Dir. Luca Guadagnino (2017)
Rated R Call Me By Your Name takes place in the summer of 1983, somewhere in northern Italy. It follows a 17 year old named Elio (Timothée Chalamet) and his family who live in a beautiful summer home in a small town in the country, and a 24 year old named Oliver (Armie Hammer), a student of Professor Perlman's (Elio's father). He stays with the Perlmans for 6 weeks, studying sculptures, culture and language with the professor. During this time, a relationship between Elio and Oliver blooms, and they fall in love in the 6 weeks that they have together. There are a lot of things to address in this movie. A lot of people will go into this movie with their own preconceived notions of what it will be like, which will make them think a certain way about the film even after they have seen it. While this isn't ideal, it's bound to happen for a large portion of people. I tried to go in as open minded as I possibly could. The first concern I feel that comes to people's minds about the relationship between Elio and Oliver is the age difference. In America, the age of consent is 18, and though Elio is only one year younger than this, it still raises some eyebrows when his romantic counterpart is 7 years older. It doesn't help that Hammer looks like he is in his early to mid 30s rather than his early 20s. One has to take into account that the culture in Italy, where this takes place, is much different. The age of consent is 14, MUCH younger than America's. Even when someone remembers this, though, it's still going to be mildly uncomfortable for an American because that is just not accepted or a norm in our culture. I have a feeling that an Italian would feel differently when watching this film. That age difference is addressed in the film, but it's incredibly subtle. Oliver is mainly the only one who struggles with this, since he is the adult. Since the film takes place from Elio's point of view, it's hard to see Oliver's side of things and his emotions towards the relationship in the beginning, especially since it is never conveyed with words. You have to really pay attention to the actions of the characters and facial expressions. Elio is obviously less uncomfortable with the age difference, since he is the one who yearns for the relationship and instigates it in a way. He definitely wants to be seen as an adult rather than a teenager. Almost the entire first half of the film is just tension and hesitation between the two characters, it being obvious that they feel something for one another and then those feelings being stripped back to just friendliness between a teenager and his father's student. The cycle of emotions lasts for a while before the two actually address anything. If you strip back all the layers of this movie, all it is is a love story. It's the story of a young person experiencing their first love and the heartbreak that comes along with that, which is an age old story that's been told over and over again. I think that the movie does a beautiful job of portraying that experience. The ending really is heartbreaking, because watching from Elio's point of view, you can really see what he is experiencing as the young person who is losing his first love. One of the best messages in the film comes towards the end, told by Elio's father (Michael Stuhlbarg). Elio is heartbroken after Oliver has left for America, and Mr. Perlman delivers this monologue that seemed as if the entire movie was building up to it. He tells Elio to not numb himself and to feel his heartbreak and all the feelings that come with it. It's really moving, and WOW does Stuhlbarg do an amazing job delivering it. He's probably one of my favorite actors now. If you can't get past this movie for what it is, you can at least appreciate it for it's beauty. The cinematography and scenes in this movie are absolutely stunning. It will instantly make you want to go to Italy. Again, not everyone is going to love this movie, and not everyone is going to be able to get past their own constructs that they have built against it before seeing it. That's ok, but if you watch this movie for what it really is, it's a beautiful and heartbreaking love story.
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AuthorCasey Land Archives
January 2018
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