The original film prompted criticisms of misogyny even though it was directed by a woman. The controversy over the new one may be less political: Rumors are that preview audiences considered it an unintentional comedy and that the studio is trying to dump the film. There was also a lawsuit to block its release on the grounds that the concept for the remake was appropriated without payment but there's been confusion about the actual details of this.
What we can say for sure is that director Ritchie has a good track record. His 1998 Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels may have been overly derivative of Pulp Fiction but still had a quirkly charm of its own while his follow-up feature Snatch (2000) is a minor masterpiece of British black comedy mayhem.
Madonna's film career is another matter and has been more often the subject of stand-up comedians' barbs than anything else. Remember Shanghai Surprise (1986)? Who's That Girl? (1987), Body of Evidence (1993) or The Next Big Thing (2000)? Supposedly Ritchie and Madonna got the idea to remake Swept Away while filming a BMW commercial together. (That commercial along with others by directors Wong Kar-Wai, Ang Lee and John Frankenheimer was temporarily available on a free DVD from BMW but are still viewable at http://www.bmwfilm.com.) According to the story, a crew member said the commercial reminded him of Swept Away and when the film was shown on video that night Ritchie thought it should be remade, prompting Madonna to say she'd act if he directed. (At one point the two had been scheduled to work on a caper film called The Mole which now seems to have been forgotten.)
Signed aboard to play Madonna's nemesis was Adriano Giannini, whose father Giancarlo Giannini had the same role in the original version. Adriano's film career has been limited so far. Filming was done during September and October 2001 on Malta and Sardinia.
Some early test audiences reacted negatively to some of the violence so reshooting was ordered. Filming finally finished in March 2002 which has since prompted quite a bit of speculation about the film. It opens nationwide on October 11 so now you can compare Lina Wertmuller's original with Madonna's remake - if you are so inclined.
by Lang Thompson
