Call Me By Your Name

3 Reviews For This Product

1. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   03

   by Excellent, works straight out of the box and looks and feels very premium. August 30, 2023

   Great book, writer captures the blossoking romance in a heartbreaking yet nostalgic way. Incredible and moving book. Would recommend.

2. 

   Rated 3 out of 5

   03

   by Philip Cutler September 15, 2023

   Ok, so positives and this is why I rated this with 3 stars. The cinematography is beautiful. It captures that small town feeling really well. It could be in any of these countries: France, Spain, Italy Greece. If you’ve ever been to any of those countries and driven into the countryside you’ll find a town like this. Dusty roads, the town square, a bank, a bar, people sitting outside watching the world go by, wooden shutters on the pastel coloured buildings and a church. You can almost smell oranges and peaches in the air. It’s just beautiful and this film evokes lovely memories for me.
   SPOILER ALERTS SPOILER ALERTS
   So, the story: handsome, athletic, popular, charming, sexy guy arrives at a large house in the countryside ostensibly to finish his own thesis, but also help the incumbent professor with research. The family are all intelligent, artistic and talented in different ways. The son is a clever teenage boy whose knowledge all comes from reading and not from life experiences and so, as he says later in the film “he knows nothing” . He is unsure of his emotional feelings, is very immature, some would say precocious and doesn’t know where his sexual orientation lies. These are pretty common experiences for an adolescent as far as I remember, although that was a very, very long time ago!!. He is obviously attracted to the American visitor, but then so is everyone else, quite understandably!
   Before continuing with the story, why do they converse with each other in different languages? French. german, italian? The boy even speaks french on and off with his female italian friend. Why exactly? I found it very tedious.
   My view of the relationship between the two varies considerably from other viewers. For me, the 20+ American seems to be ‘grooming’ the boy…drawing him in and pushing him away, but each time drawing him closer. The boy is very unsure about his sexuality and embarks on a sexual relationship with a female friend…to check things out. Oliver, the American, eventually has sex with Elio after a fumbled attempt by Elio whilst they are out cycling together (he grabs Oliver’s crotch). Is it love? Well, in my opinion it wasn’t, but obviously that’s just my opinion.
   When Oliver has to return to the US at the end of the summer, the two head off together to spend some time alone with each other. One night Elio get very drunk and sick, meanwhile Oliver is dancing with a lady who happens to be listening to a song which Oliver knows. The two part at the railway station with the usual “I’ll never forget you” speech and Elio returns home saddened by the loss of the man who gave him his first homosexual encounter.
   Forward to winter. The family have returned to their country residence. Oliver phones and speaks to Elio’s parents first. He is then handed over to Elio and in the space of no time at all, announces that he is getting engaged in the spring! So, the love he had for Elio was so real that 4 months later he tell him he is about to marry. Well that’s love for you!
   For the final scene, which in my view, is the best piece of acting in the film, Elio stares into the fire and says nothing, but his face speaks volumes.
   After watching the film I had to read the book just to see what I had missed. In the book it appeared to me that Elio was ‘stalking’ Oliver. He is especially jealous when Oliver disappears regularly at night time. For Elio, this can only mean one thing. Oliver is having sexual encounters with pretty much everyone and anyone. At one point he even imagines him having sex with their handyman.
   The latter part of the book is very different from the film. The pair head off to Rome. They have been treated to a beautiful room in a posh hotel, courtesy of Elio’s father. Quite different from the pensione in the film. Here Elio has a ‘road to Damascus’ experience. The beauty of Rome, the friendship of Oliver’s fiends, the acceptance of their relationship, the freedom to be free. Yes, Elio, does get very drunk and yes he is sick. However, the scene where Oliver dances with a stranger? It doesn’t happen. Why was that added when so much of importance was left out? Obviously to make a film based entirely on the book would made it far too long, I appreciate that. However, I felt that some parts were added/removed/altered quite unnecessarily.

