Member review

Luca Guadagnino’s ‘Call Me By Your Name’ (2017) Is a critically acclaimed piece that won the James Ivory Best adapted screenplay. The film takes place in 1983 Italy and follows the story of Elio, (Timothée Chalamet) an American-Italian teenager with a strong interest in Classical music, in terms of not only playing but transcribing. Elio's Father (Michael Stuhlbarg) has an American graduate named Oliver (Armie Hammer) come to Italy to study in Greco-Roman culture. Upon meeting Oliver Elio's relationship feels slightly venomous, but over time a strong relationship blooms between them, contesting his previous feelings for Marzia, (Esther Garrel) the girl he loved.

Call Me By Your Name's main sense of flair is it's impeccable Cinematography. The film features some amazing long shots and makes incredible use of short depth of field. This helps create visual aid for the viewer as to know when a scene is portraying a certain emotion, a great example of this is the final take, easily the best in the entire film, featuring a three minute display of Chalamet in front of a fireplace with only the sombre sounds of the fire crackling followed by a beautiful finishing song by Sufjan Stevens. On top of these feelings, a strong alienation of the viewer is present, making us feel we are being intrusive, seeing something that wasn't meant to be seen. This is especially prominent in the more emotionally weighted scenes of the film, as the lack of multiple camera takes makes it feel like reality, the close ups in these scenes often have a camera near to somebody's face, making it feel you are truly there witnessing this, I for one was often left with a lump in my throat throughout some of these moments.

Furthermore, the masterful performances of the lead roles add an extra dimension to this already beautiful film, nowhere throughout the film does anyone look or act in a forced way, nothing is unnatural, it feels right, every role is played in such a mellow way that it doesn't feel like a movie, it feels like a regular family is being filmed as it has that sort of..home-y feel. The intimate moments of the film are also beautifully done, Chamalet and Hammer's intimacy doesn't feel awkward or forced.

The only flaw i found is that the film had perhaps there was some filler in the second half, but this is just opinion, the parts i believed could have been cut were just parts that supported the strong ending seen.

To Conclude i'd say that Call Me By Your Name is the best love film i have ever seen, and i highly recommend it to those who haven't seen it yet