While at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, I saw one film that absolutely floored me in every possible way and is still my number one film of the year: directorLuca Guadagnino’sCall Me By Your Name. Featuring a fantastic screenplay by Guadagnino andJames Ivory, powerful performances from the entire cast, amazing cinematography bySayombhu Mukdeeprom, and brilliance from every other department,Call Me by Your Nameis one of those rare films where everything is just perfect and you walk out of the theater remembering why you love movies.
If you haven’t heard of the film, based on the novel byAndré Aciman,the coming-of-age drama starsTimothée Chalamet(Interstellar)as a precocious 17-year-old American-Italian boy who’s on summer vacation with his family at their Italian villa. When a charming American scholar (Armie Hammer) comes to work with the boy’s father (Michael Stuhlbarg), a summer romance sparks that awakens feelings of first love, brilliantly and sensually captured by Guadagnino. Trust me when I say you need to see this film which opens in New York and Los Angeles this weekend. For more on readAdam Chitwood’s glowing revieworwatch the first trailer.
I recently sat down with Michael Stuhlbarg for an exclusive video interview. He talked about when he first realized they were making something special, the way he likes to work, if he’s able to leave the character he’s playing on set or if some of it comes home with him, deleted scenes, his fondest memories from filming, and more. In addition, he talked about getting to work withSteven SpielbergonThe Post, which is also a fantastic film.
Check out what Michael Stuhlbarg had to say in the player above and below is exactly what we talked about and the official synopsis.
Michael Stuhlbarg:
Here’s the official synopsis forCall Me By Your Name:
Call Me By Your Name,the new film by Luca Guadagnino, is a sensual and transcendent tale of first love, based on the acclaimed novel by André Aciman. It’s the summer of 1983 in the north of Italy, and Elio Perlman (Timothée Chalamet), a precocious 17- year-old American-Italian boy, spends his days in his family’s 17th century villa transcribing and playing classical music, reading, and flirting with his friend Marzia (Esther Garrel). Elio enjoys a close relationship with his father (Michael Stuhlbarg), an eminent professor specializing in Greco-Roman culture, and his mother Annella (Amira Casar), a translator, who favor him with the fruits of high culture in a setting that overflows with natural delights. While Elio’s sophistication and intellectual gifts suggest he is already a fully-fledged adult, there is much that yet remains innocent and unformed about him, particularly about matters of the heart. One day, Oliver (Armie Hammer), a charming American scholar working on his doctorate, arrives as the annual summer intern tasked with helping Elio’s father. Amid the sun-drenched splendor of the setting, Elio and Oliver discover the heady beauty of awakening desire over the course of a summer that will alter their lives forever.
