Only once in a while, you come across a film that completely blindsides you with its utterly unexpected brilliance. For me, that was Call Me By Your Name. I knew the picture was part of the LFF programme, which is usually a good sign it would be of a high standard, but it was more than the usual dramatic features fishing for Oscars. It was somehow easy and lighthearted and that I think was the best thing about it.
The big screens often get bombarded with tragic and tortured LGBT love stories, which can be incredibly moving, but also quite heavy at the same time. They definitely serve a purpose – reminding people that the road to equal rights for all was long and tumultuous and really not that far behind in the past. However, Call Me By Your Name wasn’t one of them and it is absolutely refreshing to get a movie that normalises homosexual love instead of making it the forbidden fruit. This time movie buffs get to watch a gay couple facing issues that have nothing to do with unacceptance from others.
The film is set in a fairy-tale-like luscious north-Italian village where the summer seems eternal and the fun never stops. The serenely beautiful natural surroundings only complement the seductive essence of the scorching romance between the charming and gifted 17-year-old American-Italian Elio Perlman (Timothée Chalamet) and the enigmatic and alluring 24-year-old American grad student Oliver (Armie Hammer). The chemistry between them is electrifying from the start, despite the two not revealing their true feelings for each other straight away.
Regardless of his character’s young age, Chalamet plays him with a certain emotional maturity and an unapologetic desire to explore his fluctuating sexuality. Elio may eventually fall for Oliver but he also sleeps with his friend Marzia (Esther Garrel). Nothing is taboo for him and a certain erotic peach scene, which I wouldn’t want to spoil for you, would leave many viewers both in stitches and hot under the collar.
Timothée impressively switches comfortably between French, English and Italian throughout the film. He also learned to play the piano and guitar specifically for his role. His character happily spends his summer in his family’s lush 17th-century villa swimming, reading, transcribing and playing classical music and his many talents are perhaps what entices Oliver the most. The grad’s own sharp wit shows from the beginning when he debates the origin of the word apricot and dazzles not just Elio but his parents too. The two protagonists find common ground in their Jewish heritage and their mutual fascination with men and women as well. All in all, they are true equals, both in passion and intelligence.
Armie Hammer is the other rising star of the film. I honestly couldn’t imagine anyone but him and Chalamet portray Oliver and Elio and the director Guadagnino rightfully chose them to do so as per their apparent irresistible on and off-screen magic. You simply can’t help but believe their love for each other is real, even if it’s simply platonic (bearing in mind Armie is happily married). And who knows, it might actually be kind of true because the two actors seem to have developed a strong friendship following their close work on the production.
Hammer is so much more than the eye-candy of the picture in his impossibly short shorts. He’s an evenly adept leading man and you can definitely see how deeply he cares for his craft. He bares not just his body, but his soul. He clearly left all reservations at the door and his uninhibited dancing, which he claims to have been more challenging than any sex scene in the movie, leaves him more exposed than ever. His character, on the other hand, tries to keep a few layers to himself and is a closed book in comparison to Elio. Armie continues to make bold but rewarding acting choices that only affirm his status as a thespian daredevil. I can’t wait to see what he does next.
The progressive polyglot Perlman family couldn’t be more supportive of Elio’s growing relationship with Oliver, if anything they seem to encourage it, which adds to the ease of their love story that I mentioned earlier. The teenager has a strong bond with both his father (Michael Stuhlbarg), a prominent professor of Greco-Roman culture and his mother Annella (Amira Casar), a translator. In the end, Stuhlbarg’s character delivers an amazingly honest and vulnerable speech about his own journey to personal discovery, which is one of the more powerful moments of the film and it’s a pivoting plot point. The performance’s strong emotional charge would most likely leave quite a few audience members sobbing in their seats.
The next blow the cinema-goers have to take is the credits, which are absolutely heartbreaking. We get to see Elio fall apart in front of our eyes as he weeps till the very end. The melancholic music is the perfect frame to his lost innocence and a premature entry into adulthood.
Luca Guadagnino’s adaptation of the 2007 novel of the same name by André Aciman is a trendsetting coming of age romance, which should have been an Oscar-winning project, but it’s sure to become a classic. What a masterpiece! I couldn’t be happier that there is a sequel on the way.