Summer Night with Greek Profile, Almond Eyes and Scent of Basil (1986) User Reviews

A Greek profile, almond eyes and the aroma of basil.

[jotix100 · 7/10 · 24 August 2006]

We don't have a clue as to why Fulvia wants Beppe, the kidnapping bandit that has been wrecking hell in Italy. The explanation in our mind seems to be to avenge hew own kidnapping. But no, we later realize Fulvia is part of a group of people that are after Beppo and want him to pay the money he has stolen from them, a sort of 'treasure hunter', perhaps.

When Fulvia and her bodyguards take Beppe to the private island, they chain him and blindfold him. He has no idea who she is, but his sense of smell will never betray him. It's inevitable that Fulvia and Beppe will fall for one another and they will be sexually aroused as each one desires the other in ways no one could have predicted. The ironic twist at the end reverses roles with one variation, Beppe wants double the amount Fulvia has demanded from him!

Lina Wertmuller's film seems to be a variation on a previously seen film: "Swept Away". For viewers that haven't seen the earlier film, this one will probably appeal to their taste, but Ms. Wertmuller doesn't break any new ground with a story she has already told, much better!

Again, Mariangela Melato returns as the haughty Fulvia. With her Milanese accent, her good looks and the fabulous costumes created for her by Valentino, Ms. Melato never has looked better. One misses not seeing her more often. Michele Placido, who spends the film tied up, gives a sexually charged performance and he is perfect playing against Ms. Melaton. Roberto Herlitzka is the secret agent that plots the kidnapping of Beppe and how to deal with him.

The film has a great look that the cinematographer, Camilo Bazzoni's elegant camera work gave the movie. The musical score is by Pino D'Anzio and plays well in the background. Ms. Wertmuller has always given her characters great dialog as the battle between the sexes play in the background and the eternal struggle for power is again at center stage.

Two Sharks in Heat

[EdgarST · 7/10 · 1 November 2012]

(Contains spoilers) I believe it is an error to assert that «Summer Night with Greek Profile, Almond Eyes and Scent of Basil» is almost a remake of «Swept Away by an Unusual Destiny in the Blue Sea of August». If it is true that this is one of the «diatribes» that Lina Wertmüller filmed during the best years of her career, the backgrounds are diverse and the elements are different. I have no idea when the lucrative companies that try to repair the ecological damage made by other profitable corporations began to surge, but back in 1986 I do not remember hearing conversations about the subject. By that time those businesses surely must have already existed, but it was more frequent to hear accusations about presidents, prime ministers and «iron ladies» who were stockholders of companies that -for example, in the case of Latin America- extracted riches from the ecosystem using the most savage, harmful and lethal methods (and they're still doing it). Among films that dealt with these issues, I remember the Venezuelan production «Oro diablo» (2000), the American documentary «The Cove» (2009) or the Belgian drama «Altiplano» (2009), and surely you must remember more titles. But in 1986 I do not think anybody made a film about those who profit from ecological disasters caused by their colleagues in commerce capital, and surely not one with the sardonic humor that characterizes Lina Wertmüller. Those who disdain her work after «Pasqualino Settebellezze» (Seven Beauties) should revisit this motion picture if they saw it before, but if they have not discover it yet, this is an attractive movie that could well be the last of her celebrated "diatribes", before turning to less aggressive and more family oriented films (often with Sophia Loren as a grandmother). «Summer Night…» puts –in a way that indeed evokes «Swept Away…», which Guy Ritchie ill-advisedly remade with Madonna- a woman against a man in open battle. Here the duel is between a nouveau-riche parrot, a self-made woman who, according to her own words, started as a messenger and turned into a very, very rich businesswoman; and a Sicilian mafioso who makes a living kidnapping people with enough money to pay millionaire ransoms. Forget the Communist sailor against the indolent bourgeois lady of «Swept Away…», and meet two sharks in confrontation, one as vulgar as the other, one as ravenous as the other, (maybe) made for each other (and «maybe», because the film ends and we do not know what next steps they will take). Fulvia Bolk (Mariangela Melato, excellent as usual) has a profitable company of «pelicans», modern sea machinery that collect waste, whose slogan is «Be rich saving Nature». Sick of how the ruling class has been extorted by bandit Giuseppe Catania, aka Beppe (Michele Placido, playing the lout at his sexiest), she decides to kidnap him, take him to her little Sardinian island and keep him prisoner in her palace, until the man decides to pay his own ransom: one hundred millions that in the last ten years he has extracted from the ruling class, of which La Bolk has designed herself its savior and spokeswoman. To execute the plan she hires the services of Salvatore Cantalamessa, aka Turi (Roberto Herlitzka, who remembers the spies from «National Lampoon» magazine), a retired one-eyed secret agent, who worked for the CIA, Interpol and FBI, in Teheran, Vietnam and Nicaragua, among other many places, and who arrives to the little island with his ineffectual assistant, Miki (Massimo Wertmüller, a kind of less weird Groucho Marx). La Bolk, who risks being sent to jail for 30 years with her indiscreet actions, boycotts Turi's plan every minute, changes orders and take decisions without his advice, as the determination of having sex with her prisoner. This time there are no reversal of roles, as in «Swept Away…», in which the Communist sailor and the bourgeois lady, when marooned in an island, change their parts of oppressed and oppressor, turning the story into a peculiar gender reflection, in the Wertmüller style. Not here: in «Summer Night…» the two characters are almost equals, two rats who, even if they rob for different bands, are typical middle class with extra cash, servicing «haute bourgeoisie», and trying to preserve their small privileges. The sexual attraction is immediate: unlike the messy, mumbling sailor brilliantly created by Giancarlo Giannini, Placido's Beppe Catania is a sensual Mediterranean rogue who advertises his good love-making, and La Bolk does not let opportunity pass, tired of her boring Swiss lover Frederick (a rather seedy cross between Richard Clayderman and Sean Connery, played by John Steiner). She knows better than Turi what is the best method to get her way, and becomes the most expensive prostitute ever to grace the screen. So put aside your prejudice for the cinema of ideas and enjoy this 1986 comedy, made by the most important woman filmmaker that world cinema had by the end of the 20th century, with several excellent films, and a few less effective works that, in spite of their limitations, are by far more nurturing for the mind than other pseudo-reflective productions made by her male colleagues.

