* Contains major spoilers *
Call Me By Your Name was released in 2017 and was directed by Luca Guadagnino (he also directed Suspiria, A Bigger Splash and the upcoming film Bones and All). The film achieved a worldwide gross of $41,888,660. The story follows a 17 year old boy called Elio (Timothee Chalamet) spending his summer in Italy in 1983. He then meets Oliver, (Armie Hammer) an older man who is his father's research assistant spending the summer with him and his family. Throughout the duration of the film the two fall in love and spend their summer exploring their own sexuality and spending time with one another.
The film includes a soundtrack with multiple artists but most well known is Sufjan Stevens who wrote the songs Visions Of Gideon and Futile Devices which are used in the film. The most well known and popular song in the film however is Mystery of Love, which became in a way the theme song for the film, as it is the most well known, and most impactful of all the songs. Mystery of Love was written for Call Me By Your Name, and the songs lyrics reflect the story of the film and the messages conveyed.
The most noticeable aspect of this film is the cinematography of it; visually the film is stunning and the locations are breathtaking. However I believe that the meaning created in the film is even more impactful. Luca Guadagnino said in an interview that the main antagonist of this film is time. We as an audience forget about Oliver's time with Elio being temporary, and so when he abruptly departs, we are left feeling as empty as Elio, this conveys Guadagnino's point about time being an invisible antagonistic force. After Oliver leaves, we get a fade in shot of rain falling in the garden which then fades out to the beginning of Mr Perlman's monologue scene. The simple use of this fade in/fade out shot indicates how time has passed but Elio's pain still lingers, the pathetic fallacy of the rainfall further signifies this.
Mr Perlman's monologue is perhaps the most powerful part of the film, as its philosophical take on the pain we as humans feel and the advice it gives and how to deal with this presents the audience with a main message to take away from this film. This main message seems to be to not cut away from that feeling, as it is what makes us feel alive. During the monologue Mr Perlman says that he too experienced something similar to what Elio and Oliver had, but he never pursued it, as 'something always held me back or stood in the way'. I think the opposition of the two parts of this sentence 'held me back' and 'stood in the way' is extremely significant to the film, as 'held me back' could relate to the anxiety and fear we as human beings experience when approaching love, and 'stood in the way' could relate to the need to confine to what society dictates as 'normal'. The fear of not being accepted for who we are and who we love can be too much for some people to handle. The fact that this film is set in the 1980's places more significance on this idea.
One thing I find interesting about the film is how it strays away from a conventional story about a gay couple. Elio lives a perfect life, surrounded by a loving family in a luxurious home, he spends his time swimming in lakes and pools with his friends while he composes music. Elio lives in a sort of utopia, and so an easy way to create conflict in this film would be to include some sort of homophobia, like lots of films do (this isn't a bad use of storytelling, it's just a popular one.) The film steers clear of this and instead goes in an opposite direction, as we see a gay couple who are shown as close friends of the family, and Mr Perlman denounces homophobia. I like how the film steers away from the mainstream version of storytelling and instead adopts a different, unique narrative.
Guadagnino also explains how for the whole of the film he uses the same 35mm lense. I think this is one thing that makes the film particularly unique, as this mimics the sight of a human eye. It includes the audience in the film as if we are there experiencing everything with them. I find the use of camerawork particularly interesting in this film; for example, during the scene where Elio confesses his feelings to Oliver, the camera is uncomfortably far away, and the setting is a public area whereas conventionally we may see this type of scene in a private space, as this is usually an intimate moment between couples. I think the use of this captures the awkwardness and anxiety Elio feels while confessing his feelings. Additionally, the lingering shot of Elio crying while credits role at the end of the film presents this idea of not cutting away from that feeling and instead embracing it. The camera lingers on this shot for an uncomfortably long time, making us as an audience feel this as well; we don't need dialogue to understand that Elio longs for that summer again. The symbolism of the fire on Elio's face further signifies this, as it could represent the heat of their relationship.
Overall I think the film is amazing in many ways. I love the cinematography and how the film looks, the aesthetic of it is beautiful. I also love the subtlety and the simplicity of things. For example, we don't see the name of the film until the very end of the movie. This simple choice presents the question of why? It can be interpreted in many ways: for me, I think this could be an affirmation that Elio is now fully himself, after enduring that pain and the joy of that summer. Even the name of the film can create meaning. The two characters appear to want to be one another: Elio admires Oliver's confidence and emotional maturity, whereas Oliver admires Elio's freedom, talent and knowledge. The use of calling each other by their own name suggests that they are merging, that the two of them are whole when they are together. I would 100% recommend this film, as I think even without analyzing it, it's an amazing watch and holds a poignant message, but when you look deeper into the meaning, you can appreciate the film even more. The video below shows a few scenes of the film and the beauty of it, with the Sufjan Stevens song used in the film, 'Mystery of Love'.
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