Call Me by Your Name (Luca Guadagnino, 2017)

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Costa
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Re: Call Me by Your Name (Luca Guadagnino, 2017)

#76 Post by Costa » Mon Apr 02, 2018 10:34 am

Lost Highway wrote:
Petty Bourgeoisie wrote:This is a fantastic exercise in filmmaking. One could technically say it's perfect.

It's also the most unrealistic piece of fluff I've ever witnessed. I was hoping for a plot twist where the perfectly domesticated servants rose up and killed their pampered, sexually obsessed overlords. They could have done the deed by shoving beautifully ripened apricots down their throats.
Apart from that they obviously left out how the rich eat babies for breakfast, what about the film was so unrealistic ? I came of age at around the same time as Elio and while my experiences don’t completely line up with his, there was a lot about the film I recognised and which struck me as emotionally true.
well, i guess there are such understanding parents but that whole thing was very unrealistic to me.
maybe if the plot was held today, where people are more tolerant towards gays, it wouldn't be so much, but at that time...

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HJackson
Joined: Wed Jul 20, 2011 7:27 pm

Re: Call Me by Your Name (Luca Guadagnino, 2017)

#77 Post by HJackson » Mon Apr 02, 2018 10:40 am

Petty Bourgeoisie wrote:It's also the most unrealistic piece of fluff I've ever witnessed. I was hoping for a plot twist where the perfectly domesticated servants rose up and killed their pampered, sexually obsessed overlords. They could have done the deed by shoving beautifully ripened apricots down their throats.
I don't get this at all. Nobody in the family was living like Caligula - the son had a gay love affair, that's it. And why would "the perfectly domesticated servants" want to turn on their employers? I don't recall any abuse on their end - it seems like they just paid them to cook dinner and stuff...

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Lost Highway
Joined: Thu Aug 29, 2013 7:41 am
Location: Berlin, Germany

Re: Call Me by Your Name (Luca Guadagnino, 2017)

#78 Post by Lost Highway » Mon Apr 02, 2018 11:02 am

Costa wrote:
Lost Highway wrote:
Apart from that they obviously left out how the rich eat babies for breakfast, what about the film was so unrealistic ? I came of age at around the same time as Elio and while my experiences don’t completely line up with his, there was a lot about the film I recognised and which struck me as emotionally true.
well, i guess there are such understanding parents but that whole thing was very unrealistic to me.
maybe if the plot was held today, where people are more tolerant towards gays, it wouldn't be so much, but at that time...
You are looking at the film from your (mis) conception about the past, which is that all heterosexual must have been homophobic in the 80s instead of looking at what the film is doing.
SpoilerShow
When Elio‘s father broaches the subject at the end, he shares with his son that he feels a kinship because he felt a similar attraction when he was young. The film implies that the father may be gay or bisexual himself. That’s the big emotional moment of the movie.
There are loads of coming out films which deal with homophobia and rejection but that’s not what this film is about. It deals the internal process of coming to terms with yourself. If you are gay, you pick up on how Elio deals with internalized homophobia when the parents are hosts to an older, more flamboyant gay couple, something I remember too well from when I came to terms with my sexuality. Elio and Oliver always are careful in public, so it’s not like the film doesn’t address homophobia but it’s not what it’s subject matter is. More people were homophobic in the 80s but to claim the film isn’t realistic because not every heterosexual was homophobic is wrong. There were non homophobic straight people three decades ago and there were parents who were accepting of their gay kids.

What I loved about the film was exactly that it avoided the tropes of the coming out film to generate drama, the drama goes on inside. I read that the studio felt there needed to be a villain and apparently they gave a note along the lines that the mother should be homophobic and that would have unbalanced the film and only made it misogynistic.
Last edited by Lost Highway on Mon Apr 02, 2018 11:09 am, edited 2 times in total.

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DarkImbecile
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Re: Call Me by Your Name (Luca Guadagnino, 2017)

#79 Post by DarkImbecile » Mon Apr 02, 2018 11:06 am

Costa wrote:well, i guess there are such understanding parents but that whole thing was very unrealistic to me.
maybe if the plot was held today, where people are more tolerant towards gays, it wouldn't be so much, but at that time...
Is it really unbelievable that upper class Eurocentric professors would be a bit ahead of the curve when it came to attitudes toward homosexuality? Especially depending on how you interpret Stuhlbarg’s monologue and whether or not
SpoilerShow
it implies that he’s had homosexual experiences himself.
ETA: What Lost Highway said.

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Lost Highway
Joined: Thu Aug 29, 2013 7:41 am
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Re: Call Me by Your Name (Luca Guadagnino, 2017)

#80 Post by Lost Highway » Mon Apr 02, 2018 12:01 pm

One thing I come across is a social media backlash against Call Me by Your Name where people pit it against God‘s Own Country, the British gay love story which also came out in 2017. For some reason the British film is seen as more laudable by some because it deals with less privileged people. I thought the film wasn’t bad, but it struck its emotional beats a lot more obviously than Call Me by Your Name. Despite taking place in rural community, which should be more prejudiced, it ultimately doesn’t deal with homophobia either.

