“Io sono l’amore”

Starring: Tilda Swinton, Flavio Parenti, Edoardo Gabbriellini, Pippo Delbono, and Marisa Berenson.

Directed by: Luca Guadagnino

MPAA Rating: R

Genre: Drama, Romance, Foreign, In Italian with English subtitles

Review by Alyn Darnay

At its core I Am Love is a complex and tragic melodrama, often breathtakingly beautiful. Set at the turn of the millennium in Milan, Italy, the film follows the fall of the Recchis, a wealthy industrial family, by the forces of passion and unconditional love that assail their world from every side.

Academy Award-winning actress Tilda Swinton, in another brilliantly restrained performance, produced and stars as Emma, a Russian immigrant who years before had been swept up into marriage with Tancredi, the newly appointed head of the family. Over the years she has adapted to the culture of her adopted country and has substituted great love for the role of adoring and attentive mother and matriarch of the household. The plot, which seems to be constantly shifting from character to character, twists when Emma quickly falls in love with her son’s friend and partner Antonio, a brilliant chef, and begins a passionate love affair that changes the family forever. Swinton, also to her credit, learned to speak perfect Italian for this role.

I Am Love is a very Italian film, so enwrapped in its filmmaker’s culture and vision, and ruled by his personal sensibilities, that it at once becomes a visual treat as astonishing as it’s country is beautiful, as intricate as the gourmet meals its main character presents, and filled with a sensual beauty that sets the stage for its tone and flavor. It could not have been made anywhere else. The style and story is so very reminiscent of the movies of the late great Italian director Luchino Visconti that it could actually have been made by the man himself. The interesting addition to the classic styling here though is the strange hint of Alfred Hitchcock thriller that seems to run subtly through the film. Director Luca Guadagnino, must certainly been influenced by both masters.

The film is rich in the gildings of upper-class trappings, the huge mansion rooms, ornate chandeliers, tapestries, paintings, statuary and white-gloved servants all occupying the texture of Guadagnino’s visual pallet. Unfortunately what makes this film so beautiful also creates it’s downfall, for to dwell on these things of beauty for as long as his camera has to, to make his point, it slows the film down to a crawling pace, and at two hours, it becomes very long to watch despite the pleasures it presents. Accordingly, Guadagnino likening his film to the epicurean delights he presents in the film, “When you do a consommé, you cook a lot of ingredients slowly for a long time, a complicated culinary process that gets you a cup of clear broth that tastes beautiful. I would say that is what we tried to do. We really got to the essence of things.” He did, but unfortunately it’s like waiting every second for that consommé to cook.

I liked the film for the sensuality it presents in terms of visualization and eventually I did get swept up in the whole story when it turned to Ms Swinton. The acting by the whole cast was impressive, the minimalist musical score was brilliant, and the culinary visuals were the treats of a Michelin Chef. However, I think audiences will find the film’s pace too slow to enjoy.

Rating: 3 ½ of 5 Palm Trees