Four stars. Rated R, for nudity, frank sexual content and profanity
By Derrick Bang • Originally published in The Davis Enterprise, 2.2.18
One cannot imagine more perfect
circumstances under which to fall in love.
Or a more lyrical and sensitive
depiction of same.
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| Meals at the Perlman home invariably take place outside, surrounded by the estate's lush orchards: genial gatherings during which Professor Perlman and his wife (Michael Stuhlbarg and Amira Casar, left) make newcomer Oliver (Armie Hammer, second from right) feel at home, while their teenage son Elio (Timothée Chalamet) keeps his thoughts to himself. |
Director Luca Guadagnino’s
sweetly poignant Call Me by Your Name
captures the jokey, nervous, wary and (ultimately) full-throttle rush of
falling in love: not of first love,
necessarily, but rather of true love.
The bond that proves life-changing: the one that we instinctively know, deep
down, will be remembered — savored — forever, regardless of how long it lasts.
Credibly conveying this flurry of
complex emotions on the big screen isn’t easy, because — in real life — so much
of such intimate surrender is private, and wordless. Movies are great when it
comes to playful eroticism or naked lust, but attempts to convey genuine
passion — and goodness, such attempts are legion — too often are cluttered with
relentless (and unnecessary) dialog.
Guadagnino and scripter James
Ivory understood this, and deftly rose to the challenge of adapting André
Aciman’s 2007 novel. Ivory just collected a well-deserved Academy Award
nomination for his efforts.
The setting is Northern Italy;
the year is 1983, before computers and Smart phones would become ubiquitous
thieves of shared personal time. Professor Perlman (Michael Stuhlbarg), a
distinguished scholar in the field of Greco-Roman culture, traditionally spends
summers with his wife, Annella (Amira Casar), and their son, Elio (Timothée
Chalamet), in the family’s 17th century villa.
It’s a long, lazy busman’s
holiday of sorts, with research interrupted frequently by biking, outdoor
sports, swims in the nearby lake, and languid, wine-fueled meals.
Seventeen-year-old Elio, an accomplished pianist, takes after his father; the
boy reads voraciously, transcribes music, and flirts with the numerous local
girls, most notably Marzia (Esther Garrel). Clothing is sparse; sex is in the
air.
The villa is surrounded by trees,
all laden with fruit as ripe as the lithe young bodies.
As is his custom, Perlman invites
a graduate student to share his research during a six-week sojourn. This
summer’s arrival is 24-year-old Oliver (Armie Hammer), who is pursuing his
doctorate.
Oliver is hip, flip and
immediately — confidently — at ease in these new surroundings. Elio, amused and
annoyed by this brash newcomer, manifests teenage aloofness and mild condescension.
Oliver, in turn, responds with slightly mocking indifference.
Or maybe something else is going
on.
