Call Me by Your Name

Dir: Luca Guadagnino

2017

*****

After ten years of development, Andre Aciman’s 2007 novel finally made it to the big screen. Expectations were quite high, not only because the novel was highly regarded, but also because James Ivory had written the script and Luca Guadagnino had been chosen to direct. The three components were sure to be a recipe for success and thankfully they were – and then some. Producers Peter Spears and Howard Rosenman bought the screen right to the novel after they were lucky enough to see an early galley. James Ivory, a friend of both producer, was brought in as an executive producer and Gabriele Muccino, Ferzan Ozpetek and Sam Taylor-Johnson were sought as writer/directors but none of them could commit to the project. I like Gabriele Muccino, I think his 2008 film Seven Pounds is woefully overlooked but I’m not sure he would have been best choice. Ferzan Ozpetek seems like an all too obvious choice but for all the wrong reasons and I have no idea why Sam Taylor-Johnson was asked. I would hazard a guess that Anthony Minghella recommended her after having just produced her 2008 short film ‘Love You More’. The only film she had made before then was the short film ‘Death Valley’ which was an eight minute film of a man masturbating in the middle of the desert, which featured in the 2006 art/pornography experimental film ‘Destracted’. Luca Guadagnino was the first choice but wasn’t always 100% committed to the project so he was brought in as a location adviser instead – which I think was quite a clear way of keeping him in the project. Eventually he was convinced to co-direct with Ivory but he and Ivory disagreed on many aspects of the adaptation. Ivory gracefully stepped aside for the sake of the film after many deliberations. After years of work, everyone clearly felt that the film was the most important thing and everyone made. The financiers also feared a co-directed production and Guadagnino later suggested that a James Ivory version of the story would have been a rather costly affair. Ivory sold the script rights to Guadagnino’s production company but stayed on as producer and was very much hands on throughout the production. The two film makers would have produced very different versions, Ivory said he wanted to stick closer to the novel and even exaggerate is somewhat. It would have no doubt looked stunning but I think Guadagnino’s take on the story is perfect. It has since become part of his ‘Desire’ trilogy, following I am Love (2009) and A Bigger Splash (2015). He has been quoted as saying that he doesn’t see Call Me By Your Name as a ‘gay’ film and I can’t help but agree with him. The relationship in the story is between two men but the film is about their desire, the younger man’s sexual awakening and about both men’s passion. The story is free of all the clichés you’d expect from a ‘gay’ film and the real love story is allowed to flourish. There is an important aspect of the story that relates to our protagonist’s father and Guadagnino has said he sees the film as a homage to fathers. He has stated that he was influenced by the relationship with his own father but also of his film-making fathers, those that inspired him, such as Jean Renoir, Jacques Rivette, Eric Rohmer and Bernardo Bertolucci. I can see each film makers influence in the finished film, particularly Eric Rohmer’s, which made the experience even more fulfilling for me. I love Eric Rohmer’s work, so it was great to see his style channeled through one of the best directors working today who clearly feels the same about the great director. All of that said though, it really doesn’t matter how great the script is or how beautiful the visuals are, this was always a film about the chemistry between to young lovers – the performances from the two leads were paramount to the story’s success. No film fan would ever wish problems or delays on great filmmakers but I have to say that I’m glad Call Me By Your Name took ten years to make. If the film had been made years earlier it wouldn’t have starred Timothee Chalamet or Armie Hammer. Shia LaBeouf was considered in the early years of development and as much as I think he’s an overlooked and misunderstood actor, he would have been wrong for the part. Chalamet and hammer are perfect in their roles to the point that I really can’t think of anyone else who could have played their parts as good as they did. Chalamet in particular gives a stand-out performance that I’m sure will boast his career no end. James Ivory was said to have perplexed by the insistence of the actors that they wouldn’t bare all in the film – in keeping with the novel – but I think Guadagnino was wise to make the film about the love rather than the sex and in any case, there are plenty of sex scenes and no one can accuse the film from shying away from the homosexual side of the story. If anything, removing the explicit sex scenes and nudity only helps in stating that homosexuality isn’t a sex thing but about love just as much as any heterosexual relationship. It’s possibly one of the greatest ‘gay’ films ever made for not highlight itself as such. You can call it one of the greatest homosexual love films ever made but then you can – and should – simply refer it to it as simply one of the greatest love films ever made. It’s absolutely perfect.