Call Me By Your Name
The most incredible insight we get about ourselves often occurs as a result of our romantic encounters and - our subsequent discovery of why people love us. Our flaws and anxieties seem to solidify in the presence of a mate, but so do our virtues and self-esteem. We become a better version of ourselves for the person we love. Thus, the term "Call Me by Your Name" implies something significant.
In one of the film's central scenes, one of the young guys plays a small game: "Call me by your name, and I'll call you by mine." The concept conveys love in both directions, outside and inner. And in this way, each of them comes to understand why his affection for the other results in the finest version of himself.
Based on André Aciman's 2007 book of the same name, the film portrays not just every sexual impulse, hidden thrill and feeling between the couple, but also every difficult emotion. James Ivory reworked the original material - his first script in almost a decade - and it shows a strong resemblance to Maurice, the 1987 remake of E.M. Forster's book that Ivory wrote and directed. Both are clever and heartbreaking pictures about homosexual romance. Still, while Ivory's film is more restrained, director Luca Guadagnino injects Call Me by Your Name with a sensual location and enticing plot that is more outwardly real and emotional.
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 94%
Year of Release: 2017
Stars: Armie Hammer, Timothee Chalamet
