies ever made."
      • Goofs
        When the dinghy stalls out, Rafaella complains about not having paddles. Minutes later in the film, Rafaella and Carunchio both have paddles in their hands.
      • Quotes

        Gennarino Carunchio: One bitch up there, and another down here, and my friend the sea turned traitor!

      • Connections
        Featured in Sola me ne vo... (2013)

      User reviews53

      Review
      Top review
      **** (Out of four)
      Oh, damn all those pretentious artistic Italian film projects of twenty-five years ago! They possess a certain freedom of dialogue which was altogether lacking in American film then and still is undeniably lacking in even the best-written States projects. Here is a very interesting little film from female director Lina Wertmueller...a film of clashing passions, yes, but also a very beautiful film with an ironic foothold on its material on one end and a dervishly melancholic view on the other.

      Simply put, this film is about the hunger developed between two Italians of differing social castes. One is a bearded Communist with a serenly blue pair of eyes (Giancarlo Giannini), and the other is a spoiled, slender blonde made rich through methods of capitalism (Mariangelo Melato). Of course at first they can't stand each other, but as time goes by, the Communist lies hold of the woman (both figuratively and physically) and practically forces himself upon her.

      The film reminded me of Jonathan Demme's equally overlooked "Something Wild" in the two vastly different tones of its sections which seamlessly fit together at the end. The first half of the movie portrays life aboard a yacht as the capitalist woman and her husband sun bathe on deck while those who prescribe to socialist practices do the manual labor underneath. This part of the film is as bright and witty as any I've seen, not lacking the slightest inhibition at using such words as "proletariat" and commenting on the various evils of capitalism that would scare off many an American producer when faced with a similar project.

      However the dynamics of the story are soon set in place, as man and woman are placed out at sea, amidst the sparkling incandescence of the water as captured by Giulio Battiferri, Guiseppe Fornari and Stefano Ricciotte's gorgeous cinematography. Eventually they find themselves on a deserted island, where the man turns the woman's capitalism against her by making her wash his underpants for food. Later the man pushes the woman past her economic facade into a primal state of sexual ecstasy interspersed with the man's vicious slappings equating himself as the "master" over the woman. Such a film leads to its inevitable conclusion, and one finds oneself exhausted at the allegorical nature of the situation.

      Although I don't look at "Swept Away" with any sort of agreement on its sympathetic view of the Communist proletariat, I find its symbolic interpretations fascinating. Indeed the movie gives capitalism the slinky, seductive form of Woman, and equates the marketplace as whorishness of the worst kind. On the other hand, the film portrays Communism as some sort of untamed beast irresistable in its muscular masculinity. As the film ends one is reminded that two different perspectives can hardly live together, but at one time they were able to coexist. Of course those sympathetic to the Communist cause have less to worry about now then they did in 1975 when "Swept Away" was released, but nevertheless it remains a mesmerizing find essaying the ideals of such a state of mind.
      helpful•9
      5
      • halnexus
      • Oct 8, 1999

      Details

      Edit
      • Release date
        • September 17, 1975 (United States)
      • Country of origin
        • Italy
      • Languages
        • Sicilian
        • Italian
        • French
      • Also known as
        • Swept Away by an Unusual Destiny in the Blue Sea of August
      • Filming locations
        • Tortolì, Sardinia, Italy
      • Production company
        • Medusa Distribuzione
      • See more company credits at IMDbPro

      Box office

      Edit
      • Gross US & Canada
        • $7,876
      • Opening weekend US & Canada
        • $1,011
        • Apr 16, 2017
      • Gross worldwide
        • $7,876
      See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

      Technical specs

      Edit
      • Runtime
        1 hour 54 minutes
      • Sound mix
        • Mono
      • Aspect ratio
        • 1.85 : 1

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