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HJackson
Joined: Wed Jul 20, 2011 7:27 pm

Re: Call Me by Your Name (Luca Guadagnino, 2017)

#81 Post by HJackson » Mon Apr 02, 2018 12:12 pm

Lost Highway wrote:For some reason the British film is seen as more laudable by some because it deals with less privileged people.
I'm sure the EU migrant worker angle of God's Own Country gives a certain kind of person an easy thrill in the post-Brexit environment too.

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Lost Highway
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Re: Call Me by Your Name (Luca Guadagnino, 2017)

#82 Post by Lost Highway » Mon Apr 02, 2018 12:30 pm

HJackson wrote:
Lost Highway wrote:For some reason the British film is seen as more laudable by some because it deals with less privileged people.
I'm sure the EU migrant worker angle of God's Own Country gives a certain kind of person an easy thrill in the post-Brexit environment too.
As an “immigrant worker“ for whom Brexit was the last straw in the decision to leave the UK after 33 years, that should have made me the ideal audience.

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movielocke
Joined: Fri Jan 18, 2008 12:44 am

Re: Call Me by Your Name (Luca Guadagnino, 2017)

#83 Post by movielocke » Mon Apr 02, 2018 8:25 pm

Petty Bourgeoisie wrote:This is a fantastic exercise in filmmaking. One could technically say it's perfect.

It's also the most unrealistic piece of fluff I've ever witnessed. I was hoping for a plot twist where the perfectly domesticated servants rose up and killed their pampered, sexually obsessed overlords. They could have done the deed by shoving beautifully ripened apricots down their throats.
I've been watching a lot of Bunuel lately and I do love April the first.

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Kat
Joined: Sat Jun 04, 2016 8:53 am

Re: Call Me by Your Name (Luca Guadagnino, 2017)

#84 Post by Kat » Thu May 31, 2018 5:58 pm

I saw this last night for the first time and found it very beautiful. A film I could have done with in the 80s. It strikes me that by showing his negotiation of his sexuality, sexual experiences, that is is a highly positive film for people with sexual (or gender) fluidity. I say that as a t person in the lbtqi etc etc. That maybe chimes with the comment about a gilded summer we are allowed to share, this seems potentially quite healing - I found it so, and if it helps even one person manage such issues in the sea of so much else even in these more open minded times, then that seems A Very Good Thing.

pandroid I also loved your posts, thank you.

I'm not sure anyone has mentioned Elio's musical talent (have to admit I skipped / speed read some spoilers and some of the to and fro of discussion) - Elio seems very gifted to me. And that seems very important. It chimes with the cultural interests of the film, and his. He transcribes music - that seems important, and he plays beautifully. It just seems key to me - that to be able to do that he takes in these works and he digests them somehow, metabolises them, understands them, not least emotionally - look at his youthful analyses of how he could play Bach in other composers' voices. Yet in his own life he is not progressing so much emotionally, as others have said. But then look at what happens, he is being allowed to process and grow - his shift in presentation is interesting, wonderful, and we're aware of his awareness not least in those final scenes and that wonderful final shot - and I am now very interested in where things go with that ending. And for Oliver who seems not to be able to process what happened (maybe?), for all his ease earlier. His look at Elio when he leaves him said a lot to me, as pandroid has suggested on his own conflicts, and some sense of guilt and concern towards Elio. I'm thinking in this country (UK) at that time what happened could have been most problematic. Even now given Elio's age, this suggests to me reasons For Oliver being concerned. Though I believe in a romantic view of their relationship overall, or want to.

There were elements to this story that introduced some very real edges to this wonderful summer, their need to be cautious in public, Oliver's and his father's experiences, the staff speaking in the kitchen, those reactions after their first night and later, Elio's poses (say sat at the disco) before he can let himself feel comfortable, his sudden utter vulnerability later when he faces the world again when he needs his mum. These all seemed observed, yes maybe in ways that those who have had some similar feelings may be attuned to -- but also observed in a way as gentle as that of his parents with him, that seems a huge part of the films gift to us, gentle understanding that surely unlocks compassion. What parents, I am so glad that studio suggestion did not seem to make it in (to me)...I did wonder about next summer's female assistant, but that's superficial in light of that wonderful talk with his father and how we're sure he is growing. And yes that decision about his mum, my goodness. Touching on these parts is emotional - it will live long in my memory I am sure.

Werewolf by Night

Re: Call Me by Your Name (Luca Guadagnino, 2017)

#85 Post by Werewolf by Night » Thu May 31, 2018 7:59 pm

Kat wrote:I saw this last night for the first time and found it very beautiful. A film I could have done with in the 80s.
At least we had the lovely first part of Another Country.

