Review of I Am Love (2010) by Stewart S — 25 Jun 2010

A rapturous film, full of sensory delight, â??I am Loveâ?? seethes with the ecstasy and the tragedy of life and love.

Luca Guadagninoâ??s film is opera, filled with melodrama and passion. In many hands this would be a mess, but the sheer intimacy of the direction and the visual sumptuousness of the photography creates absolute cinema â?? where vision and music and sound come together so perfectly, where this fusion is so finely judged that it creates moments of sheer ecstasy and power.

We are brought into the world of the Recchiâ??s with admirable ease, following them as they prepare for dinner parties and go about their business and love lives. We follow Emma (Tilda Swinton), the controlling Matriarch of the family, whose will holds everyone together, and whose affair will have devastating consequences.

Tilda Swinton (who speaks fluent Italian), is, as always, divine. Her subtlety and her bravery in dealing with her children is real, and the striking off of her staid familiar world (as the world changes around her, and her children bring new concepts into her life) to experience one of lust and pleasure is like breaking through the surface after being long underwater. Her affair with her sonâ??s friend, Anton, is so natural and vivid, showing joy and pleasure in one anotherâ??s company. Tilda is an expert in giving small flickering moments of unspoken understanding. Here, she is central, and the camera and Guadagnino adore her â?? her colourful Italian fashions, her hair glowing in sunlight, her pale skin, her striking beauty.

The film is an evocative feast for the senses â?? enjoying a restaurant meal, sunlight dusting the mountains or glittering from white buildings, flowers crushed under a writhing body, light rain on a poolâ??s surface, the sound of crickets, the heavy breathing after a kiss. Everything is infused with sense.

Another exceptional aspect is the use of John Adamsâ??s music throughout the film. It seduces you with lightness and trumpets the drama. The final scene is a cinematic masterpiece, Adamsâ??s urgent passion counterpointed by superb drama with barely a word spoken.

Emotionally engaging and fulfilling, it lingers in the mind and, despite the tragedy, the abiding feeling is one of joy. It simply must be watched.