Disappointing

Rating: 5/10 (18 November 2017)

I really wanted to like this film. I read the book when it came out; I am a gay man; I love films about love relationships between beautiful men; I love films with bits of European languages and lovely European settings; I am 'pro' art house films which are all about characters and take their time. But this didn't work. Firstly, it was really too long. But my main problem was that the relationship between Elio and Oliver just didn't ring true. OK, a few small things happened between them which could have been seen as sexual (e.g. the shoulder massage), but they were both busy doing things with women a lot. Nothing wrong with being bi! And Elio is meant to be young, finding himself etc. But one day, he suddenly says to Oliver that he needs to tell him something, and Oliver says he knows what it is - but there really hasn't been enough evidence of that building up. I do realise that reading an article about Hammer which said that he had a clause added to his contract restricting the amount of sex and nudity he would be expected to do - well that made me struggle to see sincerity in his acting. Chalumet on the other hand is a great discovery. The way he holds a close-up all through the closing titles, showing a range of emotions, is very impressive indeed. I can remember so clearly what it was like at 17 (OK yes, 50 years ago) to kind of enjoy feeling sad and then elated about love and sex, and Chalumet shows that brilliantly. But he is not enough to save this film, and nor is the man playing his father, who does such an excellent job of channelling Robin Williams.