Global Guadagnino: International Circulation and Critical Reception of Luca Guadagnino’s films

Abstract

This essay aims to reconstruct circulation strategies and paths of Luca Guadagnino’s films abroad. After an overview on the international theatrical distribution of his films, the paper will present some data regarding the admissions obtained by Guadagnino in the two markets of greatest circulation of Italian cinema abroad, the United States and France. Through an analysis of the results made by his last four films — I Am Love (2009), A Bigger Splash (2015), Call me by your name (2017) and Suspiria (2018) — the US case will be examined in depth. Then, the paper will trace themes and issues emerging from the U.S. critical reception of these films, considering both specialist and generalist critics. By proposing a focus on the interrelationship between industrial dynamics and international reception practices, the aim of this contribution is to underline which characters related to a specific idea of Italy and, on the other and, to global art cinema emerge from the international circulation of Guadagnino’s films.