Love is Not Enough

Many people I respect a great deal recommended I Am Love (2010) to me.  Directed by Luca Guadagnino, the film introduces us to an upper-class Italian family undergoing generational shifts. The opening credits glide through exquisite black-and-white shots of Milan under snow, which quickly establishes an emotional and aesthetic tone. The dinner scene that sets up the theme is elegantly concise and restrained. In a few virtuoso strokes, Guadagnino reveals the complex relationships within the extended family. Gradually it becomes clear that this is Emma Recchi's story.  Carefully played by Tilda Swinton, this wife and mother has forgotten who she is: her name, her origins, her language, her feelings have all been buried under her married life. Predictably, she (and the film) will move from the shadows toward color and warmth, as a stereotypical thawing occurs under the Mediterranean sun. The premise is cliched, but that's okay since the execution is so beautiful.  Guadagnino's camera lingers on softened window reflections and pans across hazy mountain vistas. If only the understated performances and lovely cinematography were enough!

I'm posting the trailer because it displays my sense of the whole film as a series of beautifully shot set pieces that don't ever become an engaging story. The rapid cuts and accelerating music seem a substitute for real suspense. As the characters become more themselves, the stakes grow higher and the film rises toward a melodramatic crescendo that does not seem justified. Perhaps losing the restraint of the film's beginning is the point, but by the end Emma, and the film itself, has broken free of coherence as well as conformity. The film's subplot about the fate of the family business is left unresolved just as many relationships are left dangling. Guadagnino implies that all we need is love…but art, at least, needs more.