Thursday, November 09, 2017

Quote of the Day

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I know, I know, it's another Call Me By Your Name post - listen if you don't want to read these don't read these, save them for after the movie comes out in 15 days. They'll still be here, as long as we are all still here I suppose. Anyway yesterday I was talking not talking about one of my favorite scenes in the film, which a portion of was released via a new clip, wherein Elio and Oliver first address the big pink elephant in the room. I very much wanted to know more about how this scene was shot - it's all one take and it moves all over the square with the actors traveling away and towards each other - and today the AFI Fest released a chat with Timothée Chalamet (CMYBN is the centerpiece screening at their fest tomorrow) wherein he answers that very question! So I share. Ignore if you like!

AFI: One of the film’s centerpieces involves Elio and Oliver maneuvering around a statue, almost like a nervous dance, at once communicating and not communicating their feelings. Talk about blocking this scene. 

TC: We got to set, and there was this great monument in the middle of the square, and Luca gave us the direction to play the scene going around the monument, and then we blocked it out and there wasn’t enough track there that day to do the whole take in one shot, going up and down the side of the street. Luca went to the line producer and said we need more track, and Luca said we have to get this track and we’ll worry about the money later. We had about an hour to do it; we had two or three takes. Luca was very specific as related to that scene about this confession of love — he didn’t want to play in the close-up and see actors’ emotion. It only served some sort of human truth that a confession of love is often the moment we choose to be the most coy.
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3 comments:

MTMSLG said...

Enough already! Loved the book and looking forward to the film, but JEEZ, stop the overkill!

Anonymous said...

As far as I’m concerned you can keep posting about CMBYN, Jason. I saw it two weeks ago and was expecting a slightly boring, stuffy drama about beautiful people speaking in riddles in a beautiful setting. How wrong I was. I was completely blown away by the end of it and left the cinema heartbroken and couldn’t stop thinking about it. It’s stunning, gorgeous and the casting is pitch-perfect. I’ve never seen a romance that affected me the way this did, and a lot of it has to do with Chalamet and Hammer. The chemistry between them is electric. The ending is sheer perfection.
After seeing the film I read the book (and saw the film again yesterday) and while it’s a great book I think this is one of the rare instances where the film trumps the novel. And with all the talk of the age difference between the leads being inappropriate and the whole Spacey disaster I hope that at least Adapted Screenplay is on the cards at the Oscars next year.
I love how Ivory has fleshed out the supporting characters, especially the parents and Marzia, and turned the rather dark and obsessive (and occasionally darkly comical) tone into something lighter and more accessible. And as regards to the criticism of the sexual contents of the script being neutered: I’m glad this didn’t veer into Blue is the Warmest Colour territory, which left me exhausted and bored by the sex scenes. The first kiss in CMBYN alone is sexy as hell!
And I’m certainly glad the Rome chapter from the novel was altered drastically, it was a major distraction for me.
Anyway, for me this is an absolute masterpiece and should sweep the Oscars. One can always dream…

hepwa said...

Never stop never stopping! Love any and all conversation/blog posts about CMBYN, movie of the year. We're so lucky to have it.