Summer Night, with Greek Profile, Almond Eyes and Scent of Basil (1986), or "Notte d'estate con profilo greco, occhi a mandorla e odore di basilico" is another Lina Wertmüller offering that covers pretty much the same philosophical and political ground as Swept Away (Travolti da un insolito destino nell'azzurro mare d'agosto). Lina Wertmüller seems to be expressing that both the rich and the poor are products of their society, both have strengths and weaknesses, and both could benefit from understanding the other. In doing so, she seems to make the poor man the more sympathetic character. Mariangela Melato reprises her Swept Away role as the rich, opinionated northern Italian industrialist. In this case, she has figured out how to make a fortune in ecology. Her opposite is a Sicilian gangster played by Michele Placido.

The plot device is an ironic twist on some actual criminal behavior of the time in Italy. Placido is an "old school" gangster who isn't interested in drugs, and leads a gang who kidnaps for ransom. Melato hires an ex CIA/FBI/Interpol agent (Roberto Herlitzka ), also a Sicilian, to kidnap Placido and hold him for ransom. As they keep him captive awaiting word from his gang, Herlitzka falls for Melato, but Melato in turn is sexually attracted to Placido. At first they keep Placido` in a dungeon, blindfolded and chained, and try to starve him into submission. When he fades physically, but remains as stubborn and confrontational as ever, she moves him to a lush solarium. It is then that he demands sexual gratification. After all, he gratifies all of his kidnap victims, and even state prisons have conjugal visits! Melato brings in two hookers, but joins them in bed with the still-blindfolded Placido, who must make a choice. He chooses Melato, and she is very glad he did. In contrast to an earlier sex scene with her refined boyfriend, she clearly enjoyed this encounter immensely. I will leave the rest of the story for you to discover.

Summer Night has some inherent structural problems:

First of all, with the villain chained most of the film, it's necessarily static, and the nudity doesn't start until the half-way point, making the first half a little dry.

Second, the plot line doesn't allow for any real role exchange, with Placido dominating throughout. He is adequate, but has nowhere near the intensity of Giancarlo Giannini in Swept Away.

Third, as in Swept Away, Melato's character is a motor-mouthed bitch, which is irritating. Herlitzka provides a little comic relief to mitigate that but, unfortunately, there is no conversion or character development for Melato this time as there was in Swept Away. She remains the motor-mouthed bitch the entire film.

Overall, this seemed very much like an attempt by Wertmüller to recapture the magic of Swept Away. Who can blame her? Watching the young gymnasts in the Olympics, I often have wondered what it is like to peak at 14 years of age, with the entire rest of your life being downhill from there. Having a huge success like Swept Away early in her career must have made it difficult for Wertmueller to compete with herself. Yet, Summer Night is not a bad film. There are many positives. The estate where this was filmed was beautiful, as were the Mediterranean beach scenes. The DVD transfer is first rate. More important, the plot did draw me in eventually, and I ended up enjoying it, so it is possible you will as well -  but if you are only going to see one of these two Wertmüller films,  go for Swept Away.