When thinking about 1980's Italy, one thinks of things aplenty: Italo disco, timeless films ("Non ci resta che piangere", "Vacanze in America", "Cinderella 80" to mention a few), teen magazines (the cult Cioè) and much more. Of these three elements, "Call me by your name" only has the first, and this in very small quantities. For, director Luca Guadagnino had another vision with his film: he wanted to tell the story of a relationship not very much accepted in the society of the time, a homosexual one. He did achieve this, but not successfully. He rather managed not to live up to expectations, the Italian way.
1983, northern Italy. An Italian-American teenager, Elio (Timothée Chalamet) is on vacation with his parents (Michael Stuhlbag and Amira Casar). Everything is going well in his life: he flirts with his French, charming girlfriend, Mazia (Esther Garrel), his family is supportive, and no problems are in his way. All this changes when Oliver (Armie Hammer), a twenty-four year-old American, who has come to work as an assistant to Elio's father. At first, they only feel contempt and suspicion for each other. They seem to be so different, the one rich and privileged, the other lacking this wealth, Elio being just an immature child, Oliver a mature young adult. Still, their differences soon matter little to them, as they start to develop a romance like no other: for the first time, Elio learns what real love is, and Oliver seems to be the perfect teacher.
Despite the promising premise of the film, and its equally captivating start, the story is not executed well. This is due to two factors: the extremely slow-paced direction and the weakness of the actors'performances. Guadagnino didn't serve the movie well, filling it with long shots that are truly antithetic to its topic, which is the definition of youthful enthusiasm and energy. Instead of really offering us the experience through the eyes of a teenager, he gave us a version of it through a pair of eyes as sleepy as can get. The young performers didn't deliver either. Chalamet, for all his young age and obvious passion, seemed too submissive and hypotonic for such a role, which requires constant intensity of character. Hammer, though charming and dominant on screen, did not have the energy one could expect from a romantic, young man in Oliver's situation. There generally seemed to be a certain lack of intensity in the film, with none of the actors showing their emotions, instead waiting until the last moment to do so. And of course, then everything has been lost.
The film's title, "Call me by your name", indicates the honesty present in the heroes' romance. The name is one of the most important elements of a person's identity. By calling each other by the other's name, the heroes understand that they have nothing to hide from each other and treat each other as equal. This honestly, while coming off in the movie, was not made particularly felt, hidden under the uncertainty of the first romance and the lack of real contact the two lovers had until later in the film.
What made up for the disappointment that was to watch the performances was the atmosphere. At this extent I have to congratulate Luca Guadagnino, since he took care of that to the last detail: from discotheques, to vintage fridges and televisions, to clothes representative of the time, everything was well-chosen and showed not only the love of the director for accuracy, but also his will to complement his story visually. The setting was a feast for the eyes to see, thanks to Sayombhu Mukdeeprom's admirable photography, with the help of which the amazing landscape of Italy came to life. Musically, the movie felt like a time machine to this time, with the Psychedelic Furs, Joe Esposito, and even forgotten one-hit wonder F. R. David offering (among others) the accompaniment to the film. Sufjan Stevens's original score, on the other hand, didn't make any impression to my eyes and thus deserves no special mention.
The joie de vivre that the director wanted to communicate through his work does not come through because of all the factors mentioned above. For a film slow and emotionally reserved - this of course being an oxymoron - from start to end, one cannot expect from it to deliver this sense of freedom, this sense of love, carelessness and adventure, that is entailed in the term "Joie de vivre". For all the people experiencing "joie de voir" while watching "Call me by your name", I found none of this joy. The film was not satisfying. Only by saying that could I call it by its name.
1983, northern Italy. An Italian-American teenager, Elio (Timothée Chalamet) is on vacation with his parents (Michael Stuhlbag and Amira Casar). Everything is going well in his life: he flirts with his French, charming girlfriend, Mazia (Esther Garrel), his family is supportive, and no problems are in his way. All this changes when Oliver (Armie Hammer), a twenty-four year-old American, who has come to work as an assistant to Elio's father. At first, they only feel contempt and suspicion for each other. They seem to be so different, the one rich and privileged, the other lacking this wealth, Elio being just an immature child, Oliver a mature young adult. Still, their differences soon matter little to them, as they start to develop a romance like no other: for the first time, Elio learns what real love is, and Oliver seems to be the perfect teacher.
Despite the promising premise of the film, and its equally captivating start, the story is not executed well. This is due to two factors: the extremely slow-paced direction and the weakness of the actors'performances. Guadagnino didn't serve the movie well, filling it with long shots that are truly antithetic to its topic, which is the definition of youthful enthusiasm and energy. Instead of really offering us the experience through the eyes of a teenager, he gave us a version of it through a pair of eyes as sleepy as can get. The young performers didn't deliver either. Chalamet, for all his young age and obvious passion, seemed too submissive and hypotonic for such a role, which requires constant intensity of character. Hammer, though charming and dominant on screen, did not have the energy one could expect from a romantic, young man in Oliver's situation. There generally seemed to be a certain lack of intensity in the film, with none of the actors showing their emotions, instead waiting until the last moment to do so. And of course, then everything has been lost.
The film's title, "Call me by your name", indicates the honesty present in the heroes' romance. The name is one of the most important elements of a person's identity. By calling each other by the other's name, the heroes understand that they have nothing to hide from each other and treat each other as equal. This honestly, while coming off in the movie, was not made particularly felt, hidden under the uncertainty of the first romance and the lack of real contact the two lovers had until later in the film.
What made up for the disappointment that was to watch the performances was the atmosphere. At this extent I have to congratulate Luca Guadagnino, since he took care of that to the last detail: from discotheques, to vintage fridges and televisions, to clothes representative of the time, everything was well-chosen and showed not only the love of the director for accuracy, but also his will to complement his story visually. The setting was a feast for the eyes to see, thanks to Sayombhu Mukdeeprom's admirable photography, with the help of which the amazing landscape of Italy came to life. Musically, the movie felt like a time machine to this time, with the Psychedelic Furs, Joe Esposito, and even forgotten one-hit wonder F. R. David offering (among others) the accompaniment to the film. Sufjan Stevens's original score, on the other hand, didn't make any impression to my eyes and thus deserves no special mention.
The joie de vivre that the director wanted to communicate through his work does not come through because of all the factors mentioned above. For a film slow and emotionally reserved - this of course being an oxymoron - from start to end, one cannot expect from it to deliver this sense of freedom, this sense of love, carelessness and adventure, that is entailed in the term "Joie de vivre". For all the people experiencing "joie de voir" while watching "Call me by your name", I found none of this joy. The film was not satisfying. Only by saying that could I call it by its name.