Years in the making (eleven, according to star Swinton), this 2009 collaboration between director Luca Guadagnino and Tilda is something of a marvelous enigma. At once a melodramatic soap opera/ love story and a political treatise about class distinction and freedom, "I Am Love" is multi-layered, complex. Nothing is explained; the film infers. And thus it depends upon the interpretive powers of the viewer, something I truly appreciate in a cinematic experience.We follow Emma Recchi, wife of Tancredi Recchi, a very wealthy heir to a textile empire in Milan. They have three children: emotional and idealistic Edoardo, inexperienced Gianluca, and budding lesbian Elisabetta. But Emma is not her real name: she can no longer recall what her real name was, before her rich husband plucked her out of Russia and brought her back to Italy, where she apparently let go of everything in her old life to “become Italian” (Swinton miraculously speaks Italian with a Russian accent!). Their home is a Fascistic Art Deco wonder (the real-life Villa Necchi Campiglio, an architecturally important home in Milan, now a museum open to the public) full of a mix of early twentieth-century and Beaux Arts furnishings and art. Emma herself is polished to a translucent gleam, coiffed, and outfitted in the most sleek, classic clothing (by Raf Simons at Jil Sander) which quietly asserts her wealth and position.
But as she begins an affair with a young chef, we see her and her world fall apart, presumably to be replaced with her old self and a world she once knew but forfeited. Synchronistically, the family textile empire is under scrutiny, pressured to change or sell to accommodate a new global economy. The old class and wealth no longer matter—it is seen for what it was all along: an illusion that can crumble at any moment.
The film itself is gorgeous. As mentioned above, the Recchi home is stunning, everyone is lovely (including Marisa Berenson, as Emma’s mother-in-law, dignified and gorgeous as she ages without having any “work” done to mar herself), and the San Remo countryside is vivid and organic. Even the magnificent dishes created by Antonio the chef are lovingly presented and captured. The film’s pace is deliberate and in places, reminds me a bit of Tarkovsky’s work, with the camera lingering on a weed or an insect on a stalk. At times the camera work (a specific pan here or pull there) also reminded me of Fellini… although there is nothing surreal about "I Am Love." The soundtrack is culled mostly from pre-existing pieces by the contemporary composer John Adams ("Nixon In China"). There were times when the grand sound of Adams seemed to fit well with the story and there were scenes where the assertive sound of Adams seemed a bit out of place. That is a small quibble though.
I have read some criticisms that the film is too pretentious, too histrionic. I say that is a bit of projection and an inability to understand that the film is stylized, and references things that are larger than what is being shown.
Recommend? Yes. The usual caveats apply though: this is an Italian-language film with subtitles, it moves slower than whatever is playing at your local multiplex, and it requires attention and some deconstruction after viewing. If you’re not up for any of that, don’t do it. Otherwise, dig in and enjoy.
Trailer at the official website:
http://www.iamlovemovie.com/
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