Congratulations are in order for director Luca Guadagnino on the re-release of his 2009 drama I Am Love. His first breakout film seems to be the beginning of his affinity for themes of dramatic romance within his work. Centered around the wealthy Recchi family, the movie takes place inside the world of the Milan elite. The focus lies on Emma (Tilda Swinton), whose husband Tancredi (Pippo Delbono) learns he will be inheriting the formidable family textile business with his son Edoardo Jr. (Flavio Parenti). The news comes at a dinner when the family’s patriarch, Edoardo Sr., announces the news in celebration of his birthday and subsequent retirement. Sad to disappoint his grandfather, Edoardo Jr. tells him that he had lost an athletic competition the day of his birthday to a poor chef named Antonio (Edoardo Gabbriellini), whom he later strikes a friendship with.
As the family moves through the excitement of change, Antonio is invited to the dinner but declines to participate for fear of the family’s disapproval. As Antonio leaves, Emma sees him from outside, and there the seeds of an affair are planted, blooming carefully throughout the movie. A thrilling story about Emma’s passionate betrayal of family and moral consequences, Guadagnino shows us an ode to his own Italian heritage with an unexpected twist.
Tilda Swinton in a solemn funeral scene from I Am Love.
“She finds refuge from expectations of marriage and motherhood in him, free of judgement and full of love.”
Any praise of Tilda Swinton’s performance as Emma Recchi would be an understatement. The actress’s breathtaking range of emotion and command over the screen should be studied. Emma demands the viewer’s attention with just a look, a singular silence which begs the question ‘What is she thinking?’ She is intense and, most importantly, secretive, with her Russian heritage obscured by her Italian marriage. She has lost her identity in her pursuit of family, and she finds it once again in the arms of Antonio, whose native identity also means nothing to the Rechhis world. In one incredibly symbolic scene, he comforts her in her individuality as they couple together, share stories, and cut Emma’s hair short as an act of expression. She finds refuge from expectations of marriage and motherhood in him, free of judgement and full of love.
There are some unpolished aspects, such as a lack of vibrancy or familial tension, in the first half. Despite using silence as a suspenseful tool, the movie utilizes a classical soundtrack to dramatize and heighten passion. There were times it seemed Gaudagnino was following too many plots at once, also attempting to fit in family business adventures, a pregnancy, and the twisted finale concurrently with the main romance. He does tie in many unrelated aspects of narrative to the affair’s revelation, such as Eduardo Jr. finding his mother’s cut hair on Antonio’s property after he had visited in hopes of helping him open a restaurant. The writer’s idea for Antonio to recreate Emma’s favorite childhood dish from Russia to show his devotion to her was an incredibly moving detail.
With Gaudagnino’s signature framing styles and natural, lush settings, this movie warrants a re-watch to catch the full picture of a beautiful, ultimately tragic story of a family’s undoing through a woman’s search for herself.
"…A beautiful, ultimately tragic story of a family's undoing."
