“I Am Love” — Words like “lush” and “gorgeous” don’t even begin
to scratch the surface in describing Italian director Luca
Guadagnino’s retro-styled melodrama. It’s more like the most
sumptuous design porn, lingering over every detail in the palatial
home of a Milanese industrialist and his family, allowing plenty of
time for us to ooh and ahh over the impeccably tasteful clothes,
the rich furnishings, the exquisite meals. (Don’t see this movie
hungry.) From the sweeping, old-fashioned opening titles, “I Am
Love” signals that we’re in for a long, luxurious ride. This is a
visual medium, after all, and in the tradition of Visconti and
Sirk, Guadagnino expertly throws in everything he’s got. But
despite these aesthetic trappings, an even more compelling factor
is the most fundamental: the tour-de-force performance from its
star, Tilda Swinton, speaking fluent Italian and even a little
Russian in a couple of scenes. Swinton’s transformation from
perfect, moneyed wife and mother to … well, we don’t want to give
too much away, but we’ll just say her character becomes a purer
form of herself when she finds true love. She becomes free. The
camera has always loved her striking, porcelain features: those
formidable cheekbones and wide-set blue eyes. She’s ravishing as
Emma Recchi, flawlessly turned out for all occasions. But it’s the
subtle changes within her that drive the film, and allow the
staggeringly versatile Swinton to prove there’s more to her than we
ever could have imagined. R for sexuality and nudity. 120 min.
Three and a half stars out of four.

— Christy Lemire, AP Movie Critic