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One of the buzziest films of this years Sundance Film Festival is Call Me By Your Name, a love story set in 1980s Italy between an American visitor (Armie Hammer) and a local teenager (Timothee Chalamet). But although the movie takes place in the past, it feels politically timely, given questions about LGBT rights under a Trump administration.

On Monday afternoon, director Luca Guadagnino (A Bigger Splash) talked to Variety about showing the movie under an administration where the vice president, Mike Pence,hasa record ofopposition to gay rights. He zeroed in on accusationsthat Pence supports conversion therapy, a practice of trying to change someones sexual orientation or gender identity.

The conviction of Mr. Pence, the idea that you can revert the identity of someone, particularly the non-normative identity into a normative identity, it speaks to me of his own identity, Guadagnino said. I am very curious to know if anybody who is very close to Mr. Pence could tell us what really Mr. Pence thinks of himself.

Hammer laughed. Anybody? Anybody, please?

In the 12 years since Brokeback Mountain, theres been considerable progress for gay rights and the representations of homosexual characters in movies and TV, from Carol to Glee. Back in 2006, Jack Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger were constantly asked about how brave it was to take on a gay romance. But at the Park City, Utah, premiere of Call Me By Your Name on Sunday night, no such questions emergedat a post-screening Q&A.

Art is a very affecting, and hopefully can be, a change agent, Hammer said, recalling inflammatory reactions to Brokeback Mountain.Sociologically, I would hope weve evolved enough that now we can see past that and see the humanity, the truth, that is present in every moment of desire or affection.

Guadagnino casts his lead actors without even conducting a chemistry test. He shot his lush drama near in Crema, Italy. During the first rehearsal, in a garden outside of the films house, he had Hammer and Chalamet go straight to a pivotal moment in the script, which was adapted from a beloved 2007 novel.

The next thing we know, were lying in the grass and making out, Hammer said, adding: The shooting of the first kiss scene was great. It felt as organic and special as every shot we did on this movie.

Ive never seen a shot like that from above, where Armie and I were splayed out on the grass, Chalamet, 21, said. The scenes that were intense in sexual nature on the page werent treated any differently.

In fact, the hardest scene for Hammer was learning how to shimmy to 80s music. We had a choreographer who taught me, he said. The dancing was probably the thing I found the most difficult.

Call Me By Your Name will be released later this year from Sony Pictures Classics.

Link:

'Call Me by Your Name' Director Blasts Mike Pence for Anti-Gay Policies - Variety