Call Me Maybe

Rating: 7/10 (18 January 2018)

Call Me by Your Name
Another not another love story. Beautifully told. Simple enough to follow, yet complicated enough to experience. Dialogue can be a bit sappy at times, but I guess that is a side effect of love rather than just bad writing. Nevertheless it feels stupid. Other times it can be a bit too vague. The dialogue. As well as what's currently happening. These are mostly minor issues though.
Acting is great. Perhaps even slightly over done for the main character. Not in a bad way though. Perhaps they just wanted to show him off. Switching between 3-4 languages, playing guitar and piano with ease that'd make Rachmaninov blush; scribing music, reading tons of books and looking like a teenage Greek god in the process, is too good to be true. Relations between people feel natural and organic and most part realistic. Or lets say believable rather than realistic.
The visual style and tone is smooth and gentle. Fitting well with the general flow of the film. Setting feels authentic and fit for the period. The countryside is as dreamy as everyone.
The soundtrack, concerning the pop music, is brilliant. Did not care too much about the piano score in some parts. Though there is piano played in the film, the piece playing in the background at times, did not seem to fit.
Pace seems to limp on occasion, but is not a major concern. There aren't too many obvious mistakes, but the scene where they pick up a freshly found archaeological artefact like it's just a random stick, is mind-blowing. Overall, Luca Guadagnino does a great job in portraying love without the usual drama and still maintains interest. It's easy to destroy innocence, much harder to retain, but the film succeeds. And his love looks a lot like love. And love doesn't care who you are.