Movies

Review of “I Am Love”

I Am Love, from Italian director Luca Guadagnino, is a story about a woman who finds her freedom after being caged her entire life – even though the cage comes with a stunning mansion and an impressive Jil Sander wardrobe.

Tilda Swinton plays the central character Emma Recchi, the wife of textile tycoon Tancredi Recchi. She is strikingly beautiful, and very, very repressed.

Emma has three adult children: Edo, who has just inherited part of the family business; Gianluca, who wears tailored suits but speaks as if he were in a stoner film and not a lush and magnificent family drama; and Betta (played by Alba Rohrwacher), who has aspirations to be an artist.

At the beginning of the film Betta has long hair, and she goes through the motions of flirting with her boyfriend, who, like her entire family, is predictable, safe and boring. Later on, she comes back home to visit from art school in London sporting a butch haircut and an unfortunate pairing of ill-fitting khaki capris and puffy black high top sneakers. Like thousands of women before her, the girl went into an arts program and done dyked out. (But someone needs to grab her by the collar of her polo shirt and direct her to Styled Out.)

Although Betta has very little screen time, she plays a pivotal role in her mother’s emotional awakening. When Emma by chance comes across a note from Betta to Edo in which Betta confesses that she has fallen in love with a woman, you can see the dusty gears start creaking in Emma’s mind. “Feelings? What are they? And can I have some too?”

Emma has fulfilled the role of austere matriarch of a wealthy conservative family for so long, running the household with the precision and dispassionate ticking of a Swiss watch, that she has forgotten about simple things like emotions that other human beings take for granted.

Later on, when Emma sees photos of Betta’s girlfriend, she becomes wistful. Betta has found a life outside of the strict traditions of high Italian society, and Emma wants in on that, although she has been repressed for so long that she doesn’t realize that she wants in on having feelings until the very end of the film when tragedy strikes – and Emma, on the verge of a nervous breakdown, runs for the hills in a jogging suit with a discordant John Adams score screeching and nipping at her heels, egging her on to run faster.

In the final scene it is apparent that Betta is the only one in the family who understands Emma’s need to escape, and she nods her approval through tear soaked eyes as the rest of the family stands around like second graders staring at a page from Finnegan’s Wake, unable to get their synapses to fire.

Whereas Betta’s role in Emma’s awkward journey to freedom and self-fulfillment is important, the main catalyst is Antonio, a chef who served Emma a dish of prawns that melted the frost off her icy loins. Antonio and Emma have an affair in the countryside, and Emma falls in love with him. But things are a bit complicated. Antonio and Emma’s son Edo are planning to open a restaurant together, and the two share a bromance that is one step away from being homoerotic. Things cannot end well, and they do not end well.

Shot exquisitely, this film will arouse your senses. The abrupt tragedy and equally abrupt ending may leave you scratching your head, but life doesn’t always progress in a series of perfect segues. One final note: if you do see this film, I advise you not to see it on an empty stomach. You will covet every culinary creation presented on screen, and you will only become hungrier.

I Am Love opens June 18 in select theaters nationwide.

Lesbian Apparel and Accessories Gay All Day sweatshirt -- AE exclusive

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Back to top button