Call Me By Your Name - Film Review
'Call Me By Your Name' is a romance set in northern Italy between Elio (played by Timothèe Chalamet), a 17 year old musician living with his family in a beautiful Italian villa, and Oliver (played by Armie Hammer), a handsome doctoral student working for Elio's father. As they both spend time with each other over a long summer holiday, they both learn things about each other, as well as themselves.
'Call Me By Your Name' is a beautiful, captivating and true love story between Elio and Oliver which lept off the screen from the opening. They have fantastic chemistry, which was resonant for the whole film, but really blossomed in the last half hour. Timothèe Chalamet gives a truly fantastic performance to a troubled but wisdom filled young boy. He is one of, if not the best performance of 2017. He plays his character with such realism and beauty.
Armie Hammer is just as magnificent in this film, playing a handsome, semi-arrogant intern for Elio's father. He is also discovering things about himself that he doesn't quite understand, and its beautiful to unravel over this summer. This entire film feels so real, and pure, and Michael Stuhlbarg as Elio's father is a significant example of this. In particular one scene, where Elio's father sits with Elio and has an extremely heartfelt conversation with him. Its one of the most emotionally resonant scenes in the entire film.
This film creates a fantastic realism aspect to it. The movie really transports you into Italy, where you are watching peoples personal lives unfold, and its captivating. The cinematography and sound in particular help bring the realism element to life. The editing is very unfussy and clean; it lingers for a while, or cuts away quickly, which is very refreshing and unique.
As for negatives, the film often presents scenes which don't have a lot of worth, other than to add to the realism aspect, which is one of my favourite elements of the film. This may lead people to think the film is boring, too long and/or untidy. Although this was never an issue for myself, as I was awe inspired from start to finish.
By the end credits, this film flattened me emotionally, to where I just sat staring at the credits in awe. 'Call Me By Your Name' is a beautiful, captivating, and heartbreaking film, with some of the best performances of recent years, and overall a technical mastery.
'Call Me By Your Name' gets a 92%
