The third and final part of filmmaker Luca Guadagnino’s thematic ‘Desire’ trilogy (following 2015’s A Bigger Splash and 2009’s I Am Love), 2017’s Call Me by Your Name once again challenges its audience with themes of love (sometimes first) and loss, desire, sexuality and so much more.
Nominated for four Academy Awards this 2018 (including Best Picture), the story, set in 1983, follows seventeen year old Elio (Timothée Chalamet – nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role), a whip smart, though somewhat aloof and self-conscious teen who is spending the summer with his family in Northern Italy – he is a voracious reader and talented musician (a near prodigy). His father, Mr. Perlman (Michael Stuhlbarg), is an archaeology professor who has invited a graduate student, Oliver (Armie Hammer), to aid him as a research assistant.
With a contrasting personality to Elio’s (he is outgoing and gregarious, almost insatiable in the way he devours food and drink), Oliver is given the teen’s bedroom, forcing him into the guest suite – the two share an adjoining ensuite bathroom. Spending time between work and play, the pair chum around when Oliver isn’t busy – biking and swimming in the beautiful Northern Italian countryside.
Though subtle hints suggest at more. . . Elio teasing Oliver as he never plays Bach in the fashion the man expects or wants. . . how the normally distant Elio joins the dance floor one night as Oliver lets loose. . . Elio’s keen eyes trained on Oliver as he walks on the other side of a brick-pillared historic ruin (a visually stunning effect) – these moments suggesting a flirtatiousness, an awakening, and voyeurism, respectively.
Intriguingly, Oliver is a flirt with the ladies, heading out nearly every night to God knows where, while Elio has started a relationship with his longtime French (summer) friend Marzia (Esther Garrel) – a closet bibliophile enamoured with his intellectual talents. What will come of the two men? Will that subtle spark ignite?
Shot with thoughtful creativity by Guadagnino, his passion for the outside world is infectious. With a rather meandering though deliberate pace, the director allows the audience to fall in love with the striking country villa, tree-lined roadways, secret gardens, nearby historic town, and beautiful little lakes, ponds and swimming pool (water was a key motif in A Bigger Splash as well) – each location feeding into that serene, relaxing vacation state of mind. Sometimes, long single takes are utilized to capture the pace of life (an example being the memorable discussion between the two leads at a World War One monument).
Seen through a teen’s eyes, the camera’s angles and locations are at a distance, much like his personality. We are kept at arm’s length (very few close-ups), for even when the men are close, there is still a guarded quality to their nervousness. At one point later in the film, this changes for a short time, and, through an almost subconscious shift, a freeing clarity is finally achieved (i.e. close-ups of Oliver). Sadly, some of the alluring atmosphere is lost when the Oscar nominated song “The Mystery of Love” kicks into action, a musical interlude that jars one out of his or her mesmeric state. It feels unneeded and unwarranted compared to the rest of the music (which is often classically driven, like modern composer John Adams’ “Hallelujah Junction -1st Movement”, which opens the film, or is diegetic – meaning that the music is heard by the characters in the film – an example being the above mentioned Bach composition).
Adapted with nuanced grace by James Ivory (from André Aciman’s novel of the same name), the story, in Guadagnino’s capable hands, captures an interesting tone of romance as well as that mysterious spark of first love, yet with an undercurrent of melancholy. A nervous secret (paranoid thoughts in the mind) speaks to their seemingly taboo desires, the danger in admitting such a thing. The characters, led by Chalamet and Hammer, develop fascinating personas that evolve from what we first see. Chalamet walks a thin line between adult intellectual and immature teen, while the tall, chiselled Hammer, with full American bravado, may not be exactly as he seems. And though his character is at times written in a one dimensional manner, Stuhlbarg truly shines in a scene towards the end of the film – an enlightening moment that highlights his parental outlook, his caring nature, and the support that both he and his wife (played by Amira Casar) have given, and continue to give to Elio so that he has the opportunity to flourish and grow. As impressive, most of the actors must deal with dialogue that flips flops between English, Italian, French, German and Hebrew – each of them truly making us feel like they have spent their summers in the rural countryside of Northern Italy. Chalamet actually learned how to play piano and speak Italian for this role.
Very much a European Art house film, Call Me by Your Name is an artful depiction of young love. With several controversial moments, I will leave it to you to figure out just how to interpret the risqué peach sequence. Make sure to take up the call and watch this Best Picture nominee, it is like an intimate fireside chat.