I spend a lot
of my time nose deep in to old films. It hasn't always
been that way. I spent much, much, of my youth and
early twenties reveling in the world of The New American
film movement. I toiled my way through anything
produced by the superstars of the field. The
Andersons, the Coens, the Coppolas - each and all got my
unwavering attention. Sadly, when not dipping my head
in to their modern worlds, I was giving myself excuses to
saunter in to the summer blockbusters, waste twenty bones on
a bag of popcorn, a ticket and a coke, and walk away
nauseous from the corn and the stupidity. I'd always
been curious about old films, but somehow I'd come to
believe they were slow moving, corny, not up my alley.
Yet, thanks to the fine work of my college film teacher and
the always impressive out put of The Criterion Collection, I
changed my weary ways.
Review - I Am Love
These
days, it's more film noir and Italian neo-realism than
explosions and Bruce Willis' shiny pate. Strangely,
it's made my ability to bear blockbuster crap even less.
That black and white talkies from the 1930s can be so
enjoyable when nary a CGI dinosaur appears on screen makes
me look even further down my nose at the shit that oozes
from our silver screens. We are immersed in bad
filmmaking these days that pays no homage or reference to
the amazing films that preceded it. Yet Luca
Guadagnino's breathtaking ode to the Italian films of
yesteryear steps above and beyond modern filmmaking, boldly
acknowledging its forebears, while blazing an impressive
path of its own.
Tilda Swinton is hands down the best actor working today,
seemingly unable to pick a bad role, and completely unable
to portray anything poorly. I Am Love is the
story of the Recchi family, an Italian family long steeped
in the upper-upper classes of Milan. Swinton plays Emma
Recchi, the matriarch and centerpiece of the Recchi clan who
must deal with the unraveling of her family, and herself, in
the wake of the death of her father-in-law (Gabriele
Ferzetti). This is a film with a classic theme: rich
families, all families, hide secrets close to the surface
and events, small or large, are prime to unveil them.
And this classic theme is portrayed quite classically on the
screen. Though director Guadagnino crafts his
characters as tiny safes, their emotions locked within, he
does not shy from boldly paying his dues to the films that
came before. I Am Love is a virtual painting of
a film, each shot so artfully crafted, you want to reach out
check to see if its oil or a reprint. A love scene in
the middle of the film is so sensual, so stirring, I found
myself turning towards my girlfriend, mouth agape, eyes
raised. John Adams score is equally as impressive,
bold and wonderfully alive in a way modern film fails to
comprehend. His music, and Swinton's outstanding
performance as an upper-class woman finally seeing the walls
of her prison, sit at the heart of the film. The rest
of the cast is impressive in all ways, but these two are the
lynchpins, the glue that moves the film.
I Am Love is a classical painting mixed with the
themes of Shakespearean literature wrapped in an opera and
squeezed in to the mold of a film. It bears the scarlet mark
of an amazing tragedy, and if you aren't squirming in your
seat as the final credits roll, I stand impressed.
Please Hollywood, look at this film, look at its creation,
its ode to the past, this is where the future lies.
Noah Sanders is the blog/news editor at Light In The
Attic and a contributor at Sound On The Sound and
the KEXP blog. He also has his own
Criterion-based film site, Criterion Quest.
If you'd like to contact Noah in regards to his
writings here at Side One: Track One then please do
so
here.
- Noah Sanders
- -
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