   For me, “God’s Own Country” was a far, far superior film. The cinematography in that was just as good as in CMBYN. Totally different of course, but it captured the feel of winter in the wilds of Yorkshire perfectly for me. The acting was much better as was the storyline.

3. 

   Rated 3 out of 5

   03

   by Mrs. Beverley A. Scott November 12, 2023

   The movie, Call Me By Your Name was released in 2017, starred Arnie Hammer and Timothée Chelemet and was Oscar nominated. It was an adaptation of the book of the same name by André Aciman, and I really, really want to watch the film but I also really, really wanted to read the book (the eternal bookworm conundrum). So I read the book. And, well, I am still undecided whether that was a mistake and I should have just watched the film (I haven’t yet) as it was an odd one and I am still unsure what I thought about it. I have given it 3 stars as, although it was well-written I did struggle with it at times.

   It tells the story of 17-year-old Italian Elio and 24-year-old Oliver who is American. Elio’s father is a Professor who invites a student to live with him and his family every summer at their house in Italy. The student helps with academic paperwork and uses the rest of their time in Italy to work on their book manuscript. In the summer of 1983 it is Oliver who comes to stay and it is during this summer that love blossoms between he and Elio.

   Firstly, I really enjoyed reading a book set in the 1980s. It isn’t that it is full of cultural and pop culture references to 1983, it is more that the notable absence of technology meant that the love story and relationships seemed to be able to develop in a more languid and realistic way. There is a gradual deepening of understanding and friendship between Elio and Oliver which leads to this extraordinary love affair. The summer haze and lazy days spent near the pool or having a siesta gave the prose an almost other worldly quality which combined with the looking back to 1983 created an almost whimsical quality. I quite liked the snapshot of life in 1983 (the book is predominately set over a 6 week period) and I was easily transported back in time eating a peach next to the swimming pool.

   The love story is powerful, all-consuming and compelling if a little repetitive at times. It took a while for things to get going and I seemed to read pages and pages of Elio gazing adoringly at Oliver whilst he lay by the pool reading. Aside from that some parts were decidedly odd and uncomfortable to read and, if I am honest, felt like they were there to shock rather than communicate the power of feeling and connection that Elio and Oliver felt for one another. It felt incongruous (to me), especially considering how exquisite and beautiful the writing is and how, at times, it was highly emotive.

   André Aciman writes about obsessive, powerful love; the kind that makes you do odd and extraordinary things. I found it interesting that it is purely from Elio’s perspective as this teen viewpoint made some of his actions ‘acceptable’ as they could be explained away by his immaturity. I would have liked to have seen Oliver’s point of view and understand his mentality – was he disturbed by the age gap and the power difference between the two of them? What were his thoughts about some of the things that Elio did? Was he so blinded by the love and connection that it didn’t matter?

   I really liked how well drawn Elio was. He is a teenager and the war between his emotional immaturity and his high intelligence was fascinating. He is a curious person – talented and smart, able to hold his own amongst his peers and those who are far older and more accomplished yet he treats some people terribly. He has a tendency to use and let go of people and doesn’t consider their feelings or emotions. I think that this was possibly the teenager in him as at 17 he is a man-child.

   I wouldn’t say Call Me By Your Name is an easy read, in fact, at times it was a slog. There are lots of references to books, poetry and culture that went right over my head and it made me feel really stupid. It all felt a little too knowing and a bit too ‘oh, look how clever I am’ which made my eyes roll. It was kind of like that guy at a party who can’t wait to tell you how clever and how well-read he is and just comes across as a dull bore. It put me outside of the narrative and I was at times tempted to give up but there was something about the book that made me keep going.

   Overall, I found it a bit hit and miss. At times I loved it, at others I loathed it but overall it was OK. I wouldn’t recommend it for everybody and I think it is definitely an acquired taste. The thing is, I feel I missed something quite big – not in the plot necessarily but in the symbolism and metaphors. It is perhaps a book best read at a book club or as part of studies. I feel that further discussion and analysing would maybe allow some further depth to be reached and I may have got more from it.