"Because he was he, because I was I"

Rating: 9/10 (25 June 2019)

I heard about 'Call Me By Your Name' two years ago, when it was making its rounds at the festivals, garnering some serious praise. For some reason, though, I never watched it. Until now. And all I have to say, is I wish I would have seen it sooner.
This film is a near masterpiece. It's set pieces, the cinematography, the acting, the soundtrack, the dialogue - it all pours together to make you feel not like you are watching it, but like you are living it. Feeling it. It seems less as if you are watching Elio and Oliver, and more as if you are Elio and Oliver. You feel all the emotions they are feeling. You go through this exploration with them, through this deep, passionate, all too short love affair, with them. And you experience it all as if you were feeling it yourself.
The pacing and structure of this film is so far unlike "the norm" and I believe that is why it feels so real, and so surreal at the same time. Things move slowly and then quickly - because for Elio and Oliver, their relationship froze the world around them, but at the same time, was over before it truly began.
I believe the third act of this film is without flaw. We finally witness the two lovers embrace who they are, and are able to have their own getaway together, a part of the film which actually breezes by. I think the small amount of footage we actually get from their trip is resembling of how fleeting it feels to them. The final act contains 5 of the most emotional and heart wrenching scenes I have seen in recent memory.
The first is Elio and Oliver's goodbye.
There is really no dialogue here, and no need for it. Their embrace conveys all their emotions. And when Oliver goes to walk away and Elio pulls him in, it perfectly communicates his desire to hold on to what they have.
The second is when Elio calls and asks his mother to pick him up, and on their car ride home there is no dialogue, not even music, just the sound of the road. Yet the emotion screams in this simple scene. A heartbroken boy fighting back tears, and his mother consoles him with a simple stretched out hand.
The third is when Elio arrives home and speaks to his father. Michael Stuhlbarg delivers the best supporting cast monologue of 2017. He subtly informs Elio he knows about his relationship with Oliver and that he is thankful his son could experience such emotions and such friendship. He then confides in his son that he, too once had someone to call him by his name, but was too scared, and unable to act on his feelings. He then encourages his son not to kill his pain, because in doing so, it would kill the joy he also felt.
The fourth is after a time jump where it fast forwards to a winter day, and Elio receives a phone call from Oliver.
Oliver calls Elio to break the news that he has been engaged. And you can hear the heartbreak in his voice. Elio suspects this is why Oliver calls, but Oliver sounds devastated to have to tell him this. "Elio. Elio, Elio, Elio, Elio" whispers Elio. And after a long pause Oliver whispers back "Oliver..... I remember everything."
The fifth and most gut wrenching scene is also the final scene of the film.
As soon as their conversation ends, Elio walks into the dining room and squats by the fire. He stares blankly into the flames - as Visions of Gideon by Sufjan Stevens plays in the background - with tears forming in his eyes.
He stays this way as the end title card appears. He remains unmoved, except to wipe his tears away, as his family prepares for dinner. The lyrics "I have loved you for the last time" "was it a video? was it a video?" Repeat themselves. You can all but see Elio replaying every encounter, every laugh, every embrace, every memory he had with Oliver. As a fly lands on him, he does not break his gaze, in this very moment, you are Elio, and you truly feel his pain. Timothée Chalamet is agonizingly perfect in this sequence.
In conclusion, I loved this film. And perhaps my favorite thing about it is that I assumed it was a movie about love, or about a secret affair, I kept waiting for something to go wrong, for them to be found by Elio's parents. But I was wrong. This film is not about love, but about heartbreak, and you don't even see it coming until the last 25 minutes. And in those last 25 minutes there is enough emotion to last an entire lifetime of films.