Film review: ‘Call Me By Your Name’

Arriving like a warm summer breeze to offer a balm for these
endless winter days, “Call Me By Your Name” is a generous, vividly-drawn
coming-of-age story that captures both the exhilaration and melancholy ache of
first love. Directed by Luca Guadagnino (“A Bigger
Splash”) from a script by the legendary James Ivory — based on the 2007 novel
by André Aciman — it’s one of 2017’s most purely
pleasurable films.

At the heart
of this tale is 17-year-old Italian-American, Elio Perlman (Timothée Chalamet). Multilingual and something of a musical
prodigy, Elio is precocious but self-conscious in the way most teenagers are,
acutely aware that for all his book smarts he’s still woefully unprepared for
the things that really matter to the mind of a perpetually horny teenager.

Elio spends
holidays with his father (Michael Stuhlbarg) and mother
(Amira Casar) at the villa vacation home they own in
Northern Italy. Each summer, Elio’s father, a professor of Greco-Roman culture,
welcomes a new graduate student to assist with his research, inviting them to
live with the family for six weeks. This year’s intern is Oliver (a terrific Armie Hammer), a strapping, movie star handsome,
24-year-old American. Golden boy Oliver appears to be everything Elio is not:
gregarious and naturally confidant in a way that leaves the teen annoyed and
irrationally resentful, but also undeniably attracted to him.

As Elio
realizes exactly what he wants, he feels some shame in desiring it so much. He
also already has an on-and-off-again girlfriend, Marzia
(Esther Garrel), but as much as he enjoys being with
her, he’s drawn in Oliver in a much different way.

The film
becomes a study of behavior and interaction as we watch Elio and Oliver
flirtatiously circle one another, sizing each other up and waiting to see when
or if the other will make their move. It takes Elio some time to express his
desires out loud; by the time either do anything about it the feeling is
bittersweet, and all the more meaningful because of the knowledge that their
time together is fleeting.

The Perlmans are a family of privileged academics, and the film
uses their world to its advantage. There are languorous days spent lounging in
the sun discussing music and art, late afternoon swims with breaks for
fresh-squeezed apricot juice, bike rides into town, and al fresco dinners under
the trees. The atmosphere couldn’t be more conducive to a blossoming summer
love.

Guadagnino is the most sensual of filmmakers, creating
stories that one feels able to touch, taste, and even smell. Its characters are
constantly making physical contact; caressing, grazing, running their hands
over their surroundings, and often each other. With every lingering glance, the
filmmaker keeps us attuned to the hidden emotions and desires underneath. We
sense Elio and Oliver’s need to savor their every moment together.

The film’s
heightened sound design, color, and lush lensing from Thai cinematographer SayombhuMukdeeprom completes the
effect. Editor Walter Fasano lets scenes play out in long, leisurely takes,
capturing the feeling of intoxicating summer days that stretch out forever.

The film
isn’t exactly explicit, and it’s drawn some criticism
from some quarters of the gay community for lacking a more full-bodied
exploration of first love, though it suits the sort of story Guadagnino is telling. It’s also the rare gay love story
where the characters face no fraught coming out confessions or outright
discrimination. Everyone is free to pursue their bliss, and no one is left
traumatized for it.

Its idyllic
nature is deliberate, the love story at its center is the type of experience
one looks back on in their later years, sometimes with smile and sometimes
through tears. It’s formative experience for Elio, molding and shaping the
person he’ll eventually grow to become. Despite any pain he feels in the
moment, it’s clear he has no regrets. He discovers something about himself and
the pleasures, joy, and inevitable heartbreaks that await him in life. The
film’s wisdom and kindness about such matters are fully expressed by Elio’s
father, in pitch-perfect monologue delivered late in the film.

Chalamet delivers a remarkable performance for someone
still so early in their career. The fact that he’s already given memorable
performances in 2017 alone (in “Lady Bird” and “Hostiles,” respectively) makes
it plain to see there’s a lot more to come from the young actor. It’s a less
showy performance than a lot of others in this year’s awards conversation, but
it does get a wonderful showcase in the film’s emotional final shot, when we
witness Elio’s realization that the end of one narrative is just the beginning
his own, as he takes his first steps forward into a life that’s open and full
of endless possibility.

This article appears in Jan 17-23, 2018.