Luca Guadagnino’s films often focus on people who are in love but shouldn’t be. See his “desire trilogy”—I Am Love (2009), A Bigger Splash (2015), and Call Me by Your Name (2017)—in which a rich wife, a rock star, and a young boy, all in Italy, carry out secret affairs with forbidden men. As Guadagnino recently told Deadline, “To love someone is to find the practice of the possible in the impossible.”
His latest film, Bones and All, is a continuation of the theme—and of his collaboration with Timothée Chalamet. Set in late-1980s America, rather than Guadagnino’s native Italy, the romantic comedy focuses on two young cannibals in love as they road-trip across the country. Starring Chalamet and Taylor Russell, Bones and All premiered at the Venice International Film Festival, where it won the Silver Lion. It hits theaters in the U.S. this coming week. (While you wait, you can catch Salvatore: Shoemaker of Dreams, his documentary about the Italian shoe designer, in theaters now.)
Guadagnino lives in Piedmont, Italy, but is constantly boarding planes to shoot films, present them at festivals, and then publicize them. As someone who spends much of his time at 33,000 feet, he’s the perfect subject to kick off AIR MAIL’s new Seasoned Traveler feature. Here, Guadagnino answers our questionnaire about what he packs, eats, and watches while flying.
Last flight you took?
I flew from the Iguaçu Falls, in Brazil, to Buenos Aires.
What do you wear to the airport?
Usually, I try to be very lounge-y and loose, like sweatshirts and sweatpants.
How long before your flight boards do you get to the airport?
Because now I am a seasoned traveler, I try to get to the airport at the latest I can.
Check bags or carry-on only?
Hopefully, carry-on, but I’m not able to do that all the time.
What’s in your carry-on?
All the clothes I need, books that I want to try to finish during the flight (and that I usually don’t achieve).
T.S.A. pre-check or regular?
I have no idea what T.S.A. is, and now that someone is explaining it to me, I’m going to try to do that, but up till now I have been a sorry regular.
Favorite airport?
Linate, in Milano, because when I leave it, it’s very close to home, being in the city center, and it’s very small and handy to go through. And when I land, I’m home, and I want to be at home as much as I can.
What do you buy in the airport terminal?
Usually I buy Hermès silk and cashmere shawls that I collect. I must have gotten my hundredth this year.
What do you do while waiting to board?
Work, work, work. Whether it’s a phone call or a Zoom, I’m basically always working. And using all the interstitial time I have to work.
Item you can’t fly without?
If I’m flying out in the morning, the newspapers of the day, usually seven or eight. And printed, not digital. And always Gaviscon Advance, because I and many of my director colleagues suffer from heartburn from anxiety.
First class or coach?
The last flight I took was coach, but I have to be honest: I’ve been consistent in first class for the last few years.
Window, middle, or aisle seat?
Window, first row.
How do you pass time in the air?
Sleeping in the first place, and reading. I stopped watching movies on the plane because the quality of the projection is very poor, and I get very emotional up in the air, and I end up liking movies that I should detest.
Favorite show to watch on a plane?
Episodes of The Great British Bake Off.
Do you buy Wi-Fi?
I always end up spending no less than $100 on Wi-Fi every flight I do.
Do you eat plane food?
I have learned not to eat food on the plane, or at least not to eat elaborate food on the plane, so, usually, I eat a cheese board or cookies and Earl Grey tea.
Do you talk to the people sitting next to you?
Never. Not even to friends or my companion that is flying out with me.
Keep shoes on or off on the plane?
Off.
What do you do when turbulence hits?
I lie down and think of England.
Worst part of the flight?
Leaving home.
First thing you do when the plane lands?
Put my shoes on. Yawn. And hope that this will be my last plane. False hope.
Advice for travelers?
Don’t travel.
Luca Guadagnino’s Bones and All will hit theaters on November 18