Few films can sustain Sundance buzz right through until the end of the year, but Luca Guadagnino‘s “Call Me By Your Name” is doing just that. The gorgeous love story starring Armie Hammer and Timothée Chalamet has been winning over hearts as it has continued to travel the festival circuit, and it remains one of the most anticipated arthouse movies of the awards season. However, the film’s original screenwriter and director James Ivory raised one quibble that has picked up steam in recent weeks: there is no male frontal nudity in the movie.
A few weeks ago I wrote that “the balance between innocence and lust is finely tuned in ‘Call Me By Your Name,’ and full frontal nudity might’ve tipped the scales one direction too far.” It would seem that director Luca Guadagnino might agree with that statement, as he’s reacted to the criticism that has met his impeccably put together picture.
“I am the least prudish director you can meet. I’ve been very precise in using the female and male body on screen to convey all kind of emotions. I thought that the display of nudity in this specific movie was absolutely irrelevant and I understand that for James it would have been relevant but that is his vision, what is clear is that we had no limitations on what we wanted to do,” he said to The Independent.
“Did you miss penises in this movie?” Guadagnino asked.
At least for this writer, the answer is no, though I suppose there are some who want “Call Me By Your Name” to be a completely different movie than the one it is. It’s as romance that moves with the same pace as an idyllic, summer vacation in rural Italy; it’s steamy, but maybe not in the way some might expect.
See for yourself when “Call Me By Your Name” opens on December 8th.