Call Me By Your Name (2017) - Movie Night Reaction #177 *2-WEEK* EARLY ACCESS
Added 2025-07-29 03:25:47 +0000 UTC
Comments
I really like CMBYN, and Elio is one of my favorite fictional characters because he's sensitive, smart, and bisexual! I think a lot of people who talk down on this movie don't really want to understand the context. The film is set right before the AIDs epidemic breaks out because it's meant to showcase a time of innocence in the sleepy and idyllic Italian countryside. There's a major fantasy element to this where nothing outside of Crema is meant to matter. It's a very European story that American audiences might not relate to. I've found that a lot of Americans can be very cynical and always look for the catch or the bad in things. The beauty in life is how "short" it is and like Elio's father said, we need to allow ourselves to feel things... the beauty and the terror of life. Elio is 17 here, which is about the age of maturity for a young man who grew up in Europe. European teenagers have a lot more social maturity, so it's believable that Elio's parents didn't see a big deal in their son having some sort of summer romance with a young man whom they view as smart, capable, and charming as well. Again, this is not America, where serial killers were running rampant and heroin was a major issue in the big cities. With all that said, the age gap is a valid issue for people. Armie Hammer also did NOT look 23-24 like he was meant to portray which made it even more startling. I'm not someone who thinks that showcasing something problematic in film or in books is glamorizing that problematic thing. I was able to relate to this book and movie because I understand what it's like to be swept up in a very intense romance as someone young. My interpretation of the book and movie made me utterly crushed for Elio from beginning to end. I don't find any of it glamorous but it was recognizable and told in such a touching way. Anyway, it's the film that made me fall in love with Timothée Chalamet and it's my favorite of his to this day (besides The King which you guys should watch). I can watch this all the time and never get tired. It reminds me of old movies by Éric Rohmer and La Piscine (1969). Perfect for the mid to late summer for the European escapism.
briana
2025-07-31 20:24:26 +0000 UTCWell said😭 this movie was quintessential for so many baby gays and I choose the second option✨
pow
2025-07-30 17:10:33 +0000 UTC*sigh* Ahhhh, CMBYN! Like most people here, I'm conflicted about this emotional cataclysm of a film. Watching such a heartbreakingly beautiful love story as a gay teenager in a homophobic environment altered my brain chemistry, I fear (and reading the book cemented it as one of my favorite pieces of queer media ever). Of course time has complicated my enjoyment of elements in the film since watching a teenager get involved with a full grown man (worsened by casting Armie Hammer's old ass lol) feels weird and def uncomfortable. Yet that doesn't take away from the movie's one of a kind depiction of the feverish sensuality of young love, found and lost. My compromise is to headcannon Oliver as a 19/20 yo guy and evaluate the movie on that basis. But copium interpretations notwithstanding, I think Elio's dad's monologue is applicable to the movie itself lol. IMO, any ✨problematic✨ media that you are nonetheless compelled by presents two options: reject the property outright and hole it away as something you've outgrown (valid), or accept the movie for what it is, and preserve what value to offers you. I know which of the two I drawn to. "To feel nothing, so as not to feel anything... what a waste."
ijbol
2025-07-30 03:45:21 +0000 UTC
