Elio! Oliver!
Elio! Oliver!
Call Me By Your Name Movie Review by Tara Giddings
An immersion into culture, passion and emotion, Call Me By Your Name directed by Lauca Guadagnino, captures the beauty of life in Northern Italy while creating a truly personal and realistic image of falling in love that few films mange to portray. The story follows Elio, a young adult who is discovering his own new world of desire. He meets Oliver, an American graduate student working for Elio’s father for the summer and over the course of the film the two find a deep connection.
Set in the 80s the film deals with the struggle of being outwardly gay. The special touch of this film is that while is shows the difficulties of a gay relationship, it really shows is the difficulties of any relationship. The lust, the fear of wanting someone who does not want you back, and the simple inability to accept your own feelings in an attempt to protect yourself from pain.
The acting by Timothée Chalamet (Elio) and Armie Hammer (Oliver) is impressive in with their expressions of genuine emotion. Elio sits and watches Oliver dancing with a woman and the look of inner turmoil he is trying to hide sums up an emotion that most people have experienced.
Art, history and literature play a fascinating role in the film. Elio spends time reading an old german book with his parents, Mr. Perlman (Michael Stuhlbarg) and his wife Annella (Amira Casar), who both bring brilliance to their smaller roles. The book poses the question that represents the personal struggle in the film “Is it better to speak or to die?”. Elio believes at the time he will not have that courage, however as the story continues the character growth allows him to find that courage within himself. “Better to speak” the novel tells us.
The film switches between languages from French, Italian and English providing cultural context and making the viewer feel immersed in the European world. In a scene of nights dancing illuminated with strings of lights, the imagined taste of alcohol in fresh Italian drinks, and the smell of smoke from the cigarettes, every scene provides a sensory experience through film.
Elio is a smart young man, continually reading, transcribing music and taking interest in his father’s historical research. Oliver is a confident, athletic, obviously attractive, and also highly intelligent. One day in town while describing a battle that took place in World War I Elio tells Oliver “If only you knew how little I knew about the things that matter” describing his struggle understanding his emotions. His statement prompts a recognition of the obvious sexual tension between the men.
Between days spent bicycling through the beautiful Italian countryside and laying by the pool near the family’s apricot grove the men grow closer as they spend the summer together. The sound track, especially the songs by Sufjan Stevens such as Futile Devices, Visions of Gideon and Mystery of Love give the movie a magic touch and allow the audience to future connect with the characters emotions.
The film provides a view of the beauty in discovering of sexuality, including Elio’s night in the forest with his female friend Marzia (Esther Garrel) whose acting outshines her rather small role. With very few English lines she manages to exemplify the excitement of a first relationship to the disappointment of unrequited love. The film shows intimate relationships in a far more advanced manner than the overly romantic or purely passionate view from classic Hollywood. It shows the exhilaration in a single touch, and expresses the soft, messy, exciting and heartfelt side of sex.
From a single kiss by the river to a night planned with handwritten notes, the film brilliantly allows the audience to feel the growing emotions in both lust and love. Elio’s insecurities are well played as he says the reason he puts himself down “so you won’t I guess” and in one line sums up all teenager’s self doubt.
The time spent as a couple between Elio and Oliver shows the playful joy felt by two people freshly in love. From drunkenly running around the city at night to the tangled bodies in bed to simply saying “I just wanted to be with you” and getting a reply of “Do you know how happy I am that we slept together” the film implies true mutual adoration. The feeling that lights up the viewer causing you to feel personally invested in the relationship.
The story is not a happily ever after. Instead it is the story of the illuminating experience of finding a real and raw connection in love, and personally I think that makes it far better. After Oliver leaves, Elio feels the obvious suffering and loss. Elio then he talks with his father, who admits to having the same homosexual feelings all his life. His father provides the view of light in the dark times saying “to make yourself feel nothing so as not to feel anything, what a waste”. In saying this Mr. Pearlman leaves the viewer with a positive outlook despite the heart wrenching feeling of seeing two people in love not together.
Elio is told by his father “right now there is sorrow, pain, don’t kill it and with it the joy you felt.”
This expresses the true beauty of the film. In finding the joy in heartbreak, the love in lust, the universality in the feeling of desire and disappointment the film creates a connection between people of any culture, who speak any language and who have any sexual orientation.
