Cinema Prescription

Synopsis: It’s the summer of 1983, and precocious 17-year-old Elio Perlman is spending the days with his family at their 17th-century villa in Lombardy, Italy. He soon meets Oliver, a handsome doctoral student who’s working as an intern for Elio’s father. Amid the sun-drenched splendor of their surroundings, Elio and Oliver discover the heady beauty of awakening desire over the course of a summer that will alter their lives forever.
Cast: Armie Hammer, Timothée Chalamet, Michael Stuhlbarg, Amira Casar, Esther Garrel, Victoire Du Bois
Screenplay: James Ivory (based on Call Me by Your Name by André Aciman)
Directed by: Luca Guadagnino

As a part of Luca Guadagnino’s ‘Desire Trilogy’, CALL ME BY YOUR NAME is a rumination of the innocence and the uncertainty of young love, sexual awakening, intimacy and the subsequent loss of many first loves. Set in the beautiful sceneries of Italy and with a perfectly-fitting score, this movie is a profound celebration of romance and the pain that comes with it.

Timothée Chalamet gives a star-making performance with his imersive performance as the young Elio. I expect big things to come for him from here onwards. Armie Hammer, though not on par, is pretty good too as the carefree and seductive Oliver.

And a lot has been said about that Michael Stuhlbarg’s stunning, monologue at the end of the movie, which perfectly captures youth, aging, love and the significance of heartbreaks towards our growth. Though the words came from the original novel, the way it’s presented by both Guadagnino and Stuhlbarg with nuanced affection really made that scene as the one for the ages.

With its slow pacing, almost too-poetic dialogues, and well, the nature of the leads’ relationship, it might cater more to a specific crowd. But I believe CALL ME BY YOUR NAME is still a universal, seductive and thoughtful representation of what it feels to fall in love and the to long for someone. [B+]

A copy of my review on Instagram.