We see big budget films put on the fast track and make swift entrances into the theater all the time, but that was certainly not the case with director Luca Guadagnino's I Am Love. The piece took over a decade to complete and the effects of the prolonged thought and development is profound. Even in the midst of a summer packed with explosive blockbusters, I Am Love’s exquisite classical and operatic nature is as bold as ever.

The film is about a wealthy family living in Milan, but the focus is on Emma (Tilda Swinton), the wife of a textile tycoon and mother of three grown children. With all of her loved ones hard at work or away at school, Emma is left to her lonesome in their lavish estate with the exception of their attentive wait staff. Her yearning for more is answered by a friend of her eldest son, a chef named Antonio. All it takes is a delectable shrimp dish to entice Emma to act on her feelings and indulge in her desire, Antonio.

The story is powerful, but there was so much more on Guadagnino's mind when constructing I Am Love than simply telling of a forbidden romance. Check out all of the details about Guadagnino's 7-year collaboration with Swinton on this one project (or 11-year collaboration as Swinton would say), his unique method to incorporating a John Adams score and much more in the video interview below.