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Call Me By Your Name (2017)
Adapted from André Aciman’s New York Times bestselling novel, Call Me By Your Name, the film follows the love story of Elio and Oliver that flourishes when an American student, Oliver, interns for Elio’s father over the summer of 1983 in Italy. Although both boys are extremely reluctant to admit their feelings at the beginning of the film, they are able to develop a beautiful relationship.
Overall, this film 9.5 out of 10 stars because of how the film is able to touch viewers in such a unique manner & realistically show first love. Firstly, the way in which Elio & Oliver’s relationship is portrayed is unlike any other romance film. There is a lack of closeups & grand gestures that brings a sense of intimacy & awarness to their relationship. This makes the audience sense the importance in every small detail or gesture. This can be shown in the way that neither Oliver or Elio ever say “I love you” simply because they don’t have to for the audience to sense the love & intimacy between the boys. This is a strong testament to not only the writing & directing but also the acting by Timothée Chalamet.
Call Me By Your Name also brings a sense of cliche-ness in the way that it is shot and edited. It is not conventionally shot as there are shots that are out of focus and several long takes. This allows viewers to truly sense the feelings of the characters and think back to their first love. With the addition of the beautiful scenery and the music, it makes you feel as if you are in Italy in 1980. Some of the songs include originals by Sufjan Stevens, Mystery of Love, and Visions of Gideon that are sure to be on repeat after watching the film
Although the film perfectly captures important moments and did justice to the novel, at times key details and lines were missing in the film. If audience members were not paying close enough attention and had not read the novel, they would not fully understand the scene and what the characters are feeling. For people who like films to be very clear and not up to interpretation, this may not be the movie for you.
However, Call Me By Your Names makes up for this in the several important messages throughout the coming-of-age film. The prominent that stuck with many viewers was to not to suppress yourself and to love unabashedly. This is encapsulated in Mr. Perlman’s (Michael Stuhlbarg) monologue near the end of the film. If you haven’t listened to Stulbarg’s powerful monologue, we implore anyone to check it out.
In a whole, we highly recommend this movie to anyone over 15. Even if you aren’t a fan of romance movies, it is such a powerful and beautiful film that will leave you with a sense of both warmth and melancholy.
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