Visual Poetry of the Emotions

Rating: 10/10 (28 December 2017)

Watching the movie in its entirety from beginning to end (and yes, even till the end credits rolled to black) felt like having an arrow shot right through to your heart and it got yanked out with a sudden force that it hurt so much.
And the pain from that bleeding heart was the emotional pain I feel when you lose someone.
As melodramatic as it sounds, that's how heartbreaking the movie felt.
Yes, we've seen plenty of other love stories been told on films. Let alone one that is of LGBT-themed. But the thing is unlike many other LGBT-themed films that usually independently-made this one got mainstream attention.
And I'm glad it did, especially having read the book years ago. So knowing that it's getting a screen adaptation I was naturally ecstatic.
And it could very well be the best LGBT film I'd seen so far.
As genre-centric as it is, the pair of lovers could simply be interchangeable with hetero couples or anyone with a heart.
In essence, CALL ME BY YOUR NAME is a human story that is multi-layered.
As for the tempo of the film, no doubt it was a slow burn but the emotional payoff at the end of the movie was worth it. In a sense that, we feel the heartbreak that Elio felt. Not to mention, those scenes served the story in the bigger aspect of the movie.
As strange as it sounds, it weirdly felt good to be torn apart emotionally in such a way. Perhaps, as human beings, we yearn for some affection some way or another. And thus, deep in our hearts we can relate to the emotions of the characters whether we choose to be opened or discreetly be quiet about it.
And granted that, both Timothee Chalamet and Armie Hammer (even Michael Stuhlbarg) were playing their respective roles, yet the impacts from the characters they played left a deep impression on myself having seen how they evolved through the film.
To quote a reviewer, he described the film as a visual poetry. I couldn't agree with him more. This is one piece of art for the ages.