Why I'd Want to Be in Call Me By Your Name | Teen Ink

Why I'd Want to Be in Call Me By Your Name

February 6, 2019
By Anonymous

It’s the summer of 1983 in the small Italian town known as Crema, where Call Me By Your Name takes place. It is one of my favorite films and its story continues to resonate with me. The film revolves around Elio Pearlman, a precocious and erudite seventeen-year-old, who experiences love for the first time. I want to be in Call Me By Your Name is because I have never experienced something so intense as Elio has. He is naive and thinks he understands the world, as most teenagers do, but he loses his innocence when he is forced to say goodbye to his first love. At the beginning of the film, we see that Elio has a relationship with a girl but as it progresses, he yearns for something more. He eventually becomes obsessed physically and emotionally to his father’s graduate student, Oliver. As Elio and Oliver’s intimacy deepens, they both realize they are more than just lovers, they are friends who understand each other emotionally. This coming-of-age story is just as much a discovery of Elio’s sexuality. I love that both Elio and Oliver embrace their sexuality but are not limited by it, they are queer but can still love someone regardless of their gender identity. It captivated my heart because it shows something so real and authentic, sometimes uncomfortable and raw, but truly genuine. Another reason why I want to be in the film is because I love the time period set around the film. I love the eighties because of the fashion and music in the era. The emergence of new wave bands such as Talking Heads and Devo will incite a radical advancement of ideas. It is also set just before the AIDS epidemic and the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster, where life will drastically change. The film focuses on the simplicity of things such as relationships, summer, Greco-Roman art, and classical music. Elio and Oliver started their relationship as a simple, distant longing for each other which later turns into an intense passionate adoration. This simplicity is different given how materialistic the eighties were. Call Me By Your Name explores these themes of sexuality, lust, friendship, and obsessive love which make the film so nonchalant and aesthetic. My appreciation of the beauty portrayed in the film makes me wish I could live in Elio’s position.



Similar Articles

JOIN THE DISCUSSION

This article has 1 comment.


on Oct. 13 2021 at 12:21 am
lilyeasley BRONZE, Idyllwild, California
1 article 0 photos 1 comment
HELP I THOUGHT THIS WAS ABOUT THE SONG BY LILNAS