Nominated for three academy awards including the best picture award, Call me by Your Name was one of the most critically and publicly acclaimed movies of last year. Labelled as a revolution in queer cinema, the movie, based on a novel of the same name, depicts romance in the rawest way. Elio’s Uncle Oliver is visiting the city and is going to stay in his room for his visit. With each moment they spend together, the sexual tension between the 17-year-old and his uncle keeps growing. Elio explores his sexuality and by the end of the film, he realises who he truly loves. Sadly, such love is a taboo, not once but twice. One might argue about the incestuous and pedophiliac plot of the movie, but truth be told, the film does nothing more than delving into queer lives and their honest truths. Unlike, the Bollywood movies where one look at the person makes the character fall in love, Call me by Your Name shows how attraction and desire really works. Not only Armie Hammer (Oliver) and Timothée Chalamet (Elio) did a great job with their characters, the city of Italy played added its own seductiveness. In its plot, there is nothing starkly novel but, the acting, direction, and setting add a transcendental quality. The run-down colour palette of the film elevates the movie to the likes of an art film. One such beautiful use of colour is in the excavation scene ‘Truce’ from the film. Though the scene uses the same sea green colour, its depth and beauty are immense. The film’s direction team did a terrific job at using colour to depict the coolness or warmth of the scene. One thing that I personally did not like in the film is the end. No matter how emotionally charged it is, we’ve had enough sad endings in queer movies. On one end, the honesty can be appreciated but on the other hand, it takes away the hope of ‘happy ever after’ for queer relationships. Fun fact: Though the actors are heterosexual, they play the characters of gay men on-screen! Feature Image Credits: The Playlist Raabiya Tuteja [email protected] ]]>
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