SWEPT AWAY begins as ultra-rich, bored, and spiteful Amber Leighton (Madonna) grudgingly boards an insufficiently luxurious private boat from Greece to Italy. She is accompanied by her stone-faced husband (Bruce Greenwood), who seems vaguely amused by his wife's tantrums, and two other couples. Crew member Giuseppe (Adriano Giannini) who cannot adapt to his new role pampering rich Americans, who represent the evils of capitalism, which he feels robbed him of his previous job as a fisherman. Giuseppe becomes the target of Amber's derision; she the subject of his disgust and, after seeing her muscular beauty sunbathing, perverse attraction. Through a series of mishaps, Amber and Giuseppe wind up stranded on a deserted island where the tables are turned. Amber must rely on Giuseppe's fishing abilities to survive and he is far from a willing provider. In exchange for food, Amber must become his servant – washing his clothes, kissing his feet, responding to his slaps with "yes, Master" – a situation in which she finds that she actually loves him just as he loves her.