Review of Call Me by Your Name (2017) by George C — 19 Jan 2018

CALL ME BY YOUR NAME.

A hauntingly gorgeous love story.

Based on the book 2007 book, Call Me By Your Name is a 2017 Romance Drama directed by Luca Guadagnino, starring Timothee Chalamet, Armie Hammer, and Michael Stuhlbarg. The setting is a crisp, dry summer in 1983 on a sweepingly magnificent Italian villa. Elio's father is an esteemed Professor who invites one young American student to stay at their villa each Summer, where they immerse themselves in Greco-Roman studies. When Armie Hammer's Oliver arrives on the scene, a passion is sparked in young Elio, who is sophisticated and brooding, but clearly still an awkward young teen just beginning to explore manhood. A love blossoms between Elio and Oliver that is unexpected, fleeting, despondent, visceral, and human.

Like the protaganist Elio (expertly played by young rising star Timothee Chalamet), director Luca Guadagnino crafts this film with those same somber, brooding, and melodramatic tonalities. Call Me By Your Name does not rush to its conclusions but rather tip toes there to keep you perfectly engaged while never quite satiated. The characters are given enough time to flush out all of their perfections and imperfections, that by the time we finally see the romance coming to a head, we feel as though it is truly earned. Many other films could not pull off the long, slow, quiet burn of Call Me By Your Name, but Guadagnino is clearly a master of his craft.

The aesthetic feels humid even to watch. Somehow Guadagnino and company managed to capture the exact feeling of Italy in the summer and place it on the screen to behold. Shot entirely on 35mm, this film feels like one you may find hanging around a parents old collection of VHS. Unassuming and poignant, it would be near impossible to tell this film is coming out in the same year as Transformers The Dark Knight or Wonder Woman, and that works to it's advantage. Here we have a two hour experience in real life that feels so wholesomely refreshing but risky and chaotic all at once. We are taken on such a roller coaster of emotion and entirely swept away into the film that you almost forget there isn't a flicker of CGI or camera trickery at play here. When film is stripped away of all fluff, it becomes increasingly difficult to make it perfect. Guadagnino stomps on that notion and exceeds the bar.

Sufjan Stevens provides a haunting backdrop to the shots that is sparse and meticulous. The music is hardly there and most of the time we watch in silence. It feels most brilliant at it's quietest moments. Elio spends a lot of time studying and transcribing piano sheet music and thusly we are generously gifted gorgeous classical compositions whenever he sits at his piano. Sufjan manages to play off of the classical elements and created one of the most excellent soundtracks of the year.

Call Me By Your Name is not a big loud movie. Call Me By Your Name may not be easily digestible for many. But, Call Me By Your Name, in every sense of film making, is damn near perfection. Never before have I felt so swept away in a love story as this one. Luca gave this picture everything it needs to grasp your heart and hold you at it's will until the final credit scene that will keep you glued to your seat. The star, Timothee Chalamet, is young and new, but already earning nominations for Best Actor for his role as Elio. Armie Hammer is belieavable and endearing as the older Oliver, and Michael Stuhlbarg steals the show, just before it ends, with one of the most incredibly beautiful monologues in film to date.

The spacious, sparse, and instantly classic Call Me By Your Name is earning a 9/10 from me and is clearly one of the top 2 best films of 2017 in my book, directly next to The Shape of Water. If you have not yet experienced it, seek it out as it gains wider and wider releases. You won't want to miss this one.