"I Am Love" starring Tilda Swinton. Flavio Parenti and Edoardo Gabbriellini and directed and written by Luca Guadagnino is not a film one should miss seeing in their lifetime. I was excited about this film from the first trailers that I had the lucky chance to see. I have always been a huge fan of Tilda Swinton- her of the living in a Scottish castle with her husband and boyfriend actress type (yes look it up, they all have a happy relationship, wouldn't we all ?) who is at once totally a David Bowie look a like and can also be quite utterly feminine in a role. She has called herself a performance artist rather than an actress, and judging by her roles in "Constantine", the "Lion Witch and the Wardrobe" series, "Benjamin Button" "Burn After Reading" and "Orlando" I would quite agree that her roles give her the platform to showcase her androgynous look.
That said, I would suggest you watch this movie with deliberate film fan eyes. Set in an elite upper class Italian textile family empire, we watch as she moves from being the silent but solid "go to" person in her stiff upper lip family to a wanton girlfriend of her son's friend (who happens to live in a gorgeous country cabin and can cook like the dickens). But let this not be so predictable! It's not.
Here's the food comparison part..
"I Am Love" is something I would compare to fresh seafood. My parents took us to a lighthouse restaurant in Maine one summer, right on the tip of a high crested coastline, and we ate the most fresh naturally buttered Maine lobster I have ever eaten. In the movie, you have to pay attention to the details and the artistic backdrop are a HUGE part of the story as it plays out. It's like a gift to be unwrapped. It's not fast, it's not instant and the ending is not at all expected given the twists. Like a fresh lobster that takes time to crack open and make available to a hungry person, this film is like a sweet natural surprise. We think we may be disappointed at times, due to the writer's incredible twists and turns, but we end up deliciously satisfied. The film has it's tragic notes, which I would compare to the exquisite waiting of good good food. You might have a moment or two or utter despair, perhaps the hush puppies or fresh New England corn aren't what you came here for, but the end result is the palatable taste of resolution.
In fact, this film is a huge hit among foodies, who love the underlying storyline of a cook who draws the main character out by cooking her own native Russian meals for her, and speaks to her as if she is herself, not an Italian wife of a rich textile company owner. This is not that simple of a story, it is not a story of an unhappy married woman, it is about everyone realizing that being someone other than yourself makes everyone miserable, but...there can be consequences to this.
"I Am Love" has gotten great reviews and for good reason. I don't watch movies because of reviews but more due to certain actors that I follow (Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Adrian Brody, Julianne Moore for example). Tilda Swinton and her outstanding Italian cast that are just as good, make this story one for the books.
By the end, you are tapping your foot impatiently, waiting for that final moment after several long ones of artistic beauty, design and writing. You are waiting like she is...for that final delicious moment - is it escape, is it resignation to remaining the trophy Russian wife to a rich Italian husband who does really love her, or is it a moment of giving in to her sons and brilliantly played daughter, who needs her? I won't tell. But enjoy the lobster and that buttery taste- it's natural. No need for anything added. All the gorgeous backdrops in the world, as in this film, don't do a thing to deter a natural wonder from finding her place.
No comments:
Post a Comment