Guadagnino mesmerizes with a superb cast.

Rating: 10/10 (22 January 2018)

The setting is rural northern Italy in 1983. Oliver (Armie Hammer) is an American graduate student visiting the Perlman family for the summer to work on an internship with the family patriarch (Michael Stuhlbarg), an archeology and art professor who used to live and work in the U.S. Professor Perlman has a seventeen-year-old son Elio (Timothée Chalamet) who is infatuated with Oliver.
A great film is one that succeeds in getting past early hurdles and leaves one with an exhilarated feeling by the end. Here are the early hurdles for "Call Me By Your Name":
1) The atmosphere was one of such super-privilege that it seemed inaccessible to more than 95% of the population. To have enough wealth to live in beautiful large home in northern Italy while being paid for working in the arts and archeology (with plenty of free time) seems like a dream for most of us. And when the family and their guest casually change languages (English, Italian and French with occasional German) while discussing all forms of the arts, it sometimes seemed rather lah-dee-dah.
2) It took a while to get past the fact that the two young lead actors both looked like younger versions of other famous people. Chalamet resembles what could be a young Justin Trudeau. Even more so, Hammer could easily pass as a young version of the TV character "Frasier" played by Kelsey Grammer. Not only does he look, sound, and act like "Frasier", being a wealthy art-lover is the icing on the cake.
The film not only passes these hurdles but the viewer even gets over the initial dislike of Oliver who, in the beginning, comes off as pompous and presumptuous (like I mentioned: "Frasier"). But in the second half, Hammer succeeds in showing the genuine vulnerability of Oliver to the point the viewer can feel compassion for him.
Chalamet is even more powerful in subtly putting Elio's feelings on display after initially succeeding in reminding viewers of the frustration and insecurity of a teen falling in love with a young adult who seems so worldly.
The character of Professor Perlman seems ornamental for most of the film but at the end, he delivers a monologue that is the movie's highlight - in addition to being one of the best scenes of movies released in 2017. It not only provides a shocking twist (and subtly at that), it gives a lecture on life that might seem to be addressed to young Elio; but no doubt it is the writer addressing members of the audience of all ages about our deepest feelings, memories, and life choices. Kudos to Stuhlbarg for his delivery, screenwriter James Ivory, and his source - the book by André Aciman.
And the greatest kudos go to director Luca Guadagnino for putting this brilliant work together. He uses the beauty of northern Italy to mix with the film's deeper themes of love, compassion, and the willingness to risk and be vulnerable to more fully experience life. This goes way beyond any class differences that seemed so apparent at the film's beginning. And Guadagnino takes the viewer in so slowly, it's impossible to see how he did it - we're too caught up in our own feelings.
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENTS:
1) Directing by Luca Guadagnino
2) Acting Ensemble