This is the second Luca Guadagnino film I've watched, the first being Call Me By Your Name. I've come to the conclusion that Guadagnino is highly pretentious. Watching both of these films I get the impression that when he was making them his thought process was "I'm going to make a cerebral, artsy movie" rather than letting greatness come naturally. I'm a fan of Tilda Swinton, but her performance here was awful. I understand the circumstances before she took on the role, but if she didn't feel up to it, she shouldn't have taken it. Matthias Schoenaerts and Ralph Fiennes are the stars of the movie, and both of their performances are exceptional, especially the former's. Dakota Johnson was just being Dakota Johnson the whole time.
The film had a lot of potential, but it never quite fulfilled that potential. Reading about all the changes that were made to the story make me think that if those changes hadn't been made, it would've been a much better film. Pacing, I think, is an issue for Guadagnino. Certain ideas are introduced but not elaborated on, while others that are not that important or relevant to the story get stretched out. If the running time were cut by 20-30 minutes, it would probably be a better, more efficient telling of the almost non-existent story.
The film had a lot of potential, but it never quite fulfilled that potential. Reading about all the changes that were made to the story make me think that if those changes hadn't been made, it would've been a much better film. Pacing, I think, is an issue for Guadagnino. Certain ideas are introduced but not elaborated on, while others that are not that important or relevant to the story get stretched out. If the running time were cut by 20-30 minutes, it would probably be a better, more efficient telling of the almost non-existent story.