A great theme, like last nights supper, warmed up in the micro

[fred-houpt · 6/10 · 30 May 2007]

I bought this because I love to watch Mariangela Melato. At her peak, she was certainly, hands down, one of the most gorgeous woman to grace any film screen. Gifted with incredibly beautiful green eyes and a body like a sleek yacht, she was just so....well, you know: watchable.

It is probably not unfair to say that she has done her very best work with the equally talented and very funny Giancarlo Giannini. This particular film "Summer Nights" (never mind the long title, it's just a Wertmuller quirk) suffers from the obvious comparisons that her fans will do with the much better "Swept Away". SA came out in 1974 and by the time SN came out in 1986, Lina had already said what she wanted to about the sexes and politics. So, you have to wonder what more she wanted to say with this film? I mean, she wrote and directed it, so? With SA we have a much more interesting film, superior dialog and screen heat between two actors that has rarely been achieved and in my view not exceeded in any language. SA was shocking on several levels when it came out. By 1986 the world had grown a whole lot more corrupt and even though no where near the nadir of human woes of 2007, there was little to spark the imagination of the audience when it came out (at least I cannot think of any). SN big attraction is Ms. Melato. At that age she could still steam up the screen and make a lot of men melt in their seats. She was very sexy, sensual and as usual capable of putting everyone in their place with her inimitable rapid fire speaking manner. Other than her sexual persona, there really is little else to save this film from appearing like hundreds of other Italian films. With Italian films there is a fine line between stereotypes and original characters and most of the cast are not very imaginative in their depiction.

All in all, its a funny but ultimately silly film. Stick around for the very last second of the film: it is quite hilarious. For my money Swept Away did just that to this film. Much better on any account.

Blurb.

[ItalianGerry · 3 December 2001]

The director of SWEPT AWAY, SEVEN BEAUTIES, LOVE AND ANARCHY, and SOTTO SOTTO has given us another of her offerings on the battle of the sexes, Italian style. Its full title translates as "Summer Night with Greek Profile, Almond Eyes and Scent of Basil". Mariangela Melato plays a tarantula-like Milanese industrialist, while Michele Placido is a brutish Sicilian bandit leader. In an update of the class warfare struggle and a reversal of the kidnapping roles, this super-rich dame abducts the handsome bandit/beast, has him bound in designer Enrico Coveri chains and transported to her plush villa where she provides him with some exquisitely vengeful torture and lovin'. It is a kinky and sometimes funny movie, but one hears the unsubtle voice of Wertmuller repeating itself ad nauseam from film to film and this ultimately has a tiresome effect. The most pleasing Wertmuller films of the past decade have not been sexual/political diatribes like this but the more human and humane charmers CIAO, PROFESSORE (IO, SPERIAMO CHE ME LA CAVO) and SATURDAY, SUNDAY, AND MONDAY with Sophia Loren.

This movie has the poetic beauty promised, but not much else.

[Carterz · 6/10 · 14 April 1999]

As the title promises, this movie comes with poetic beauty. Wertmuller's sight gags are still strong, but certainly this movie lacks the social-political timing and punching power that Swept Away ... and Seven Beauties had.

