Call Me by Your Name

A gentle story of one summer that hides a surprisingly strong added value thanks to its free atmosphere. Though at first it seemed a bit too artsy for a love story, from the moment an elusive feeling starts to emerge between the piano notes, Luca Guadagnino was effortlessly leading me on a hook. And however much some viewers may argue that two hours is too long for a story unfolding this casually, I would gladly welcome another two. I was so tense, afraid this delicate bond would break. (01/22/2018)

To be honest, this film is nothing special. A summer Italian drama from the eighties, whose benefit is certainly the music, which makes this movie quite interesting. However, the acting is nothing unique. The premise of The Brokeback Mountain is set in the Italian countryside and highlighted by culture, historic buildings, beaches and first loves. Everything is good, I would just simply leave out the main plot. (01/26/2018)

If awards were given solely for building an atmosphere that supplements the narration of a story, Guadanino would need to build a two-story shed in his garden to house them. Call Me By Your Name is an incredibly focused film that you have to watch with attention to find meaning in the details and the snippets of a story unbound by logical conflicts and twists. There were moments when it felt tedious and aloof, and the message didn’t hit me right in the heart, but this is a big movie, no doubt, with brilliant performances and a narration with a feeling for credible emotions about the complexity of deep human relationships. Moonlight may have won the Oscar, but compared to this formally precise probe into male intimacy, it feels like a very shallow and empty wannabe arthouse flick (which it basically is). 85% (02/16/2019)

This is a romantic film about two young men falling in love, one of who is a little younger. At first glance, it’s nothing revolutionary, but at second glance it’s a beautiful film about love, nature, people, and a time period. Everything here is captured so accurately, naturally, and sensitively that the entire time I was watching how simply beautiful a film can be. (01/28/2018)

The performances of Armie Hammer and Timothée Chalamet have received all the honours, but the hero, and the main reason why Call Me by Your Name is one of the best films of the year, is the director, Luca Guadagnino. It’s amazing how he managed to capture the atmosphere of the place and the time where a story like this can happen. Summer in Lombardy, where everything is soaked in rich history, antiquity and the renaissance, the love for knowledge, the fascination for art, philosophy and beauty as such – of body and mind. That’s why the monologue of the father at the end makes sense and why it could be so non-conflicting. (12/25/2017)