101 Greatest Screenplays of the 21st Century (*so far)
79Call Me by Your Name (2017)
Screenplay by James Ivory, Based on the Novel by André Aciman
In a list crowded with scripting elites, James Ivory stands alone—the only one of the lot to become half the namesake for an entire new genre of indie period dramas (along with longtime partner Ismail Merchant, Howards End, A Room with a View). At age 89, he earned an Oscar and 2018 Writers Guild Award for Adapted Screenplay for Call Me by Your Name, the youthfully romantic story of an American grad student in 1980s Italy, who falls for his professor’s 17-year-old son. “A lot of great stories and books aren’t written all that great,” deadpanned Ivory in a chat with the WGAW website about the film. “It’s everything about the story that’s great.”