Call Me by Your Name
It’s enough to watch just a few scenes from Call Me by Your Name to understand why director Luca Guadagnino cites the masterful Bernardo Bertolucci as one of his main influences. Just like in the latter’s Stealing Beauty, Guadagnino rises to the ranks of a specialist in creating movies seeping with sensuality. In Call Me… the Italian revisits the stunning Lombardian countryside of the early 1980s, to focus on an American professor’s family, which spends time on intellectual discussions and celebrating tiny daily pleasures. The tranquil lifestyle is interrupted by the visit of Oliver, a handsome and spirited student who draws everyone’s interest and, in one case, something deeper than that. It makes for a provocative starting point to Guadagnino’s story of the simultaneously constructive and destructive force of desire.
awards
Melbourne IFF 2017 – People's Choice Award; Oscar 2018 - Best Screenplay Adapted; Film Independent Spirit Awards 2018 - Best Cinematography, Best Male Lead (Timothée Chalamet)
Luca Guadagnino
Born in 1971 in Palermo, Luca Guadagino spent the early years of his life in Ethiopia, where his father taught history and Italian. He studied in Rome at the University of La Sapienza, where he graduated from two faculties – History and Film Critique (his dissertation is devoted to Jonathan Demme’s work). As a director, he gained early renown in 2005 with his adaptation of Melissa Panarello’s scandalous novel, Melissa P. Four years later, his I Am Love garnered Oscar nominations for best costumes and a Golden Globe for best foreign film.
Selected filmography
1999 The Protagonists
2005 Melissa P.
2009 Jestem miłością / Io sono l’amore / I Am Love
2013 Bertolucci on Bertolucci (co-dir., doc.)
2015 Nienasyceni / A Bigger Splash