Call Me By Your Name
The greatest accomplishment in Call Me By Your Name is that it could probably be the most sensual (don't confound this adjective with others like sexual, sexy or explicit) film ever made with a male homosexual romance. With "sensual" we are saying that it arouses the senses, not just the libido. Luca Guadagnino makes sure that what we see and hear is so rich in its textures, that we can almost smell, touch and taste this film.
Set in an idyllic villa in the Northern Italian countryside, the film follows the coming-of-age story of Elio Perlman, the teenager son of an eminent History teacher who little by little will be being attracted towards his father's summer intern, an incredibly attractive American adonis that could be very well the model for one of the marble statues that he and the Teacher study.
The scenary, the colors, the shots, it all is designated to make us feel the beauty in the Italian summer. There's a lot of nature, there's food, there's music... and there's flesh. Of course that Guadagnino is aiming, it the long run, to infuse his story with a lot of eroticism, but it is subtle, we get it in small doses and never too explicit. But in this film, what we see is as important and relevant as what we don't see, so when a small touching of skin happens, it is electric.
The characters navigate easily within this tale, Thimothee Chalament really embodies the insecurity and romantic inexperience, while Armie Hammer (even if it's difficult to believe that he is 24), is just what we imagine with the terms charming, self-confident and seductive. It is a clash of personalities that make this game even more interesting: if Elio really is unsure of what to do, Oliver feels tied (and maybe aroused?) by the restrictions that means being attracted to another male that is underage and that is the son of his teacher and host. The seduction is long, but precise, it grows tension and make the desire and the infatuation stronger and deeper.
It is a tale of how amazing love could be, no matter if it's only temporal. It's a film to embrace people who, in real life, lacked that passion and that acceptance (the final talk between Elio and his father is extremely touching) because of personal or social prejudices. It is the idylic summer romance that every single person in this world, disregarding their sexual orientation or any other factor, should experience once in their lifetime, and all the elements of the film (the beautiful cinematography, the charming music by Sufjan Stevens, the colorful mise-en-scène) help us to live it along with the characters. It is warm, sweet and touching even if its ending could not be the one that we might have desired, but its one that makes justice to what love actually is: a collection of moments rather than a continued eternity.
