Movie Review: Call Me by Your Name
From director Luca Guadagnino, who has explored the vast cornerstones of beautiful Italy in past films like I Am Love and A Bigger Splash, comes the filmmaker's latest dive into the captivating, and erotic, allures of story and setting in Call Me by Your Name. An adaptation of André Aciman's 2007 coming-of-age novel, the fascinating yet troubling love affair between an American graduate student and a naive 17-year-old sparks to quiet and graceful life as Guadagnino spins a heart-breaking journey into the evocative visuals of Europe, and the fruitful friendship that breaths within it.
In the summer of 1983, precocious 17-year-old Elio Perlman (Timothée Chalamet) lives with his parents (Michael Stuhlbarg, Amira Casar) in their 17th-century villa in Lombardy, Italy. When his scholar father's annual intern arrives in the form of Oliver (Armie Hammer), an attractive doctoral student from America, Elio's suspended life is upended by the man's exuberant presence. An avid bibliophile and a musical prodigy, Elio spends most his days secluded from the world, his silent passions channeled through his music. As he grows closer to Oliver, both intellectually and intimately, the two form an endearing attachment, releasing Elio's long-sheltered desires. With the backbone of an immersive Italian city beyond it, a mesmerizing connection unfolds.
The latest in a string of ever-emerging independent films spawning after the rise of queer cinema, Call Me by Your Name quickly became one of the most anticipated films I was eager to see before the year was out. Much like Barry Jenkins' Moonlight in 2016, the film almost instantly nurtured plenty of critical acclaim, also promising the film a bountiful amount of potential come awards season. Aside from its critical response, however, the latest film from director Luca Guadagnino intrigued me beyond its compelling performances and artful appeal. As Moonlight portrayed a fascinating insight into the complexities of an African-American man struggling with his identity and sexuality, Call Me by Your Name delved into a similar tale of self-discovery and sexual awakening, this time through the eyes of a naive musical prodigy. All the while, Guadagnino's adaptation spurred my interest in uncovering just how passion and friendship can find itself in unspoken and intellectual connection.
Long before I ventured into the enthralling audiobook version of André Aciman's novel, partially eager to experience the story once more after seeing the film, but more to listen to actor Armie Hammer bring a nuanced and versatile voice to the author's writing, Call Me by Your Name caught my attention primarily through both its cast and its director. While Italian director Luca Guadagnino's last feature in the erotic thriller A Bigger Splash might have slipped through my fingers in 2016, I was intrigued to see the filmmaker return to his Italian hometown to give vibrant yet quieting life to Aciman's beautiful novel. Setting two vastly promising stars at the forefront of the adaptation, a favorite of mine in actor Armie Hammer and an up-and-coming star in Timothée Chalamet, this passionate exploration of unearthing desire and finding joy in things lost drew me in from the start.
Before I delve into my thoughts on the film's cast, as delightful as they were, I wanted to touch on just how Guadagnino managed to adapt Aciman's novel in such as way as to retain the poetic musings of the text, while crafting a film all his own. Acting as a similar shade of Barry Jenkin's Moonlight, a film that explored homosexuality and family values in a volatile Miami atmosphere, Call Me by Your Name explored not only its central protagonist's inner desires, but also the more moving moments of becoming aware of his own identity in the world. While the film surely centered around the affair between two men, it wasn't anchored by simply adding something to the ever-growing collection of new queer cinema. After listening to André Aciman's novel, while it definitely imbued a certain explicit nature in describing Elio and Oliver's blossoming affection, the book inherently focused on Elio observing his quiet life and yearning to break from it. With Aciman's writing style leaving the story with many opportunities for silent contemplation, Guadagnino, along with writer James Ivory, managed to capture those minor instances of reflection and make them equally as important as the passionate scenes between Elio and Oliver.
These wordless instances of contemplation ultimately provided the film's cast with plenty of potential when honing their characters. With Timothée Chalamet leading the film with a soft-spoken performance as Elio, it was at these moments of silence between characters that truly showcased the cast's phenomenal portrayals. As Chalamet's naive prodigy was slowly drawn to Armie Hammer's stern but highly intellectual Oliver, the two produced a viable chemistry that only furthered their intimate relationship in Aciman's text. That chemistry managed to extend into the other supporting characters of the film as well, most prominently in Elio's scholar father in Michael Stuhlbarg. With Stuhlbarg always giving audiences winning performances of sardonic wisdom, in films like Steve Jobs and The Shape of Water, the actor offered to the film an essential father figure to not only guide Elio through his troubled youth, but also frame the story around an intellectual and emotional basis.
