Call Me by Your Name (2017)

In 1980s Italy, romance blossoms between a seventeen-year-old student and the older man hired as his father's research assistant.

Director:

Luca Guadagnino

Writers:

James Ivory (screenplay by), André Aciman (based on the novel by)

Stars:

Armie Hammer, Timothée Chalamet, Michael Stuhlbarg

Won 1 Oscar. Another 96 wins & 253 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Armie Hammer	...	Oliver
Timothée Chalamet	...	Elio
Michael Stuhlbarg	...	Mr. Perlman
Amira Casar	...	Annella Perlman
Esther Garrel	...	Marzia
Victoire Du Bois	...	Chiara
Vanda Capriolo	...	Mafalda
Antonio Rimoldi	...	Anchise
Elena Bucci	...	Bambi - Art Historian
Marco Sgrosso	...	Nico - Art Historian
André Aciman	...	Mounir
Peter Spears	...	Isaac

Storyline

CALL ME BY YOUR NAME, the new film by Luca Guadagnino, is a sensual and transcendent tale of first love, based on the acclaimed novel by André Aciman. It's the summer of 1983 in the north of Italy, and Elio Perlman (Timothée Chalamet), a precocious 17-year-old young man, spends his days in his family's 17th-century villa transcribing and playing classical music, reading, and flirting with his friend Marzia (Esther Garrel). Elio enjoys a close relationship with his father (Michael Stuhlbarg), an eminent professor specializing in Greco-Roman culture, and his mother Annella (Amira Casar), a translator, who favor him with the fruits of high culture in a setting that overflows with natural delights. While Elio's sophistication and intellectual gifts suggest he is already a fully-fledged adult, there is much that yet remains innocent and unformed about him, particularly about matters of the heart. One day, Oliver (Armie Hammer), a 24-year-old American college graduate student working on his...

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Plot Keywords:

gay romance | male male kiss | father son relationship | gay teenager | sex with fruit | 

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Taglines:

Is it better to speak or die?

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for sexual content, nudity and some language

Did You Know?

Trivia

The waterfall during the trip scene is not a real waterfall, it's a hydroelectric dam, which floodgates open only once a year to let off pressure. Hence the scene had to be done in one take.

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Goofs

Throughout the entire movie Oliver wears a Star of David necklace. In the final scene where we see Oliver, saying goodbye to Elio at the train station, he is not clearly seen wearing the Star of David necklace. No explanation is given for why he would take it off or not be wearing it. Though it's very very hard to clasp a glimpse of it due to the way the shirt is buttoned up, there are a few split seconds where you can see the necklace is definitely on his neck during that scene.

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Quotes

Oliver: [to Elio playing the guitar] Sounds nice.
Elio: I thought you didn't like it.
Oliver: [looks at Elio, looks away again] Play it again, will you?
Elio: [walks into the house] Follow me.
Oliver: [Elio plays the piano] That sounds different; did you change it?
Elio: I changed it a little bit.
Oliver: Why?
Elio: I just played it the way Liszt would have played it if he'd altered Bach's version.
Oliver: Play that again.
Elio: Play what again?
[...]

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Crazy Credits

The sound of the fire crackling in the fireplace continues after the last image of Elio goes black and the final notes of Sufjan Stevens's "Visions of Gideon" fade out.

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Connections

Featured in MsMojo: Top 20 Book to Movie Adaptations of the Century So Far (2020)

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Soundtracks

Ma Mère l'Oye
for one piano, four hands
Written by Maurice Ravel
Performed by Valeria Szervánszky and Ronald Cavaye
Courtesy of Valeria Szervánszky and Ronald Cavaye

User Reviews

Absorbing but not a masterpiece

First, to all the Americans on here outraged about the film "endorsing" a criminal act - NEWS FLASH!! Just because the age of consent is 18 in your country, doesn't make it so everywhere else in the world! 18 is comparatively old by global standards. I believe the average age is 16 (as in my country) and in Italy where the film takes place it's actually 14. Whether you agree with it morally or not, no criminal act takes place - US law does not apply!

However, I agree with many reviewers that Armie Hammer is miscast in terms of his character's age. He is 31 and looks it, whereas Oliver is meant to be 24. His age is never referred to in the film, so viewers who haven't read the book are left with the impression of a 30-ish man engaging in a relationship with a 17-year-old, which Timothee (20 at the time) does convincingly portray. I can fully understand how that would ring alarm bells for many. If they'd had an actor who actually looked 24 I think that would have created a very different dynamic. Even so, the relationship is hardly of a paedophilic nature. And I don't think most people would regard 17-year-olds as "children" physically and emotionally, even if they may be legally.

Timothee Chalamet gives an incredible performance fully deserving of all the accolades, but I found Armie's inconsistent at best. He does get better as the film goes along. Maybe it's just that I didn't find his character particularly appealing... to me he comes across as rather abrupt and arrogant, and weirdly passive-aggressive and patronising towards Elio for much of the time. The physical scenes between Oliver and Elio were excruciatingly awkward to watch and didn't ring true to me - but I'm a straight female so what would I know? I haven't had that reaction with the (admittedly few) other gay films I've seen though. Maybe it was supposed to reflect real life, or maybe I am just too accustomed to male-female depictions. Ultimately the relationship seemed to consist of Elio being infatuated and Oliver enjoying being the object of that infatuation, rather than a true love story.

Personally the relationship I found most touching in the film was that between Elio and his parents. Although they aren't given much to work with, both the actors playing his parents do beautiful, nuanced work... and the much-lauded scene near the end with his father was stunning and truly moving. It was refreshing to see a such a loving and accepting child-parent relationship, done in a natural and non-affected way. It rang very true to my own experience as an only child and it was nice to see this portrayed on film for once, instead of the tension-filled relationships American films usually depict.

Overall I thought the film was absorbing and well-done, but neither the masterpiece or great love story it's being hyped as.

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official Instagram

Country:

Italy France

Language:

English Italian French German Hebrew

Release Date:

19 January 2018 (USA)

Also Known As:

Call Me by Your Name

Filming Locations:

Crema, Cremona, Lombardy, Italy

Box Office

Budget:

EUR4,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$412,932, 26 November 2017

Gross USA:

$18,095,701

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$41,887,595

Company Credits

Production Co:

Frenesy Film Company, La Cinéfacture, RT Features

Technical Specs

Runtime:

132 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1