I Am Love [Blu-ray]

I Am Love [Blu-ray] Review

I AM LOVE (Io sono l'amore) is one of the powerfully moving, visually intoxicating, philosophically profound movies to come out in many years. The only other film that has moved this viewer so deeply is LAST YEAR AT MARIENBAD - both are complete poetically successful cinematic achievements. Unfortunately few people may understand the title of the film (quoted in the heading of this review: in critical scene in the film the husband and wife are viewing a movie on television, and that movie is PHILADELPHIA, the scene where Tom Hanks is translating the Maddalena's aria from 'Andrea Chenier' and while the voice of Maria Callas is heard singing, the voice-over by Hanks expressing 'I am love' is strangely absent, as though that would be too obvious. But then there are many strange and beautiful moments throughout this quiet film that aim directly for the soul - and hit the target for those who will participate in the story and the vision.

The Recchi family in Milan, Italy is a powerful, long successful and wealthy group of 'machine made, sterile people' - for the most part. About twenty years ago Tancredi Recchi (Pippo Delbono), on an art buying trip, met a Russian girl and 'added' her to his collection, changing her name and position in life to Emma (Tilda Swinton). Emma became the genteel and sterile hostess of the Villa, producing two children - Elisabetta (Alba Rohrwacher), an artist, and Edoardo, Jr (Flavio Parenti), a practical lad ready to enter the plastic life of this father. The paterfamilias, Edoardo Sr. (Gabriele Ferzetti) has a birthday party and announces his retirement, leaving the company business in the joint hands of Tancredi and Edorado, Jr. Edoardo Sr. soon dies and the company is a focus for outsiders to purchase. Meanwhile, Edoardo, Jr has lost a sports event with a young common lad, the simple chef Antonio (Edoardo Gabbriellini) and Antonio visits the Villa with a cake for Edoardo, jr - a gesture from his hands of simple kindness. Emma meets Antonio and buried emotions of passion begin to emerge, controlled of course. Time passes and Elisabetta (now Betta) meets a woman, falls in love, and thus rejects the advances of the 'proper, designated' boyfriend, confessing to her very understanding mother that she is lesbian and wants to pursue her own goals outside the family. Emma, always supported by her devoted maid Ida (Maria Paiato), begins to respond to the raw but deeply suppressed emotions she so desires. She begins an affair with Antonio (now Edoardo's best friend and one with whom he wants to open a restaurant outside of Milan) and when Eduardo discovers the affair he feels betrayed by the mother he so deeply loves and during a confrontation with Emma he accidently falls and dies. The Recchi family's manufactured Milanese cocoon is broken and Emma, though devastated by the loss of her beloved son, departs the family for Antonio's grotto.

The film was planned for almost eleven years as a project by Tilda Swinton and writer/director Luca Guadagino (we learn from the DVD featurettes). Not only was the story of the disease of capitalism and the disregard for the people who live by the work of their hands an important aspect of the film, but also such aspects as the musical score for this dream project was a joint dream: both love the music of John Adams and when they shared their vision with Adams, he immediately jumped in and wrote both original music for the opening but also excerpted moments from his 'Piano Rolls', dances from 'Nixon in China', 'Harmonielehre' and the breathtaking 'Harmonium' whose choral parts provide a stunning ending. He also elected to have the last movement, 'Das himmlische Leben', from Mahler's 4th Symphony serve as the background music for the large party sequence - subtle additions. The camera is used in extraordinary ways, allowing some of the action to be intentionally out of focus, bathing the sexual encounter between Emma and Antonio in voluptuous and sensitively private lighting. While there is not a weak actor in the cast, the role of the Russian émigré Emma (spoken completely in Italian) who manages to break out of the manufactured confines of the wealthy family she married into to become a women capable of returning to the reality of her roots - as portrayed by Tilda Swinton - will assuredly go down in cinematic history as one of the most impressive performances ever.

The film is long, does not follow a rigid sequential line, begs for our participation in the awakening of senses, is in Italian with English subtitles, and is very subtle. It will not appeal to everyone. But to those who respect the brilliance of the creators this will be a film that will remain in the mind forever. Grady Harp, October 10

I Am Love [Blu-ray] Overview

I AM LOVE tells the story of the wealthy Recchi family, whose lives are undergoing sweeping changes. Eduardo Sr., the family patriarch, has decided to name a successor to the reins of his massive industrial company, and in so doing, surprises everyone by splitting power between his son Tancredi and grandson Edo. However, Edo dreams of opening a restaurant with his friend Antonio, a talented chef. At the heart of Tancredi's family is his wife, Emma (Tilda Swinton), a Russian immigrant who has adopted the culture of Milan. An adoring and attentive mother, Emma's existence is shocked to the core when she falls deeply in love with Antonio and pursues a passionate love affair that will change his family forever.

I Am Love [Blu-ray] Specifications

This movie is like eating bonbons in a hothouse. For some films, walking the fine line between sublime and silly becomes an entertainment in itself, and such is the case with I Am Love, Luca Guadagnino's lush drama set within an Italian business dynasty in Milan. We see much of the film from the perspective of an outsider who has nevertheless fitted herself into this aristocratic world for many years: Emma, the Russian-born wife of the textile company's new CEO. She's played by Tilda Swinton, whose customarily penetrating work is enhanced by her speaking Russian and Italian (how does she do it?). The Russian heritage might be a tip-off--Emma could have a touch of Anna Karenina about her--because she embarks on a grand affair with a much younger man. The many levels of melodrama play out against gorgeous exteriors and wildly overdressed interiors, as though Guadagnino looked back through Italian film heritage and decided it was time for someone to out-do the opulent visions of Luchino Visconti. Adding to the strong flavor of high aestheticism is the soundtrack, which uses various excerpts of pieces by the great contemporary composer John Adams, to evocative effect (the opening shots of snowed-over Milan buildings are spellbinding). But let's not forget about the silly: one can concede the movie's usefulness as eye candy while noting that there is something fundamentally pretentious and overheated about it all, a designer's vision of storytelling. I Am Love overshoots the sublime by a wide margin, but it's fun to consume. --Robert Horton

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