Tracy Danison, who writes for us from Paris, e-mailed me last week with the news that Lina Wertmüller, the award winning director, had died in Rome, at 93. Together we had seen a series of Wertmüller's films (including Seven Beauties and Swept Away), at an old movie house in Schenectady, NY. You can find the New York Times obituary here.
Her films are streaming now on the Criterion Channel and I look forward to watching them. Do they hold up?
Meanwhile, here's the opening montage from "Seven Beauties."
Have you seen it, or other Wertmüller films? What do you think of Swept Away? -- sdl
I saw "Swept Away" again for the first time in many years just recently. On the surface it was cringe-inducing by today's standards of decency because of the power dynamics made so explicit in the sexual relationship that develops between the two marooned characters. And yet. . . The film held up for me when I shifted focus to the allegorical dimension, a fairy tale about class distinctions, dominance and subservience, both universally speaking and more specifically in Italian culture. I found it to be at times surprisingly tender, sexual, emotionally disturbing, and piercingly analytical about human relationships. The very ending is sad on several levels. It's a first rate work of art, a movie I can't imagine being made today. Brava, Lina Wermüller!
Posted by: Peter Fortunato | December 18, 2021 at 04:33 AM