4v291o

There are films with stories worth no more than a single line but magically imbibed with such an atmosphere of languid, pastoral charm that they tend to stay with you for long, long after. You know you’ve been witness to something unhurried yet timeless, gentle yet purposeful and ethereal yet undeniably concrete. These films work their magic, almost like the accident of a pleasant dream, wherein all the guardian stars of the project align themselves correctly and the end product is realized as so much more than the sum of its parts. When you wake up, you feel good about life. About its little joys and tribulations.

The pan-atlantic production of Call me by your Name is one such film. Based on the eponymous novel by Italian-American author Andre Aciman and adapted for the screen by the James Ivory (of Merchant-Ivory fame), CMBYN pulls off the unique distinction of being one those very few films whose mood and ambience stay unerringly close to the original tale of love, even when its protagonists cannot. Director Luca Guadagnino ( A Bigger Splash) prefers to shoot inn 35mm negative format and on real locations with a mostly Italian cast (apart from the two central characters). In doing so-he manages to elevate the film well above your average summer-nostalgia piece.

On the surface, CMBYN can be dismissed as just another ‘Summer of 42’ redux with a predominantly gay theme. It's a summer dalliance between a research scholar ( Armie Hammer) on a visit to rural Italy and his professor's wide eyed, vulnerable son( Timothee Chalamet), set off the well beaten track. It’s set way back in time too-way back to 1983, at a time when teenagers still used to wander around village roads on cycles, play the piano and read books by their favourite cold-water pond for the better part of their summer holidays.

The exposition of the relationship is naturalistic, if a little too explicit. It unfolds awkwardly- like an apology that knows not where its headed from the first glances that are exchanged to the last weekend spent together on a short trip. The camera hovers about the professor’s family home, picking up delectable moments from here and there. For a film about love found and lost, there is zero melodrama and bitterness. Just wonderfully edited scenes and a sumptuous musical score that doesn’t let the pace slacken despite the minimalistic usage of dialogues. In fact, the only ‘talky’ scene is the final one between the Professor and his son which stands out for some of the most beautiful lines ever spoken on the idea of reconciliation of oneself with love that is found and then lost. The professor (Michael Stuhlbarg) says he knew about the bond between his son and his summer-trainee and he saw no shame in its acknowledgment.

Watch Call me by your name, and read the book too, if you can to realize what great companion pieces two different works of art can be. Call me by your name is the most achingly beautiful film you’ll see all year, or perhaps this decade.