Arts & Entertainment
‘Call Me By Your Name’ screenwriter criticizes film for lack of nudity
James Ivory claims Luca Guadagnino did consider more skin in the movie
(Screenshot courtesy of YouTube)
“Call Me By Your Name” screenwriter James Ivory blasted director Luca Guadagnino for not including more nudity in the film.
In an interview with the Guardian, the openly gay screenwriter claims Guadagnino did consider filming nude scenes with Elio and Oliver but changed his mind. For Ivory, whose “Call Me By Your Name” screenplay won an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, the lack of nudity made the film unrealistic.
“When Luca says he never thought of putting nudity in, that is totally untrue,” Ivory says. “He sat in this very room where I am sitting now, talking about how he would do it, so when he says that it was a conscious aesthetic decision not to ― well, that’s just bullshit.”
“When people are wandering around before or after making love, and they’re decorously covered with sheets, it’s always seemed phony to me,” he continued. “I never liked doing that. And I don’t do it, as you know.”
He compared “Call Me By Your Name” to the 1987 film “Maurice,” a gay love story set at the turn of the 20th century in England. Ivory directed the film adaptation of the novel by E.M. Forester.
“The two guys have had sex and they get up and you certainly see everything there is to be seen,” Ivory says. “To me, that’s a more natural way of doing things than to hide them, or to do what Luca did, which is to pan the camera out of the window toward some trees.”
Guadagnino has defended his decision to keep nudity out of the film.
“I am the least prudish director you can meet. I’ve been very precise in using the female and male body on screen to convey all kind of emotions. I thought that the display of nudity in this specific movie was absolutely irrelevant and I understand that for James it would have been relevant but that is his vision, what is clear is that we had no limitations on what we wanted to do,” Guadagnino told the Independent.
Celebrity News
Madonna announces release date for new album
‘Confessions II’ marks return to the dance floor
Pop icon Madonna on Wednesday announced that her 15th studio album will be released on July 3.
Titled “Confessions II,” the new album is a sequel to 2005’s “Confessions on a Dance Floor,” an Abba and disco-infused hit.
The new album reunites Madonna with producer Stuart Price, who also helmed the original “Confessions” album. It’s her first album of new material since 2019’s “Madame X.”
“We must dance, celebrate, and pray with our bodies,” Madonna said in a press release. “These are things that we’ve been doing for thousands of years — they really are spiritual practices. After all, the dance floor is a ritualistic space. It’s a place where you connect — with your wounds, with your fragility. To rave is an art. It’s about pushing your limits and connecting to a community of like-minded people,” continued the statement. “Sound, light, and vibration reshape our perceptions. Pulling us into a trance-like state. The repetition of the bass, we don’t just hear it but we feel it. Altering our consciousness and dissolving ego and time.”
Denali (@denalifoxx) of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” performed at Pitchers DC on April 9 for the Thirst Trap Thursday drag show. Other performers included Cake Pop!, Brooke N Hymen, Stacy Monique-Max and Silver Ware Sidora.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
Arts & Entertainment
In an act of artistic defiance, Baltimore Center Stage stays focused on DEI
‘Maybe it’s a triple-down’
By LESLIE GRAY STREETER | I’m always tickled when people complain about artists “going political.” The inherent nature of art, of creation and free expression, is political. This becomes obvious when entire governments try to threaten it out of existence, like in 2025, when the brand-new presidential administration demanded organizations halt so-called diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programming or risk federal funding.
Baltimore Center Stage’s response? A resounding and hearty “Nah.” A year later, they’re still doubling down on diversity.
“Maybe it’s a triple-down,” said Ken-Matt Martin, the theater’s producing director, chuckling.
The rest of this article can be found on the Baltimore Banner’s website.
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