There is something magnificent about books.
There are so many endless possibilities when it comes to plot, characters, ideas and twists. No two books will ever replicate each other. A good author will take a story, twist it into their own and bring forth a story that pushes our limits.
Call Me By Your Name by Andre Aciman is a book that did just that. Upon its release, Call Me By Your Name became an instant hit, tearing people’s hearts apart into billions of tiny pieces of emotion (and tears).
So when we heard there was a movie adaptation in the works, we were a bit hesitant but we were absolutely excited.
Making a movie adaptation of a book, especially a book as complicated and beloved as Call Me By Your Name, is difficult work. For those of you who haven’t read the book, Aciman writes in long, extended sentences. His paragraphs are really just one or two sentences, but his words are chosen with care. His first-person narrative, written from the teenage mind of Elio, makes readers feel like they’re falling in love with Oliver, too.
But once things were put in place, we were stunned by how great things happened to come together.
The movie is stunning — filled with beautiful scenery, the actors were perfect and their chemistry was absolutely unbelievable. Call Me By Your Name is a masterpiece at several different levels — the visuals are stunning, the score is superb and the acting makes this movie one of the greatest contenders for an Oscar.
Timothee Chalamet and Armie Hammer are perfect together — although we don’t know much about their personal relationship outside of the movie (besides what they’ve mentioned in speeches and interviews), it becomes difficult for the audience to see where Armie ends and where Oliver begins, where Timothee and Elio become two separate entities. Seeing the movie, it feels difficult to find where the actors are acting; where Armie and Timothee’s love for each other is fictional and where it’s real, genuine love.
Throughout their press tour, the actors continuously speak of the love they have for each other — the amount of respect and admiration they have for each other is evident throughout the movie and hearing them confirm that what we see is a genuine connection, we are baffled by Luca Guadagnino’s vision for this movie.
Guadagnino, a remarkable director, makes Call Me By Your Name the masterpiece readers anticipated. Set in Crema, the scenery is perfect — the comfort that Crema exudes makes this the perfect setting for a movie. And the book’s lack of explicit scenery and of explicit dialogue outside of Elio’s thoughts, allow Guadagnino large amounts of creative control. Taking on this project was a definite “make or break it” moment for Guadagnino, and he’s absolutely taken this book to another level of fantastic.
Armie Hammer is one of the best actors of the year — his performance is outstanding. Armie is constantly typecast as this all-American heterosexual, white male and this role seems to be his most challenging to date. For Armie to step outside of his comfort zone and to become this completely vulnerable man who’s confused and in love, this is the role that will define him for years to come.
His ability to convey so much raw emotion and love in the span of just over 2 hours is a feat few actors can achieve. The world hasn’t been sleeping on Armie Hammer, he just hasn’t been getting the roles he deserves. We hope this role brings Armie the recognition he deserves (and that other journalists begin to appreciate his work as much as we do).
Timothee Chalamet has received tons of love and praise for his performance, and we cannot help but continue that pattern.
He is an actor with immense, natural talent. At the tender age of 21, it’s incredibly difficult for us to imagine his career not going anywhere but up. This role happens to be the gateway to greatness for Timothee and we cannot wait to see what other great roles he takes on next.
He is a performer that leaves his audience captivated and stunned. Chalamet is superb and he proves that the next generation of actors will bring us some great performances. He is the promise that millennials aren’t all that bad.
Every single person who makes up this cast is perfect. This film is subtle — the dialogue and the character’s mannerisms make this movie unique.
But the movie’s score is perfection. Every single song included in this movie is necessary to bring forth the emotions of the characters. The music is integral to understanding what the characters aren’t saying explicitly — it drives forth the plot.
The movie’s final scene, the one where Elio is wearing an amazing outfit and beret, completely broke our hearts. One of the longest scenes in the movie, it allows us to feel as lost as Elio does. Sufjan Stevens is extremely talented and we’d like to have “Mystery of Love” tattooed on our hearts, please.
Overall, Call Me By Your Name is a masterpiece that we do not deserve — it’s a perfect movie and we find it hard to believe that there aren’t masses of people fighting for seats to watch this movie. Every single person who has formed part of this cast and who has worked on this movie deserves an Oscar for that alone.
This is a movie that will fill you with butterflies, warmth and it will make you feel golden. And this same movie will make you feel heartbroken, alone and confused. This is a movie whose antagonist is time — Elio, Oliver and the audience lack time. There is no terrible parent. No one is out for revenge. Elio and Oliver’s enemy is time.
But it’s that same time constraint that leaves the audience feeling all kinds of things. The audience feels as captivated and caught up as Oliver and Elio. And when the movie ends the way it does, we feel that things really could have gone better… Had we had more time. And isn’t that all we really need in this life?
We love this movie.
We cannot recommend this movie enough and we hope you love it as much as we do. It’s a work of art. We anticipate it’ll continue to win awards, including some Oscars.
Let us know what you think about the movie by tweeting us over @CelebMix. We’d love to hear your thoughts.