Call Me by Your Name

Encountering for the first time Luca Guadagnino’s work with A Bigger Splash, a beautiful film set in Italy with big stars – from the talented Tilda Swinton to the always incredible Ralph Fiennes – one would think those are the ingredients for a more than good European indie-looking feature. But, unfortunately, and despite being a solid drama, it felt as if it didn’t explore itself enough to be the great movie it could have been.

However, all was worth it, because Guadagnino seems to have learnt from his mistakes by bringing us a well-rounded, beautifully crafted and emotionally effective gay romance that is sure to be nominated in every film award ceremony in 2018. This is a movie focused on its characters, and follows the journey of Elio (Thimotée Chalamet) while he discovers his own sexuality during the summer time “somewhere in North Italy”. The scene is set at a countryside house, with his parents and Oliver (Armie Hammer), a graduate student invited by professor Mr Perlman (Michael Stuhlbarg) to spend the season there, exchanging opinions and relaxing next to the river, surrounded by the stillness of the Italian village.

The film falls in the naturalistic style category, exhibiting many day-to-day scenes enhanced in beauty by the wonderful cinematography. Nature and environmental details gain a lot of importance and become characters themselves throughout the two-hour picture. Highly tasteful and poetic, Call Me by Your Name will please any movie lover who appreciates visual arts and the magic that happens when a simple story is told in a masterful and personal way.

The performances and the script will win the viewer over after the first half. No one could help but engage with the tension and the contradictions of the lead characters, who are presented in the most human and compelling way we’ve had the pleasure to see this year. Although this is meant to be a dramatic film, it retains a great comedic energy that improves the drama overall and brings the whole movie closer to a depiction of life. 

A coming-of-age story that everyone should watch.

Maria Barrios

Call Me by Your Name is released nationwide on 27^th October 2017.

Watch the trailer for Call Me by Your Name here: