Here
I post notes about Timothée Chalamet, whose work in Call Me By Your
Name earned him accolades and honors around the world. These are not
fandom ravings but rather random musings about this exceptional young
man's craft.
*A Chalamet / Glover pairing for Shakespeare's Two Gentlemen or Othello,
Beckett's Godot or Parks' Topdog/Underdog would be singularly epic.
*2018 promises to be an even bigger year for Young Mr. Chalamet. Along
with Beautiful Boy and Woody Allen's joint there's Hot Summer Nights (TC
does Breaking Bad?) I didn't know this number was in the mix. https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=O5ROSS9ReUY
*In Pamela Romanowsky's The Adderall Diaries (2015), Chalamet was cast as the teenage son of an abusive father (Ed Harris), who grows up to be a drug-addicted and self-destructive author (James Franco). Chalamet appears in flashes of memory, recoiling from his father's temper, self-injuring and retaliating against abandonment. It's a demanding role even though it does not carry a narrative arc, and, once again, he demonstrates his readiness and willingness to commit to a challenging part.
*Chalamet's performance in Miss Stevens (2016) was hauntingly nuanced, even
though it contained some histrionics (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZH8y3lky2FM). His character, the boundaries-challenged Billy, was
both endearing and unnerving, walking that line between
comforter and creep. For an actor so young to be able to negotiate such
difficult emotional territory is quite extraordinary.
*The
mystery of Chalamet's attractiveness will probably never be solved to
everyone's satisfaction -- if the attempt were to be made -- but it
has occurred to me that in some photographs he bears a striking
resemblance to Liz Taylor. Taylor's appeal, of course, is legendary, but
Chalamet's allure is not entirely in bone structure and facial symmetry.
From where I'm sitting, it's in his mien, manner and intellect, as
well.
*In interviews, Chalamet has included Joaquin Phoenix among the actors he admires most. I can certainly see the affinity, if it's based on body of work. Phoenix picks idiosyncratic roles; he seems to thrive on the serious challenges. His characters are often taciturn, brutalized men who glower. One recent exception was his pained loner / romantic in Her. Frivolous and Joaquin Phoenix do not occupy the same space. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XeK0rc_9a0 I'm confident the same will be said about Timothée Chalamet in time.
*Chalamet should have won the Oscar because he was in nearly every
scene of Call Me By Your Name, speaks three languages in it, plays Bach, covers
everything from diffidence to passion, holds audiences in their seats
without saying a word, and Frank Ocean thinks he rocks.
*I've heard Chalamet in a dozen interviews and think he's got
one of the nimblest, most sagacious minds of any 22-year-old I've ever come
across. And I've been teaching them for 25 years. He's unaffected and
engaging, a real joy to watch.
*He will be one of the most consequential persons in cinema sooner rather
than later. Aside from his outstanding screen work, in interviews he
is focused, incisive and generous. If he avoids predators, Chalamet will
be the Paul Newman of his generation, for real.
*Having seen CMBYN a couple dozen times since January -- alone and with
friends -- I feel the film itself, due in no small part to his leading role, stands up remarkably under close scrutiny. It
is scrupulously composed (I've created another posting for those thoughts) and thoroughgoing. Just remarkable in its
presentation and affect. It is masterful and will endure.
*As a friend said to me after a screening, it takes real
immersion into a role to enable an actor to alter their appearance so
dramatically and to such powerful effect as Chalamet does in the course of the picture.
*The film societies decide who gets hardware, not how enriching the work
was. Often the two are the same, not always. Challenging, stimulating
work (whether film or performance) will always be prized by those who
were touched, enlivened. And that's not bad. Not bad.
*I'm intrigued by Chalamet's 2014 film short Spinners ()
and its message about displaced and discarded young people. Film shorts
are trickier for me to comment on than features because I rely so much on narrative
that "snapshots" leave me too much room for mischief.
*Knowing that Kid Cudi's credos speak to Chalamet adds interesting levels to
the actor's descriptions of what gets him going and how he's handling
his fame. I suppose walking the line between the desire for affirmation
and "whatever" can be tricky. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRPpLGxGNZY
