Welcome to High Definition a web series to the 21st-century movies-lovers
and dedicated to the analysis, discussion and shenanigans of cinema,
the trick is to enjoy with a little more of what? –of context.
With these sunny days, I feel like talking
about summer loves with a very controversial film.
I mean the peachy, horny and so-d@mn-sweet Call Me by Your Name, by your name, not mine.
Did you have a summer love? You know, one of those where you go on vacation, meet someone, there's a spark,
then you have a great time for a couple of days and that's it. The holidays are over and you ended up screw up!
I never had one because when you're gay things get complicated enough.
For that reason, I am thankful to director Luca Guadagnino for having the B&lls to make this story,
which in my humble POV is the best film on the subject.
B*lls that rewarded him with his first Oscar nomination.
Call me by Your Name tells the story of Elio, a 17-year-old teenager who is on holiday with his parents in Crema, a small village in northern Italy, back in 1983.
Eliot's father is an anthropology professor and his mother is a literature professor and I do not know why but they have conversations in at least 4 languages.
Sure thing, they are not the typical parents and therefore Elio is not a common teenager:
Elio likes to read, listening music and to play the piano and the guitar. Obviously, Elio is tearing girls apart despite being somewhat introverted.
Elio's vacation struggle when his father invites one of his students, Oliver, to meet with them and check his thesis.
Elio is forced to share his bedroom and from the beginning, it is very clear that Elio and Oliver are very different and there is simply no chemistry between them.
As expected the new alpha male claim the attention of the crowd which triggers a macho competition ending up in “crossing swords”. Peaches included.
I love the movie. It's slow, yes, but it's justified. It's 80's and you're at a small village. What else can you do those bloody hot summer days?
Nothing more than what these guys did: ride a bike, sunbathing while reading a book, swimming in the river; going to the beach, cutting fruits in the valley, dancing at the weekends, hooking up (if you are lucky).
The depiction of these images has been highly praised by critics who consider them as seductive as Monet’s paintings.
But the images showed as well the Eroticism typical of teenagers: We see their “almost naked” bodies shining with sweat, soaked shorts that stick into their bodies, we see them dancing.
And then the night comes and everything gets worse, with the heat pushing you to sleep in “Adam’s suit” but you pass because you're not alone.
Unfortunately: when the heat calls you, the flesh weakens and you can’t resist the temptation.
Maybe the movie is set in 1983 but it's actually very progressive. Yes, we are watching a love affair between Oliver and Elio
but the film is so well directed that nobody seems to care, not even Elio's parents!
Each of one had such intimate moments with Elio where they show their love and solidarity with their son. I wish all parents with homosexual children were like that! Bravo!
Another example of progressiveness can be found in Sufjan Stevens, an openly evangelical musician who not only shines in the musical part but also with the lyrics of the song,
so metaphorical that not only fit to the story but also works as a love declaration to Jesus Christ.
Sufjan delivers two songs that are really one: The Mysteries of Love and Visions of Gideon. These songs are based on the instrumental compositions of some scenes in the film. Specially at the beginning.
I hated the music at first because it was too loud and too classic to the movie.
But then I understood that those were the songs that Elio studied to arrange them.
This is how that rabid piano transforms into those sweet cord notes that tell the love that Elio feels for Oliver in the precious The Mysteries of Love, and that (in a very smart move) we only hear when the relationship between them is happening.
But as we already know, summer loves have an expiration date, and that is why the same melody changes the rhythm, turning into the melancholic Visions of Gideon, the perfect setting for the sadly sweet final scene.
My recognition to the scriptwriter of the film: the filmmaker James Ivory, who among many accomplishments, manage to introduce little hints of the gay culture of the 80's as the cult to the Greco-Roman sculptures.
However, I applaud the most, his good taste to change the original story and give us that grand finale that broke the hearts of many.
Thanks to this film, James Ivory, 89, won the Oscar for the best-adapted script, becoming the oldest Oscar winner in the history of the academy.
Finally, my respects for the very young actor Timothée Chalamet, who delivers such a round performance!
Chalamet shows the annoyingness and the insecurities of typical teenagers, but also the doubts about their sexual identity and the courage to reach the object of his desire.
He portraits guilt after doing something he shouldn’t but above all, I applaud his vulnerability,
the one that makes us remember the happiness that is felt when you fall in love for the first time and your love is reciprocated,
even if they break your heart in the process.
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