Call Me By Your Name Movie Review by Tara Giddings
An immersion into culture, passion and emotion, Call Me By Your Name directed by Lauca Guadagnino, captures the beauty of life in Northern Italy while creating a truly personal and realistic image of falling in love that few films mange to portray. The story follows Elio, a young adult who is discovering his own new world of desire. He meets Oliver, an American graduate student working for Elio’s father for the summer and over the course of the film the two find a deep connection.
Set in the 80s the film deals with the struggle of being outwardly gay. The special touch of this film is that while is shows the difficulties of a gay relationship, it really shows is the difficulties of any relationship. The lust, the fear of wanting someone who does not want you back, and the simple inability to accept your own feelings in an attempt to protect yourself from pain.
The acting by Timothée Chalamet (Elio) and Armie Hammer (Oliver) is impressive in with their expressions of genuine emotion. Elio sits and watches Oliver dancing with a woman and the look of inner turmoil he is trying to hide sums up an emotion that most people have experienced.
Art, history and literature play a fascinating role in the film. Elio spends time reading an old german book with his parents, Mr. Perlman (Michael Stuhlbarg) and his wife Annella (Amira Casar), who both bring brilliance to their smaller roles. The book poses the question that represents the personal struggle in the film “Is it better to speak or to die?”. Elio believes at the time he will not have that courage, however as the story continues the character growth allows him to find that courage within himself. “Better to speak” the novel tells us.
The film switches between languages from French, Italian and English providing cultural context and making the viewer feel immersed in the European world. In a scene of nights dancing illuminated with strings of lights, the imagined taste of alcohol in fresh Italian drinks, and the smell of smoke from the cigarettes, every scene provides a sensory experience through film.
Elio is a smart young man, continually reading, transcribing music and taking interest in his father’s historical research. Oliver is a confident, athletic, obviously attractive, and also highly intelligent. One day in town while describing a battle that took place in World War I Elio tells Oliver “If only you knew how little I knew about the things that matter” describing his struggle understanding his emotions. His statement prompts a recognition of the obvious sexual tension between the men.
Between days spent bicycling through the beautiful Italian countryside and laying by the pool near the family’s apricot grove the men grow closer as they spend the summer together. The sound track, especially the songs by Sufjan Stevens such as Futile Devices, Visions of Gideon and Mystery of Love give the movie a magic touch and allow the audience to future connect with the characters emotions.
The film provides a view of the beauty in discovering of sexuality, including Elio’s night in the forest with his female friend Marzia (Esther Garrel) whose acting outshines her rather small role. With very few English lines she manages to exemplify the excitement of a first relationship to the disappointment of unrequited love. The film shows intimate relationships in a far more advanced manner than the overly romantic or purely passionate view from classic Hollywood. It shows the exhilaration in a single touch, and expresses the soft, messy, exciting and heartfelt side of sex.
From a single kiss by the river to a night planned with handwritten notes, the film brilliantly allows the audience to feel the growing emotions in both lust and love. Elio’s insecurities are well played as he says the reason he puts himself down “so you won’t I guess” and in one line sums up all teenager’s self doubt.
The time spent as a couple between Elio and Oliver shows the playful joy felt by two people freshly in love. From drunkenly running around the city at night to the tangled bodies in bed to simply saying “I just wanted to be with you” and getting a reply of “Do you know how happy I am that we slept together” the film implies true mutual adoration. The feeling that lights up the viewer causing you to feel personally invested in the relationship.
The story is not a happily ever after. Instead it is the story of the illuminating experience of finding a real and raw connection in love, and personally I think that makes it far better. After Oliver leaves, Elio feels the obvious suffering and loss. Elio then he talks with his father, who admits to having the same homosexual feelings all his life. His father provides the view of light in the dark times saying “to make yourself feel nothing so as not to feel anything, what a waste”. In saying this Mr. Pearlman leaves the viewer with a positive outlook despite the heart wrenching feeling of seeing two people in love not together.
Elio is told by his father “right now there is sorrow, pain, don’t kill it and with it the joy you felt.”
This expresses the true beauty of the film. In finding the joy in heartbreak, the love in lust, the universality in the feeling of desire and disappointment the film creates a connection between people of any culture, who speak any language and who have any sexual orientation.
Comments
Post a Comment