1/21/18 - Call Me By Your Name (2017) - 8-/10

Idyllic and intoxicating, providing a scintillating playground of beauty, passion, tenderness, and loss that we may never want to leave. Like a solemn summer breeze of love, that blows through but lingers forever, this is a delicate expose of the soul and the pleasures & pains that come with plumbing its depths. This is a gorgeous coming of age film about love and self knowing, set amongst the backdrop of academic antiquity, musical mastery, and European embraces. It isn’t quite perfect, but is undoubtedly powerful and moving, standing as a terrific movie going experience.

Timothée Chalemet is a torpedo of mastery. His performance is one of coyly maneuvering under the shimmering cover of social norms, hidden desire, and youthful discovery. But, when he hits his emotional crescendos, they explode with spirit shaking devastation. His is a sly and savory opus of “passion” and “loss”.(, expertly finding his emotional targets under the thin guises of social norms). Hammer does a remarkable job, bringing us along and hitting those big “American” moments while still holding in the reserve a reticent tear stained admonition. Wisely, he comes across as a lumbering oaf of decadent pleasure and outright emotions, playing off the hidden bubbling intensity of his youthful companion. Their chemistry and the artistry of their story is truly special.

Stuhlbarg does a wonderful job with his one big scene, bringing a knowing depth and mournful solace to the inflection of each word. That said, he is firmly relegated to the background for the near entirety of the film. Quite good, but small role.

Guadagnino's camera fully embraces the place and its power. It is a fantasy that we are drawn into, with the rustic roads, the verdant villas, sinewy streams; the simple beauty is touching and beyond desirable. The director transports us and lets us melt into not only the magical scene, but the lives thriving within it. We want to be there, with these amazing people, living in a world of leisure. It’s beautiful, lush, sexy and always enticing - just like the relationships, rightly or wrongly. A real mixture of escapism and bitter realities.

As alluring as the relationship and the film-making is, not every moment worked for me. A distinct moment of bizarre camera work/color shift jarred me as I sat in my seat, never really feeling of a whole or quite understood. There are some predominant unspoken power dynamics at play within the main relationship. A highlighting of the gulfs in experience, knowledge, intellect, and talent are necessary and the point, as Hammer is almost seduced by the “better” man. But there are times & moments that appeared to need some concessions. It dwelled within a tortured whimsy that clicked most of the time, but not all the time.

Finely shot and delicately caressed with the music, this faltered romance seizes upon your chest with appreciation and sympathy. The bellows of the chest swirl to unrepentant nothingness and loss for a relationship that won’t ever flourish. But it is skillfully drawn out and delivered, with a welcome softness and elegance. Extraordinary film-making all around for a timeless romance.