SWEPT AWAY ("Travolti da un insolito destino nell'azzurro mare d'agosto", 1974)

Proximity breeds contempt - oh who are we kidding, it was there all along. We're closing out the summer with one final (forced) vacay, a sweltering hang with two castaways whose unbridled hatred for one another finds new, unexpected expressions when they are stranded on a deserted island. Join us as we discuss Lina Wertmüller's endlessly influential dark comedy of class conflict and Stockholm Syndrome...

~~~
SWEPT AWAY ("Travolti da un insolito destino nell'azzurro mare d'agosto", 1974)
Dir. by Lina Wertmüller
Available to rent on Amazon Prime (cheap!), YouTube, and AppleTV

He was a seething, resentful prole. She was a venomous and haughty haute bourgeois taskmaster. ♪ Can I make it any more obvious ♪? It's the dog days of summer, and the rich are taking it real easy. The wealthy socialite Rafaella is quite enjoying her time luxuriating with friends on a yacht in the Mediterranean, even if (or perhaps, especially because) it means making the crew's life a living hell. One of these crew members, the ardently communist Gennarino, takes particular offense to Rafaella's snooty denigrations, but has no choice but to endure her smarmy taunting with barely maintained customer service placidity. But when one of Rafaella's flights of fancy results in her and the deckhand stranding themselves upon a desert island, the tables are turned, and it's Gennarino's turn to hold all the cards. In the wilderness of this pre-civilized Nowhere, the rules of social class no longer hold. Or are they still lurking in the background, just dizzied by the delirious heat?

A classic role-reversal tale with gleefully over-the-top performances, Swept Away takes a trope seemingly destined for the tawdry melodrama of a soap opera and and runs with it at full speed clear over the horizon. Let's talk about it!

*As always, this is a movie discussion group—we invite you to watch the film on your own ahead of time, and come ready to discuss.*