Overall, with its various views of northern Italy running nearly parallel to its tale of unspoken self-discovery, Luca Guadagnino's Call Me by Your Name was easily one of the most promising films of 2017. While it might not have dropped itself at my doorstep until early 2018, it nevertheless left a unique imprint on me after finally seeing it. Providing an excellent adaptation of André Aciman's complex story of finding love and letting it go, Call Me by Your Name matched its exquisite filmmaking with moments of quieting thought to deliver a profound romance that balanced its subject material with its vast insight on the world around us.
I gave Call Me by Your Name an 8 out of 10, for its quietly radiant screenplay by James Ivory, its fascinating premise of youthful discovery and love lost, and its mesmerizing performances by Chalamet, Hammer, and Stuhlbarg, who anchored the film as not merely a "gay" film, but a far-reaching exploration of sexuality, family, and unparalleled friendship.
Long before I ventured into the enthralling audiobook version of André Aciman's novel, partially eager to experience the story once more after seeing the film, but more to listen to actor Armie Hammer bring a nuanced and versatile voice to the author's writing, Call Me by Your Name caught my attention primarily through both its cast and its director. While Italian director Luca Guadagnino's last feature in the erotic thriller A Bigger Splash might have slipped through my fingers in 2016, I was intrigued to see the filmmaker return to his Italian hometown to give vibrant yet quieting life to Aciman's beautiful novel. Setting two vastly promising stars at the forefront of the adaptation, a favorite of mine in actor Armie Hammer and an up-and-coming star in Timothée Chalamet, this passionate exploration of unearthing desire and finding joy in things lost drew me in from the start.
Before I delve into my thoughts on the film's cast, as delightful as they were, I wanted to touch on just how Guadagnino managed to adapt Aciman's novel in such as way as to retain the poetic musings of the text, while crafting a film all his own. Acting as a similar shade of Barry Jenkin's Moonlight, a film that explored homosexuality and family values in a volatile Miami atmosphere, Call Me by Your Name explored not only its central protagonist's inner desires, but also the more moving moments of becoming aware of his own identity in the world. While the film surely centered around the affair between two men, it wasn't anchored by simply adding something to the ever-growing collection of new queer cinema. After listening to André Aciman's novel, while it definitely imbued a certain explicit nature in describing Elio and Oliver's blossoming affection, the book inherently focused on Elio observing his quiet life and yearning to break from it. With Aciman's writing style leaving the story with many opportunities for silent contemplation, Guadagnino, along with writer James Ivory, managed to capture those minor instances of reflection and make them equally as important as the passionate scenes between Elio and Oliver.
These wordless instances of contemplation ultimately provided the film's cast with plenty of potential when honing their characters. With Timothée Chalamet leading the film with a soft-spoken performance as Elio, it was at these moments of silence between characters that truly showcased the cast's phenomenal portrayals. As Chalamet's naive prodigy was slowly drawn to Armie Hammer's stern but highly intellectual Oliver, the two produced a viable chemistry that only furthered their intimate relationship in Aciman's text. That chemistry managed to extend into the other supporting characters of the film as well, most prominently in Elio's scholar father in Michael Stuhlbarg. With Stuhlbarg always giving audiences winning performances of sardonic wisdom, in films like Steve Jobs and The Shape of Water, the actor offered to the film an essential father figure to not only guide Elio through his troubled youth, but also frame the story around an intellectual and emotional basis.
Overall, with its various views of northern Italy running nearly parallel to its tale of unspoken self-discovery, Luca Guadagnino's Call Me by Your Name was easily one of the most promising films of 2017. While it might not have dropped itself at my doorstep until early 2018, it nevertheless left a unique imprint on me after finally seeing it. Providing an excellent adaptation of André Aciman's complex story of finding love and letting it go, Call Me by Your Name matched its exquisite filmmaking with moments of quieting thought to deliver a profound romance that balanced its subject material with its vast insight on the world around us.
I gave Call Me by Your Name an 8 out of 10, for its quietly radiant screenplay by James Ivory, its fascinating premise of youthful discovery and love lost, and its mesmerizing performances by Chalamet, Hammer, and Stuhlbarg, who anchored the film as not merely a "gay" film, but a far-reaching exploration of sexuality, family, and unparalleled friendship.
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