Italian Cinema Forum: ‘Call Me By Your Name’ by Luca Guadagnino

Following the successful classic Italian cinema workshops run by Mark Nicholls at CO.AS.IT. in 2019, we are continuing the discussion with a series of six more recent classics. Mark has presented video introductions to the first three of these films in late 2020 (the videos can be watched on CO.AS.IT.’s web page). With COVID-19 restrictions easing, we are reverting to face-to-face mode for the last three film discussions. Our aim is to stimulate you to watch these wonderful films, again or for the first time, and to participate once again in the spirited conversations of our regular forum. In the tradition of ‘A Room With a View’ (Ivory, 1984) and ‘Stealing Beauty’ (Bertolucci, 1996), ‘Call Me By Your Name’ is a lyrical coming-of-age story played out against the backdrop of the northern Italian countryside in the summer of 1983. Steeped in a sense of nostalgia, highly typical of the “strangers in Italy” sub-genre, this film portrays a small colony of Italians and Americans luxuriating in a romance of first love and first loss which enriches them all. Director Luca Guadagnino’s work is well known for its beauty and subtlety, but these films are always challenging and force audiences to confront their preconceptions, both about art and about everyday life and relationships. ‘Call Me By Your Name’ is no exception to this, provoking a range of questions which will make for a stimulating and lively workshop discussion. Free entry. COVIDSafe event: masks must be worn.