Cosmic Fragments: CALL ME BY YOUR NAME Movie Review
"Later." Queer cinema has been thriving in a small sub pocket since the mid-90’s, but in recent years, as social values of the worldwide populace have shifted, there has been an uptick in mainstream cinematic and televisual art centered on gay and lesbian characters, as we can see in Brokeback Mountain (2005), Cloud Atlas (2012), Blue is the Warmest Color (2013), Carol (2015), The Handmaiden (2016), Moonlight (2016), and Black Mirror’s “San Junipero” (2016), to name a few. These films are doing important cultural work in normalizing the LBGTQ+ community, even as many of them are distinctly dealing with things that are specific to the experiences of individuals who self-identify as part of that community. We’ve reached a point now though where people in my generation and younger are generally very accepting of others regardless of one’s sexuality, as most of us believe that “love is love,” no matter who it is shared between. Call Me by Your Name, the newest film from Luca Guadagnino and adapted from a 2007 novel of the same name, embodies this notion, making it a vital addition to the canon of recent queer cinema.
As it tracks the mutual feelings arising in 17-year-old Elio, who is spending the summer of 1983 staying at his northern Italy vacation home with his parents, and 24-year-old Oliver, who is working with Elio’s father as a seasonal research assistant, Call Me by Your Name observes a gay relationship, but the fact that Elio and Oliver are both male is something that the film never really dwells on. It treats its audience to a first love story that, while not reinventing the wheel of the countless other first love stories that have been told, is nonetheless one of the most beautiful ones to come along in a long time. Even with the age gap, the development of Elio and Oliver’s relationship is believable and feels organic, as there is a nervous spark that you can sense between them right off the bat in the way they interact. Elio’s and Oliver’s relationship is special, as they both see something in the other that makes them feel complete (which is where the title Call Me by Your Name comes from), and it is that rare pairing in which both parties equally care for each other with every fiber of their beings. Going beyond just being lovers, Elio and Oliver are companions who bring out the best in one another, and watching it unfold in nearly flawless fashion gives it the feel of a romance for the ages. Timothée Chalamet and Armie Hammer, respectively, breathe life into these characters and convey their mounting desire with aplomb and grace, and behind the camera, Guadagnino catches those small physical gestures and fleeting moments of interpersonal contact that might otherwise go unnoticed but define both characters. Call Me by Your Name is intoxicatingly romantic, not just in its central pairing of Elio and Oliver, but in the sense that here is a film that finds sensual beauty in everything, from a piano, to a pair of shorts, to dancing to 80’s pop music, to ancient Greco-Roman artifacts, to swimming pools, to bicycling, to peaches, to a waterfall, and even in awkwardness and pain. Those last two are the most important, as they provide Elio’s and Oliver’s relationship with a definitive arc, but similarly to how the film doesn’t dwell on the gender of Elio and Oliver, it doesn’t dwell on its destination either, and any potentially negative emotions that surface along the way pale in comparison to the fruitful gratification afforded by seeing these two individuals gradually open up and become one with each other on a basic human level.
Like all movies that have spectacular backdrops, the northern Italian countryside setting plays a great role in making this film such a nice, tasteful delight to bask in. Even though it’s a little on the long side for a simple romance at 132 minutes, I only wanted to spend more time with these characters and in the world of the film by the time it ended. Additionally, this gets the passage of time right with regards to how it depicts the days of a lazy summer quickly blurring together until before you know it, it’s over. The filmmaking reflects this feeling, adopting an understated approach that reveals itself to have been a masterstroke the whole time once the last 30 minutes arrive, which are so good that they almost sneak up on you, not because anything prior is particularly underwhelming, but because of how they contextualize Elio's and Oliver’s relationship within the film’s resounding answer to the central question it poses: “Is it better to speak or to die?” There’s a wonderfully earnest monologue in the penultimate scene, and a brilliant last shot, running through the end credits, that bring everything together in a thoroughly satisfying way that I wouldn’t change a single thing about. Call Me by Your Name may not venture into uncharted territory, but that doesn’t make it any less gorgeous and life-affirming than it is. It's a film I look forward to returning to many times in the coming years. Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐1/2 (4.5 stars out of 5)