Call Me By Your Name - Movie Review

Chris Stuckmann reviews Call Me By Your Name, starring Armie Hammer, Timothée Chalamet, Michael Stuhlbarg, Amira Casar, Esther Garrel. Directed by Luca Guadagnino.

[cdxp]

THE VILLIAN IS TIME. SUMMER DOESNT LAST FOREVER

[billington]

Not enough people talk about the music in this movie. Mystery of love and visions of Gideon are both incredible

[FurkanKhan]

I am tired of gay movies having tragedies. this movie was a refreshing change.

[aryehlevine]

I never understand why people view slow pacing as a negative.

[mep]

"Elio Elio Elio Elio.... I remember it all"

[waffleiron]

The obstacles in this film were implied and fairly obvious... they were gay men in 1984...

[TheFatoud]

Your one issue with the movie is literally THE thing that sets it apart from all gay love stories ever told.

[georgedwwyatt]

I thought the fact that there weren’t any obstacles stood out as a great thing as it was different to almost every other gay movie. Why does there need to be obstacles just because they’re gay. Not everyone in movies are homophobic.

[sapphiro]

Because of people like Chris this movie took the director 10 years to make because every studio director approached, they demanded to put villain in the movie.
Like what the hell, can't you people enjoy a simple beautiful love story without cliché coflict/drama Hollywood bs?
This is the best movie this year by far, I've seen it 4 times already in the cinema and can't stop thinking about it.

[exittiming]

Michael Stuhlbarg - advice to son. Timothée Chalamet - final scene to fade out.
Nothing better in filmmaking this year.
A tremendous achievement.

[Omletteàlafromage]

About not knowing enough about Oliver, that's because it's dealt exactly like that in the book. But honestly, the fact that there are no obstacles in the way of the character's journey is what makes me love this movie so much. It's as the director called it "A pure celebration of love". It's rare to find a movie that takes its time like that without antagonists or melodrama. It's real and genuine. This movie is craft.
imho.

[AdamChenevert]

but will you ever look at a peach the same way again?

[ChristopherMervJones]

I actually really enjoyed the lack of obstacles in the film. That way, more of the focus is given to the subtle dynamics between the characters throughout. Had there been some great hardship for them to face, it would have forced the kind of drama this film very much tries to avoid. It is slow, but in that patient pace comes an amazing amount of genuine emotion, pure and not over-dramatised. Enjoyed the review, thanks!

[martincordova]

Hey Chris. I'm going to have to disagree with your "obstacle = drama" comment. For me, the movie was mostly about internal obstacles., rather than external, which are the kind you are referring too. In the beginning of the film, what keeps Elio and Oliver from becoming close isn't a sense of shame or morality regarding their sexual proclivities, but the fear that the other, seen as "better" by both men, would not want them. In Elios conversation with his father he says that he believed that Oliver was BETTER than him. His father replies that Oliver would have felt the same way about Elio. The scene where the title of the movie is uttered, "call me by your name", is the moment where Oliver recognizes that to get over the hurdle of envy, they must almost switch places, to experience love through the other's eyes. That's what I think makes the movie so special. It's not about any kind of externally forbidden love., but by the love one denies oneself because one does not see themselves as worthy of being loved by the one they want.

[EBBskNorge]

The lack of hardships and obstacles was purposeful! It makes it more raw and solely dependent on emotion rather than some kind of struggle to overcome.

[finnlyD]

Best film of the year, its fucking amazing. The final 15 minutes, that conversation with his dad, that final shot, amazing.

[MyPimpinAfro]

He should've said something about Michael Stuhlbarg's performance at the end of the film. Seriously moving

[junkaiyang]

Actually, Oliver implied the "obstacles" from time to time in the film.
When they first kissed lying on the grass after Elio took Oliver to his secret spot, Oliver stopped and said they couldn't do this 
He asked if Elio is going to hold what happened that night against him. (The night they first made love actually) I actually felt really sad when Elio replied no, you can definitely hear his heartache. How possible Elio is going to hold that against him because he truly loved Oliver.
And several days before Oliver's departure, they walked on the street and Oliver tried to kiss him when they stepped into a small alley and Elio hinted what if someone saw this...
All of those little detail actually told you that it was hard to be falling for a man as a man in the 80s. But you don't need to make the movie all about it. Seriously, I'd prefer it stay simple and the movie just about the 2 of them. Not every gay movie needs to have so many obstacles, like as a requirement. I'm tired, let them just fall in the goddamn love. What makes everything so sad is that, in such a secluded environment (small town in Italy), with supportive parents, and not much against them in general, they still couldn't be together. Oliver still went back to USA and got married as planned, and Elio somehow, could never escape the love. In the book, he describes, himself having 2 parallel lives, one is frozen ever since Oliver was gone and stayed 17 until he met him again, and the other kept living in his body and grew. 
Seriously, this movie has a lot details you guys should really dig into. It is just as beautiful as I have imagined when reading the book. It doesn't need to be so drama, so cliche Hollywood, so conventionally intense.

[mikipav]

I disagree with the “it should have more obstacles” part because in most LGBT love movies you have some kind of cliché obstacle like unaccepting parents or one member of the couple getting beaten up by some radical homophobe group. It’s so refreshing to finally see a film that doesn’t portray any kind of violence or injustice towards LGBT couples and just treats them like it would with a hetero couple. It’s beautiful to see Oliver and Elio explore their love without anything but time in their way. No hate, no violence, just love and the bittersweet consequences of the only obstacle every single human being shares: Time.

[neworleansguy]

This film totally destroyed me. It snuck up on me. I was completely fine until the last 2 scenes. Elio's father's "lecture" to him, followed by the drastic change to winter, the phone call, and Elio's reactions. I had a 3 month relationship with a guy I love dearly that he ended a couple of months ago. He was only the 2nd guy I'd ever dated, and it ended in my having my heart broken--in the traditional sense of the term--for the first Tim's in my life. Needless to say, I cried through the last 15 mins of the film.