As part of Italian Heritage Month in Vancouver and in celebration of Italian Day on the Drive (Sunday, June 10), the Rio Theatre is highlighting select Italian titles in June. Prior to making global cinematic waves with this year's Oscar-winning romantic drama CALL ME BY YOUR NAME, Italian director Luca Guadagnino featured the lush, endlessly erotic backdrop of his home country in his "breakthrough" feature, the sensually elegant sexual-awakening drama I AM LOVE (starring the always exquisite and emotionally unbound Tilda Swinton, in one of her best performances). With Pippo Delbono, Flavio Parenti, Gabriele Ferzetti, Edoardo Gabbriellini, Waris Ahluwahlia and Alba Rohrwacher.

At a dinner -- during which her husband, Tancredi, learns that he and his son Edoardo Recchi Jr. are about to assume control of the Edoardo Recchi Sr.'s lucrative business -- Emma meets a chef named Antonio. Antonio and Emma soon find themselves in bed together. With the family already divided over the elder Recchi's unusual plans, Emma's affair is the wild card that might divide the family for good.

Thanks to our friends at Italian Day on the Drive, Il Centro Italian Cultural Centre in Vancouver, the Vancouver Italian Film Festival, and the Italian Contemporary Film Festival for their ongoing support of this screening, and all the films selected for our annual Italian film series.

"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." (Boston Globe)

"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." (Roger Ebert)

"In every way, a stunning achievement." (Variety)

"The best sex you will get all year, if that's what you crave in your movie-going, is between Tilda Swinton and a prawn." (The New Yorker)

Tuesday, June 19
Doors 9:00 pm | Movie 9:30 pm
Tickets $10 advance | $12 at the door

*Minors permitted. (Please note this film is rated 18A.) Must be 19+ w/ID for bar service and main floor seating.
**Rio Theatre Groupons and passes OK! Please redeem at the door.

I AM LOVE "Io sono l'amore" (LUCA GUADAGNINO, 2010 / 120 mins / 18A / In English and Italian) Emma left Russia to live with her husband in Italy. Now a member of a powerful industrial family, she is the respected mother of three, but feels unfulfilled. One day, Antonio, a talented chef and her son's friend, makes her senses kindle.