Set against the backdrop of the beautiful Mediterranean, Swept Away is Lina Wertmuller’s best-known and most controversial film about sex, love and politics. Raffaella (Mariangela Melato), a wealthy and seductive capitalist, delights in torturing Gennarino (Giancarlo Giannini), a communist sailor, on an elegant yacht sailing off the coast of Sardinia. Fate decides on a different scenario and the roles are reversed when the two find themselves stranded together on a deserted island. Raffaella must submit to Gennarino in order to survive, culminating in a dramatic denouement when they are rescued. They must discover if their love can survive the harsh realities of civilization.
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