Io sono l'amore 2010

A.O. Scott, At the Movies: Luca Guadagnino did just a wonderful job of conveying this woman's emotional gathering storm. Read more

Christy Lemire, Associated Press: Words like "lush" and "gorgeous" don't even begin to scratch the surface in describing I Am Love, Italian director Luca Guadagnino's retro-styled melodrama. Read more

Joshua Rothkopf, Time Out: Worthy of Visconti, the movie spells out the end of a family's glory days; it's the impress-your-date film of the summer. Read more

Jonathan F. Richards, Film.com: There's no getting around the fact that this is elegant soap opera,. It won't appeal to every taste. But it's sensational to look at, powerfully acted, and delivers a bang for the emotional buck. Read more

Tasha Robinson, AV Club: What keeps the story fresh isn't so much Guadagnino's swooning sense-reveries, which sometimes flow with dreamlike wonder and sometimes just drag; instead, most of the power comes from Swinton... Read more

Kerry Lengel, Arizona Republic: In an American film, you live the story. In a European one, you're an outsider looking in. Ah, but what a beautiful view. Read more

Ty Burr, Boston Globe: If you're not in the mood, the whole thing will probably seem pretty silly. But if you are -- oh, if you are -- I Am Love may be the richest, tastiest truffle you're likely to savor all summer. Read more

J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader: The grand architecture of Milan and the icy rhythms of composer John Adams set the tone for this elegant Italian drama about the suffocating power of family, wealth, and tradition. Read more

Lisa Kennedy, Denver Post: Cinematographer Yorick Le Saux's elegant images of buildings -- stony exteriors, lux interiors -- and weather-worn statuary suggest centuries-old tradition but also invite a meditative or appreciative silence. Read more

Tom Long, Detroit News: Overblown, European, operatic, indulgent, patently absurd and somewhat wondrous, I Am Love works for one reason and one reason alone: Tilda Swinton. Read more

Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly: The film is almost deliriously stylish, which helps mask the silliness. But the bellowing music, by John Adams, is infuriatingly intrusive -- which undoes the visual good. Read more

Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: Swinton is one of the finest actresses working in contemporary cinema, but Guadagnino, who developed the project with her in mind, has created a film that literally luxuriates in her talents. Read more

Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald: I Am Love is a bold and thrilling masterpiece -- the introduction of a major talent to the world's stage. Read more

Anthony Lane, New Yorker: The best sex you will get all year, if that's what you crave in your moviegoing, is between Tilda Swinton and a prawn. Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: There's always been something otherworldly about Swinton, and the director captures her Woman-Who-Fell-to-Earth exoticism. Read more

New York Daily News: Despite its flaws -- including an oddly unwieldy finish -- this is an epic project, crafted with intimate precision. Read more

Kyle Smith, New York Post: The splendid photography and tempestuous John Adams score cannot quite conceal that the film is uncomfortably close to being an extravagantly elongated, Fendi-clad episode of Dynasty. Read more

Rex Reed, New York Observer: Elegantly directed and exquisitely photographed, the movie is a triumph, and so is [Swinton]. Read more

Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel: An intimate, quiet and even slow movie, its subtle shadings veil turbulent emotions. Read more

Carrie Rickey, Philadelphia Inquirer: It is not to everyone's taste. But if you like the lush film operas of Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Douglas Sirk, or Luchino Visconti, this one's for you. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: I Am Love falls into the select category of films that are easier to admire than like. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: Tilda Swinton is a daring actress who doesn't project emotions so much as embody them. I Am Love provides an ideal role for her, in that her actions speak instead of words. Read more

Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: The characters seem reasonably interesting, and so we continue to watch them. But at no point do we care about them any more than we might care about attractive strangers sitting at another table in a restaurant. Read more

Dana Stevens, Slate: I Am Love isn't just a bedazzlement to the eyes and ears. It's a feast--or maybe just a small but divine dish of prawns--for the soul. Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: A pall of deadly self-indulgence spreads as the story moves from operatic passion to soap-opera melodrama. It's as if director Luca Guadagnino filmed a synopsis of the script rather than a fully realized screenplay. Read more

Joe Williams, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: The overripe ending, heated by the percolating music of John Adams, is heavy seasoning on a delicate dish. Read more

Rick Groen, Globe and Mail: Despite a superb cast and a fabulous look, the picture collapses under the weight of its lofty pretensions, especially in the black hole of the last act, where it topples into near-absurdity. Read more

Dave Calhoun, Time Out: It's a bold experiment rooted in tradition. It plays like smart opera and looks like a marriage of poetic documentary with classical European drama. Read more

Jay Weissberg, Variety: A stunning achievement. Read more

Aaron Hillis, Village Voice: Bold, thrilling, and undeniably sensuous melodrama uncannily invokes the pleasures of smell, taste, and touch ... Everything dances here: the camera, the colors, Tilda's eyes, even pollinating bees during a sumptuously shot sex scene. Read more

Ann Hornaday, Washington Post: I Am Love is such a lush, deeply textured banquet of sights and sounds that it deserves more than a movie review. Read more