Friday, December 15, 2017

Call Me by Your Name Movie Review

Timothée Chalamet stars in Call Me by Your Name

Flying Colors

Rotten Tomatoes Plot: Call Me by Your Name, the new film by Luca Guadagnino, is a sensual and transcendent tale of first love, based on the acclaimed novel by André Aciman. It's the summer of 1983 in the north of Italy, and Elio Perlman (Timothée Chalamet) a precocious 17-year-old American-Italian, spends his days in his family's 17th century villa transcribing and playing classical music, reading, and flirting with his friend Marzia (Esther Garrel.) Elio enjoys a close relationship with his father (Michael Stuhlbarg) an eminent professor specializing in Greco-Roman culture, and his mother Annella (Amira Casar) a translator, who favor him with the fruits of high culture in a setting that overflows with natural delights. While Elio's sophistication and intellectual gifts suggest he is already a fully-fledged adult, there is much that yet remains innocent and unformed about him, particularly about matters of the heart. One day, Oliver (Armie Hammer) a charming American scholar working on his doctorate, arrives as the annual summer intern tasked with helping Elio's father. Amid the sun-drenched splendor of the setting, Elio and Oliver discover the heady beauty of awakening desire over the course of a summer that will alter their lives forever.


Finally, a movie that embraces homosexuality without judging, taboos or turmoil. Call Me by Your Name could be one of the most important films in years, in addition to its place near/at the top of this year's best. Chalamet & Hammer deserve serious award consideration for their compelling and sincere performances. Their romance isn't the least bit tawdry, but rather elegant, passionate and refreshingly forthright/mature. The setting is picturesque (kudos to cinematographer Sayombhu Mukdeeprom) and the story simultaneously intellectual, progressive and romantic... with terrific pace and one of the best father/son scenes ever. What a great surprise.

Grade: A