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An epic Italian drama set at the turn of the millennium in Milan. Stars Tilda Swinton as a Russian Immigrant who falls in love with someone she shouldn't. Opens nationwide on Thursday. Click here for session info
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I Am Love is like an impressionist painting, an artwork of thoughtful brushstrokes, each one adding a richness to the overall effect. The story unfolds slowly, gently, the details interwoven into a family story representative of much wider ideas. From a distance, the swarm of characters on both sides of Italy's socio-economic divide are no more than disparate players. But they also communicate the film's grander themes of transformation.

Director Luca Guadagnino has successfully painted a fulsome picture of a family on the cusp of change. It's a triumph that we care about this coming-of-age for each of the many characters in the film, particularly Tilda Swinton's convincing oppressed housewife.

The workers – cooks, maids, cleaners – are also part of the film's rich tapestry, and Guadagnino gracefully captures their behind-the-scenes duties to show just how much back-stage preparation must go into being the perfect Italian housewife, as well as the class divide at the heart of this story.

Food-lover Guadagnino cleverly uses his props as motifs, and the lighting as theatrical – slightly balmy – devices to elevate emotion. A spotlight closes in on Swinton as her lips crack into succulent seafood and her chef lover pipes nipple-like decorations on his hors d'ouevres. It's just a tad hammy when she transforms into her real self following a lustful rolling in the grass scene, swapping from her bourgeoise get-up to a head-scarf and her old Russian name. But it's a moment that shows the chef's understanding of essence doesn't just apply to his food.

If the plot didn't literally fall victim to melodrama and farce towards the end, I Am Love would embody its very title with ease.

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