Call Me By Your Name is a dream you won’t want to wake up from
Director Luca Guadagnino’s opulent summertime romance is one of the year’s sexiest and a launchpad for the spellbinding Timothée Chalamet.
Last January the Sundance Film Festival was seduced by an adaptation of Andre Aciman’s novel, Call Me By Your Name. Since then the film has amassed a huge following of die-hard fans (or, more appropriately, stans) who have consumed the film at every opportunity. Now scheduled to go wide on Friday, mass audiences will finally be able to see what everyone has been losing their mind over, and the hype is warranted. Call Me By Your Name is a sumptuous, sensational romantic drama that burrows into your soul with its intoxicating blend of heart and emotion.
Set in northern Italy in the early-1980s, Call Me By Your Name follows Elio (Timothee Chalamet), the bright son of two academics. Used to housing a graduate student every year, Elio finds himself confused at this year’s incarnation: Oliver (Armie Hammer), a presumably confident 24-year-old who instantly draws everyone under his spell. As Elio and Oliver become closer the two’s relationship ends up having a life-altering effect on each of them.
Call Me By Your Name is nothing short of a masterpiece, with a luminosity reflected in the acting of its two leads as it is in the sun-drenched Italian locales its filmed in. The coming-of-age story is worth comparing to Greta Gerwig’s Lady Bird — the two share an actor, Chalamet; both feature a location that allows for growth, while isolating the leads in a way that forces them to confront their changing identity. In this case, Elio is the ex-pat son of an American father and Italian mother who treat him like a son, a friend, and a possession depending on the situation. There’s no doubt of their close-knit nature, but Elio finds himself removed from others, a fact exacerbated by Oliver’s arrival.
Guadagnino has showcased Italy’s beauty in his previous works, particularly 2015’s A Bigger Splash, itself about how a young person can shake up others. Where that film was a blend of humor and murder mystery, Call Me By Your Name is about sensuality. Cinematographer Sayombhu Mukdeeprom acts as both fly on the wall and travel guide, using the camera to show off the awe-inspiring landscapes and the Perlman villa. But Mukdeeprom is far more effective in illustrating eroticism through the lens.
In this case, Guadagnino and screenwriter James Ivory, whose previous work as one half of Merchant/Ivory is responsible for several relatively chaste depictions of romance, create one of the sexiest movies in years that boasts little on-camera sex. This has caused a bit of a stir from those who feel the movie shies away from depicting homosexuality in a truly honest way, but really it goes against the film’s ethos. Ivory hearkens back to a time where proximity can be the most intense thing.
The camera lingers on Oliver and Elio innocuously touching each other, on the wrist or shoulder, and how those simple brushes can set off a powder keg of intensity. By the time the two men actually consummate their relationship they, and the audience, are desperate for it. The camera captures the lovers’ moments in a way that feels honest. Gone is the glossy confidence everyone seems to possess in movies when they sleep together for the first time. Guadagnino highlights the vulnerability, the nerves, the confusion of what to do, that ultimately makes the scene incredibly memorable.
Chalamet is a revelation as Elio. He’s a gregarious young man whose vulnerability manifests in an intelligence so startling it surprises even him. His confusion about love and romance causes him to act out emotionally, whether it’s running into the woods to secure a conquest or fighting with Oliver as a means of hiding how much he wishes Oliver would stay. The end credits play over a sustained shot of Chalamet’s tear-streaked face, going through the Kubler-Ross series of emotions. If Chalamet hasn’t convinced you of his talent in the preceding two hours, his eyes boring into you in the final frames definitely will. It helps that the score, with original songs by Sufjan Stevens, are catchy and emotionally charged.
Complementing Chalamet is Armie Hammer as Oliver, who situates himself as the perfect object of desire. With his strapping shoulders, lantern jaw and sandy blond hair, expertly haloed by the light, it’s no surprise that nearly everyone falls in love with him, with Elio’s maid declaring him a “movie star.” Oliver’s confidence is revealed as a false front once he meets Elio and so much of what makes his performance superlative is watching his face. A casual encounter with a female sees him charm her before quickly walking away blankly, or feeling incredibly crestfallen when Elio attempts to get away from him after their night together.
Michael Stuhlbarg is receiving a majority of praise, which he rightfully deserves as Elio’s academic father. His final speech is worthy of every accolade out there; it’s as beautifully written as it is performed. Amira Casar and Esther Garrel are also lovely as Elio’s quiet, yet well aware mother and his sensitive girlfriend, respectively.
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Call Me By Your Name is one of the best movies you’ll see in a long while. The fact it’s taken this long to release widely is a shame for those who haven’t experienced the litany of emotions it unleashes. Prepare to experience something special.