Unnecessary variation on a theme

[lawfella · 4/10 · 18 December 2004]

Get this -- an opinionated, imperious, upper-class Italian woman is confronted with an equally opinionated, earthy, lower-class Italian male. The result is political argument, sexual passion, male dominance and female submission. Sounds like that great Lina Wertmuller film, Swept Away . . . . True, but that is also the plot of this mediocre Lina Wertmuller film, Summer Night with Greek Profile, etc., as well as the plot of that other mediocre Lina Wertmuller film, the remake of Swept Away. The first Swept Away was terrific. There was never any need to redo it.

The mechanism employed by Summer Night to bring the rich lady and the man of the people together is ridiculous and contrived. And this rich lady is less interesting, being more one-dimensional, than the one appearing in Swept Away, even though both were played by the same fine actress, Mariangela Melato. Summer Night's working class male, Michele Placido, is excellent, but it is impossible to watch this film without feeling disappointed that he is not the great Giancarlo Giannini, who played his counterpart in Swept Away.

Really can't figure why La Wertmuller made this flick, or the Swept Away remake, unless she is trying to relive what may have been her finest hour. Skip this and see Swept Away again. Or try one of her other fine movies that don't involve the rich woman/working man theme.

I waited but nothing new or unexpected occurred

[planktonrules · 4/10 · 16 August 2007]

The film is a very convoluted tale of a strange rich woman who kidnaps a Sicilian mobster and holds him for ransom. Again and again, what occurred in the film made very little sense and the plot gave me a headache.

First, why she exactly kidnapped this pig of a man is uncertain. Supposedly a syndicate of rich folks backed her efforts because they wanted revenge for all this the kidnappings this mobster did to them. This made sense. However, on the DVD case, it mentioned that the lady was interested in "ecological preservation", and although she briefly mentioned something about this in the film, it was as if this HAD been part of the film but most of it had been excised--leaving a lot of loose ends. Was it about revenge or punishing an eco-terrorist? I think it was just about revenge and the other aspect was barely mentioned.

Second, while the plan made sense at first, having the man taken from a secure cell where he was chained and putting him in a giant luxury tent made my head hurt. Why, why, why???!!! And for the good plan to suddenly be tossed aside so this seemingly smart lady can talk, talk, talk to her "victim" made no sense. Was she smart or an idiot--the film didn't seem sure.

Third, you kidnap an evil man and feed him caviar and get him prostitutes--even after he shows no submission and most kidnappers would have just worked him over with a rubber hose or applied some electric shocks to various and sundry parts of his body. Hmmmm...now the caviar and whores--THAT'S a clever plan.

Fourth, and this is the worst part for me, is that the film just seemed like a rehash and reworking of director Wertmüller's previous success, SWEPT AWAY. While Giancarlo Giannini was not in the film, the man filling this role looked a heck of a lot like him--complete with the beard and pig-like manners. And, of course, Mariangela Melato (who was in SWEPT AWAY) is back playing much the same role--a spoiled rich idiot who is eventually conquered by the power of lower class animalistic sex. It's supposed to be a metaphor for the struggle between the rich and the proletariat, though the comparison is stupid--the "worker" is a mafioso--hardly a man of the people. And, if the rich were all like Melato, then it's impossible to imagine how they all came to power, given they are idiots. As a result, her message was certainly not subtle nor was it particularly convincing.

If you insist on watching a Wertmüller film, try SWEPT AWAY--it was much more original and seemed to have an excellent message. Oh, and by the way, this is an EXTREMELY sexual movie--don't let the kiddies see it!

This film should not exist

[skepticskeptical · 4/10 · 26 June 2021]

There are some truly amazing Lina Wertmuller films. This is not one of them. Oddly enough, this is almost a remake by her of one of her most spectacularly successful films, Swept Away. The plot has some differences, but the setting and the characters and class and power dynamics are nearly identical. I found the sex scenes in this version rather embarrassing, and there really seemed to be no point in making this at all as there were no new ideas added.

Once again I find myself shaking my head when a director attempts a remake of an excellent classic film. But the same director??? For heaven's sake, WHY?

class struggle comes to a head

[lee_eisenberg · 8/10 · 2 December 2020]

Lina Wertmüller continues her focus on class structure with "Notte d'estate con profilo greco, occhi a mandorla e odore di basilico" (called "Summer Night with Greek Profile, Almond Eyes and a Scent of Basil" in English). This time an industrialist holds a bandit hostage and subjects him to both negative and positive experiences. Think of it as "Swept Away" with sexual kinks.

The movie doesn't have quite the same impact as Wertmüller's movies from the '70s - namely "Seven Beauties" - but she gives the viewer a sense of Italy's class structure. Personally I wish that she'd make a movie about Silvio Berlusconi's shenanigans or how the economic crisis of 2007-2009 affected Italy's working class. In the meantime, this one's worth seeing.