SWEPT AWAY (BY AN UNUSUAL DESTINY IN THE BLUE SEA OF AUGUST) (1975)

I like this movie more and more each time I see it—I find myself looking forward to certain scenes and feelings more and more each time and overlooking the parts I don’t like.You have the Italian language (my favorite foreign language), blue sea, white sands and tan bodies—who could ask for a better sensual setting! More arousing than that to me is the tension that builds between the couple—you know they are attracted to each other on a basic level (there is a nice moment when the woman comes up on deck at night because she is hot and needs some air and she sees the man playing the guitar and singing in the dark—amidst all the noise and yelling, it is a moment of silent connection that lets you know what is to come), want to get together and will get together but the exciting part is how and when.

I also like how the couple stranded on a desert island is stripped down to the basics and their true masculine and feminine sides come out. The guy resorts to brute force (the smacking around is a little disturbing at first). He never seems able to really express his true emotions as he blusters around although you can see his real feelings in his eyes There are some memorable moments when he looks at the woman—one when they are lying head to head nude on the beach and a second when he is holding her as she sleeps on the beach. The woman becomes very in tune with her feelings, longings and fears and is, in the end, not afraid to voice them. In the end, her honesty is more powerful and beautiful to me than all the force and posturing of the man. He ends up being the one afraid and in need of proof of her love while she knows and accepts the reality of who they are and what they have.

I love the actress—her change from the loud, braying masculine woman to a sensuous, soft but strong being is amazing. It’s funny—I don’t really find Giancarlo attractive and have come to realize there is not an actor I find consistently attractive. It’s the tension and struggle between a man and woman in movies I find very attractive and arousing. This is my number one sensual film—I will let you know when that changes.

P.S.

Remake—Same Title—Starring Madonna and Adriano Giannini,Directed by Guy Ritchie--my feeling is, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Rather than doing an American take on the Italian version which might have been interesting, the remake tries to imitate the old version down to some scenes being exactly the same. I don’t like to Madonna bash but she’s terrible. There is no depth to her character, her glances (which are all important) are one-dimensional and she’s not sensual in any way (although she softens a bit on the island)—her hard body with tan lines can hardly compete with the voluptuous, tanned-all-over Melato in the Italian version. The all-important chemistry between the couple is missing for me—there is no tension, no build up of passion and the dance scene and charades scene on the island make it too comical for me right when the couple should be at the peak of the tension between them. There is a slight reference to age difference that is mentioned (Madonna tells Adriano that our culture forces older women to compete with 18-year-olds—a reference to Brittany?) but it is not developed at all. There also seems to be no point in the slight change in the ending except to candy coat it a bit. A waste of time in my book.