DVD Review: ‘I Am Love’ Captures Revolutionary Power of Romance

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CHICAGO – Critics don’t have any business reviewing films if they aren’t able to admit when they are wrong. I am here to freely admit that I was wrong about “I Am Love.” While it blindsided me at the European Union Film Festival, I detected certain glaring flaws in its plot during the film’s limited theatrical run, which seem to have evaporated upon its magnificent DVD release.

Yes, the film is an unabashed melodramatic romance at heart, requiring the viewer to buy into its less-than-credible flights of fancy. But as an experiment in pure cinema, the film is an extraordinary hybrid of the classical and contemporary. Love is depicted as nothing less than a force of nature, inspiring its central character to evolve into the person she was always meant to be. The film is about revolution rather than repression, and that is its stroke of genius, reflecting the failure of capitalism on a personal and global scale, in the face of an ever-changing world.

HollywoodChicago.com DVD Rating: 5.0/5.0
DVD Rating: 5.0/5.0

Film buffs will appreciate Guadagnino’s affectionate homages to the Sirkian theme of forbidden love between classes, as well as Visconti’s portrayal of the upper-crust Milanese. The movie opens at a family gathering where the key characters only gradually emerge from the crowd. There’s a wonderful high-angle shot in which a chandelier appears to pin the family members to the floor as they assemble for dinner. The elderly patriarch (Gabriele Ferzetti) passes on ownership of his textile company to son Tancredi (Pippo Delbono), and grandson Edoardo (Flavio Parenti). This gets in the way of Edoardo’s plans to open a restaurant with his friend, the gifted chef Antonio (Edoardo Gabbriellini). It’s the turn of the century in Milan, and as the seasons change, so do the hearts and fates of these privileged yet sheltered souls.

Tilda Swinton and Mattia Zaccaro star in Luca Guadagnino’s I Am Love.
Tilda Swinton and Mattia Zaccaro star in Luca Guadagnino’s I Am Love.
Photo credit: Magnolia Home Entertainment

The real crux of the action emerges deep into the film, when Tancredi’s wife Emma (Tilda Swinton), a Russian immigrant confined in a passionless marriage, finds herself falling for Antonio. It’s here that “I Am Love” begins to move with the ebb and flow of a rapturous fever dream, as the characters become intoxicated by the allure of sudden passion. Swinton, whose red hair and pale skin often inspire comparisons to Conan O’Brien, has rarely looked more ravishing. She nails her character’s Italian dialect (deftly tinged with a Russian inflection), while capturing her rediscovered eroticism, whether through the sensual stroking of a tree branch, or the savoring of a particularly good meal.

Cinematographer Yorick Le Saux pulls off various feats of movie magic, as his camera glides effortlessly around the action. There’s a spellbinding moment when the camera follows Swinton down a spiral showcase as she seeks a quick kiss from Antonio, in what is surely one of the most spectacular yet unpretentious Steadicam shots in recent memory. The music by acclaimed composer John Adams is always vibrant and alive, particularly during the delirious final sequence. It represents the rapid pulse of Emma, as her soul awakens to the discovery that it has never known true passion, until now. Guadagnino reminds us that love is not only patient and kind, but also brutal, violent, euphoric, awe-inspiring and utterly life altering.

I Am Love was released on Blu-Ray and DVD on Oct. 12, 2010.
I Am Love was released on Blu-Ray and DVD on Oct. 12, 2010.
Photo credit: Magnolia Home Entertainment

“I Am Love” is presented in its 1.85:1 aspect ratio, and includes an English-language audio commentary from Swinton and Guadagnino that manages to be as exhilarating as the film itself. The longtime collaborators reflect on their eleven-year journey toward making this film, and how it was their intention to portray love as the equivalent of a revolution within the milieu of a family that denies individuality. Swinton also admits that they shared a fervent goal to pay tribute to classic Italian cinema, capturing the DNA of Antonioni (through the casting of Ferzetti, best known as Sandro in “L’avventura”) and Visconti (whose spirit is evoked by co-star Marisa Berenson). The celebrated chef Carlo Cracco is revealed to be the creator of the film’s sumptuous food, as well as the trainer of Gabbriellini. Among the film’s various productions challenges was the daunting task of staging an icy winter in the midst of a Milanese summer. It’s especially intriguing how Swinton and Guadagnino suggest how various moments in the film could be interpreted as fantasy, while others follow cinematic logistics, as Emma literally wills certain events to occur (if she looks long enough, her dreams tend to materialize in front of her). They also talk extensively about the influence of Adams’s music on the production, and how certain sections of the film were literally shot to the rhythm and tone of his compositions, particularly the sequence midway through the picture when Emma first begins to pursue Antonio.

A 14-minute featurette offers a nearly wordless glimpse behind the scenes, as Guadagnino directs his actors to avoid melodramatic nuances, resulting in naturalistic performances that sharply contrast with the film’s heightened style. There’s also a whopping 70 minutes of interviews with the director, producer/stylist Silvia Venturini Fendi, and literally every major player in the cast. Berenson reflects on how Visconti was her mentor and friend, as well as briefly discusses how “Barry Lyndon” was the high point of her career. Ferzetti is rather heartbreaking in his interview, as he laments about being too tired to act onstage, while finding himself repeatedly playing roles in which he’s passing the torch to the next generation. An amused Gabbriellini says that he was instructed by Guadagnino to research Ninetto Davoli’s work for Pasolini, as well as Clint Eastwood in “The Bridges of Madison County.” Much of the film’s highly political subtext is analyzed, as Swinton describes capitalism as “a male construct antagonistic to a female sensibility,” quipping that an alternate title for the film could be, “Capitalism: A Faerie Story.”

‘I Am Love’ is released by Magnolia Home Entertainment and stars Tilda Swinton, Flavio Parenti, Edoardo Gabbriellini, Alba Rohrwacher, Pippo Delbono, Diane Fleri, Maria Paiato, Marisa Berenson and Gabriele Ferzetti. It was written by Luca Guadagnino & Barbara Alberti & Ivan Cotroneo & Walter Fasano and directed by Luca Guadagnino. It was released on Oct. 12, 2010. It is rated R.

HollywoodChicago.com staff writer Matt Fagerholm

By MATT FAGERHOLM
Staff Writer
HollywoodChicago.com
matt@hollywoodchicago.com

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