Though Luca Guadagnino has of late become one of the cinema’s premier aesthetes, his demeanor when speaking about his work resembles a producer rather than a director of his renown. In interviews, he is just as inclined to spend ample time delving into minutiae of production design in his works as he is to rhapsodize the influence of aesthetes such as Bertolucci on his cinematic education. Indeed, many of his recent projects as director have spawned from him ‘reluctantly’ taking the reins when no one else would, moving easily from the producer’s chair to the director’s. And yet his body of work br¬¬eathes with a joy and a love for the cinema which, like all great cinéastes, has the potential to penetrate the material work of craftsmanship, always striving to access something deeper. A self-described “stalker of master filmmakers”, Guadagnino’s …
