Italian auteur Luca Guadagnino completes a trilogy dedicated to human desire with ‘Call Me by Your Name.’ The follow-up of ‘I Am Love’ and ‘A Bigger Splash’ is arguably the best of the three. A tender, finely observed gay tale of first love between Elio, the son of an Archaeology professor- a revelation-like performance by Timothée Chalamet- and Oliver, the doctorate student who comes to help the academic with his research and archives, played by Armie Hammer. Both leads initially rejected the roles, but the director convinced them to take the challenge.

Like the rest of his work, this romance is imbued in sun-bathed Mediterranean sensuality, social gatherings over food and the everyday summer activities typical of a town like Crema, part of the Italian Lombardy region, which provides a strong sense of place that becomes instrumental to the development of the story. The cast during the press conference recalled the memorable immersive experience that preparing for the role for weeks in such great location turned out to be. Read the rest of this entry »