Review of Call Me by Your Name (2017) by Hepwa — 24 Nov 2017

Where do I begin? The novel grabbed my heart in January and by July I was touring Italy, reading passages on the beach in the town where its set, strolling through the side street in Rome where Oliver and Elio share their final night together.

It is the gay romance of my lifetime, having grown up in the era of its setting, asking the same questions of myself that Elio does (only failing the question, "Is it better to speak or to die?").

Elio doesn't fail - he speaks and it changes his life, for better or worse. The movie captures that turning point in his young adulthood and brings it to glorious life, replete with the inevitable pain.

Hopefully without spoiling anything, the fire that is lit within him will burn for a lifetime and into the viewer's heart during a crushing final scene that glances over every possible emotion but ending on determination and hope.

For the love of God, don't leave this movie when the credits start to roll. And be a good movie citizen and let everyone you know who will be seeing it to do the same. Guadanigno, the director, is painterly but nothing without the astonishing performances, especially from Timothee Chalamet who brings Elio to life in a way I haven't seen a young actor do since Timothy Hutton broke through in "Ordinary People" almost forty years ago.

Armie Hammer crosses the Rubicon with his performance as Oliver, becoming the master of his creative domain and I can't wait to see what he does in the future. Stuhlbarg as Elio's father is kind, compassionate, clear-eyed and so very wise and his final talk with his son is almost Shakespearean in word and delivery.

While the words are never spoken, his monologue is the paternal 'to be or not to be' that every gay kid would cherish and every straight kid needs to hear. The women are all highly memorable and its a shame that they're a bit lost in the shuffle with the acclaim for the film (that none of them are American actors might play a part).

Call Me By Your Name is a work of cinematic art, the kind that is rarely given and even more rarely appreciated. But it exists and thanks to its creators, from page to screen, I feel like a wiser, less cynical person.

When is the last time a movie had that sort of effect.