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Lost Highway
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Re: Call Me by Your Name (Luca Guadagnino, 2017)

#86 Post by Lost Highway » Fri Jun 01, 2018 4:47 am

The 80s was the first decade when the majority of movies featuring LGBT characters who weren't psycho, tortured, turning straight or stereotype comedy relief. Whether they were as accessible as the high profile Call Me by Your Name is of course another matter.

Some stand outs for me were Parting Glances (the first LGBT movie I saw where I recognised something close to my life), Maurice, My Beautiful Launderette, Taxi zum Klo, Prick Up Your Ears, Desert Hearts, The Times of Harvey Milk, The Fruit Machine, Mala Noche, Another Country and Law of Desire.

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Kat
Joined: Sat Jun 04, 2016 8:53 am

Re: Call Me by Your Name (Luca Guadagnino, 2017)

#87 Post by Kat » Fri Jun 01, 2018 9:31 am

For the most part i couldn't watch such films back then, partly due to myself and partly circumstances. I've read Maurice, not sure I want to watch it. I saw Desert Hearts a few weeks ago, it was ok, I liked the leading ladies. I've never seen Another Country. Despite liking Kureshi I've only seen bits of Launderette - all very ignorant of me and explains a lot. But this film would have especially spoken to me in my somewhat less privileged privilege and on the wrong trackness, given me something to think about in my cis non life and my poses and non poses but distance.


edit - oh and thanks for the suggestions, some new to me.


Vincejansenist
Joined: Sun Aug 09, 2020 10:21 am

Re: Call Me by Your Name (Luca Guadagnino, 2017)

#89 Post by Vincejansenist » Thu Oct 13, 2022 9:44 am

Finally getting around to this real miss of a film full of many wonderful elements, primarily Chalomet's performance and the sound design/music.
For me Hammer's wooden performance absolutely sinks the film. Makes me sad to think about how differently LaBeouf could have handled the scene around the WWI memorial...so many missed opportunities by Hammer for innuendo, danger, humiliation, and real intimacy. Ultimately the relationship with the girlfriend Marzia, in a marvelous performance, is far more indelible and tragic.

However the film as a whole doesn't really investigate the serious themes of the Aciman’s novel around intellectual reception/emotional expression, which I think are essential to making full use of the class position of the characters. Elio's crisis of a potentially unrequited crush is of course a universal theme, but books, music, art, and food are the particular (class-based) tools he and his family work through/repress/express those feelings (as hinted at by the father's speech at the end). Of course these are also essential elements in bourgeoisie gay romances generally, particularly one working so self consciously in the Visconti tradition.

I think this discomfort with engaging seriously with these ideas is particularly seen in the shortness of the scenes, through the first two thirds of the film, where these intellectual markers are used primarily as markers instead of the characters actually engaging with the ideas expressed (or dared at) by the works themselves. The work of these art objects is very flimsy, only doing one bit of work per scene and then it's on to the next one. The shortness of the scenes also robs us of really engaging with the characters feelings and relationship to each other. There's scarcely a conversation in this entire film, and absent the actors playing Ellio and Marzia, none of the performers are up to the task of bringing us more than is barely on the page. Stuhlbarg's remarkable speech at the end is shocking partly because we've learned so little from him through the rest of the film, and it's incredible to us (and Elio too perhaps?) that he would have such context.

While I'm mourning the absence of benighted LaBeouf I'll do one better and wonder at what Woody Allen would have done with this story, someone deeply interested in the intelligentsia and the collision of sexual and intellectual neuroses. He similarly has a deep love in beauty and landscape and and someone who I think is really able to bring out the attractive qualities of all of his performers, and would never have let a performance like Hammer's stay on the screen...even Jim Belushi is exceedingly fuckable in Wonder Wheel, though now I'm reminded of Justin Timberlake's performance and having second thoughts....

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colinr0380
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Re: Call Me by Your Name (Luca Guadagnino, 2017)

#90 Post by colinr0380 » Thu Oct 13, 2022 11:49 am

Re: the boundary pushing going on in the 1980s, in retrospect I think I had a very strange childhood as my parents who both worked nights used to leave me with a lovely elderly next door neighbour lady who proceeded to completely 'corrupt' me by letting me stay up late to watch television with her, which meant that at ages 7-9 I saw things like Private Benjamin, The World According To Garp, My Beautiful Laundrette and the Burt Reynolds remake of The Man Who Loved Women. Most of it went completely over my head at that age of course, although it did lead to problems when my primary school teacher took my mother embarassingly to task because I had unwittingly been innocently singing the extremely double entendre laden theme tune from that rather naughty all female outward bound film She'll Be Wearing Pink Pyjamas that indavertently revealed what utter filth I had been watching! :D

How times change: these days instead of the teacher berating my mother for exposing a youngster to lewd behaviour, she would probably have been celebrated for the casual approach towards teaching kids early about the big issues of mortality and sexuality!

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