Written by: James Ivory (screenplay by), Andre Aciman (based on the novel by)
Directed by: Luca Guadagnino
Starring: Armie Hammer, Timothy Chalamet, Michael Stuhlbarg
Rated: R
Watch the trailer
Plot
In 1980s Italy, a romance blossoms between a seventeen year-old student and the American scholar hired as the student's father's research assistant.
Verdict
It's a wonderful movie centered on a relationship that means two very different things for the people in it. For one of them it's a fling, for the other it's first love. It's a forbidden romance that is short lived, but it provides a connection for the viewer. We've puzzled though admiration, infatuation, and wild teenage emotions. This is a thorough and well plotted examination of those emotions.
Watch it.
Review
Oliver is the dashing American that is working for Elio's father, a archaeology professor. Elio is a teenager living in Italy, intrigued by the new guy. Oliver has this slightly rebellious vibe. I began to wonder if Elio's fascination was bordering on infatuation. When Oliver touches Elio on the shoulder, Elio quickly shrugs away. Was it weird for Elio to be touched, was it weird this older guy was touching him, or was Elio afraid to betray his feelings? At that moment, we don't know. It could be one of any of those scenarios.
Elio begins wearing the same necklace as Oliver. At that age you're trying to figure out your place in the world. How do you act? It's easy to pick someone you admire and emulate them. Emotions run wild at that age too. Perception and feelings can be tricky. Is Elio confusing liking Oliver for romantically liking Oliver? Elio has a girlfriend, but he never finds her as interesting as Oliver. Oliver is foreign and his attitude makes him cool. Elio doesn't know what to do with those feelings, emotions, and energy. Elio finally admits his feelings to Oliver, but initially Oliver dismisses him.
After Oliver returns to the states, Elio's father provides poignant insight. The father was very perceptive, realizing what was going on. The father confides similar feelings he had but failed to act on them. He urges Elio to revel in love instead of the despair of loss. I thought this movie would end here, which would be a find ending, but we get an epilogue.
A while later we see Elio devastated after a call from Oliver. A teenage crush is difficult to get over. Elio was never as emotionally mature as Oliver, and I get the sense that Oliver never saw it as more than a fling. We get an amazing ending of Elio staring into the fire. He's upset and heart broken and the credits begin to roll over this sequence of him staring. I mulled over what he must be thinking and how he must be feeling. It's an amazing way to end it. leaving us to wonder at his thoughts while certainly knowing some of them. We've all felt unrequited feeling and unobtainable infatuation.
The movie captures teenage love, adding a degree of forbidden to the situation. You reflect on what the experience meant for Elio and Oliver, and that was two very different things. Oliver certainly took advantage of Elio, even if Elio wanted it.
The soundtrack is solid and the song Mystery of Love by Sufjan Stevens is especially amazing.
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