it's finger-lickin good

Elio, 30 seconds later in front of the fireplace: 

Ok so I feel like I haven’t made a post of my own like this in AGES (NOTE TO SELF: getting your Masters is HARD and I wish that analyzing CMBYN was my full time job). Shoutout to the lovely Jen @thestarsaregivenonceonly @mayangelsleadyouin for always encouraging me and being my number one hype man ILY

So let’s just get right into it. I LOVE when Elio flops on various pieces of furniture. Namely his bed, but I’ll get to the chair scene at the end of the movie later in this post. 

The moment that inspired this post is right after Oliver catches Elio tickling his pickle (ya know what I’m not even sorry for using that phrase I am in such a weird mood and feeling so giddy. MOVING ON). 

I think in the book we kind of get to see Elio’s erratic (and erotic lets be real) thoughts as a thread throughout the text but that doesn’t always come across in the movie. I think the physical act of Elio slamming himself on the bed is a really great representation of that. It is like a physical representation of a key smash. And it is a moment where we get to see Elio be so so so vulnerable right after keeping his shit calm in front of Oliver which I think is a cool dichotomy.  And like come on, we all know that Oliver knew what was up that afternoon and Elio knows it too so it is kind of cool to see him lose his shit in such a visceral way. I think that because he does this more than once in the movie, it can be compared to the emotional significance of the twirls. I wrote another post where I did not necessarily address the twirls but I addressed the clothing choices of Elio and how as the movie progresses and his relationship with Oliver progresses he becomes more visibly vulnerable and comfortable in his own skin. I don’t know if I am reaching too far but I think there is a good connection that can be made between that post and this one. 

As shown above, the next time that we see Elio flop on his bed is after he receives Oliver’s reply to his note. I FUCKING love this reaction. It’s such a mix of giddiness, disbelief, terror, anticipation, and so many other feelings. ALL DONE WITH ONE FLOP ON THE BED. *INSERT MY 10 PAGE ESSAY ON WHY TIMOTHEE CHALAMET SHOULD HAVE WON AN OSCAR*. 

Here is an excerpt from the book about Elio’s subsequent freakout after receiving the reply.

“Grow up. I’ll see you at midnight.

That’s what he had added under my words.

He had delivered it before breakfast.

This realization came with a few moments of delay but it filled me with instant yearning and dismay. Did I want this, now that something was being offered? And was it in fact being offered? And if I wanted it or didn’t want it, how would I live out the day til midnight?…” (pg 120).

LIKE TIMMY SAID ALL THAT WITH ONE FLOP HJDKJDKJ I WILL NEVER BE OVER THE PHYSICAL CHOICES HE MADE IN THIS MOVIE. ANYWAYS…CONTINUING.

And once again we find Elio alone just completely living in his feelings. I think this is one of the many reasons why Elio Perlman is such a relatable protagonist, he is just feeling those damn feelings as they come to him in private and he is freaking out but also co-existing with his family and Oliver and Marzia just trying to play it cool because he and Oliver MIGHT BONE. 

*insert gif of Captain Holt from Brooklyn-99 yelling BONE!!*

I know I have a tendency to focus solely on Elio in these posts so if you guys have anything to add about Oliver PLEASE DO. But yes, Elio is just such a perfect representation of someone on the brink of their first real relationship. He is all over the place and he goes through bursts of confidence mirrored with self-doubt. His moods and thoughts are based solely on what Oliver is doing (or what he is not doing) whether Elio is aware of that or not. We are so lucky to be alive when this movie and book are around because we get to see a character begin to become himself.

And that leads me to the last time that Elio flops himself on the furniture.

Here we see him months after the love of his life has left on a train AFTER HE PATS HIM TWO TIMES ON THE BACK. And he is a completely new person. We don’t really hear any dialogue of his besides his phone conversation with Oliver but you just know he is different. In the way he dresses (refer back to my shirt post), in the way that he carries himself, the way he interacts with everyone in the house. So to see him walking through the villa and just plop himself on that chair is a testament to that. I do not think that this is something he never would have done before Oliver was there, but I think that it is purposefully in the movie to show that Elio has changed. That is one of the things the entire winter sequence is meant to show. And I think it deserves an honorable mention in a post dedicated to Elio flopping on furniture. 

What do you guys think?? Are there any other things about Elio’s or Oliver’s physicality that you have noticed from the movie?? Please let me know! 

Ps. I feel like I am going to read this in a week and pull an Oliver and be like “liiiisten to this DRIVEL” ok bye

As always, tagging some lovelies.

Elio: ok play it cool me and Oliver just kissed and i am FEELINGS THINGS

also Elio:

Ok there is a part in Call Me By Your Name that is never explicitly filmed or stated in the movie that I wanted to talk/write my feelings about. Honestly I’m gonna tag @terxture bc she is the queen of analysis and I wanted to hear what she has to say about it/if she has already written about it. ANYONE READING THIS SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS WITH ME I LOVE DISCUSSING THIS STORY. Anyways here is the quote I had in mind from when elio comes back from the train station:

“‘We fixed up your room the way it was. We thought you’d like to finally have it back.’

I was instantly saddened and infuriated. Who had given them the right? They’d clearly been prying, together or separately.

I always knew I would eventually have my room back. But I had hoped for slower, more extended transition to the way things used to be before Oliver. I’d pictured lying in bed struggling to work up the courage to make it across to his room. What I had failed to anticipate was that Mafalda would have already changed his sheets - our sheets…” (pg 213)

I think this part may be implied in the film when Elio returns, there is a shot of him walking into the room for the first time and you can see him in the doorframe, but it is never explicitly stated and I think it is absolutely heartbreaking. The first time I read it I actually sobbed out loud, it broke my heart. I think as readers and viewers of this story it is obvious that their bedroom(s) were a shrine to their love. The rooms were literally connected and so were Oliver and Elio. They were one being that had separate parts that could pass through one another and I think that is personified in their bedrooms. It must have felt like a bullet through the heart when Elio heard that it had been put back the way it was before Oliver. I think these kind of subtle heart wrenching moments, when you want to reach through the pages and rub Elio’s back and tell him that just because the room isnt the same doesn’t mean that what you and Oliver had is over, is a testament to Aciman’s writing. This detail does not change the story in grave ways, and could have been left out (not in my opinion I love it so much I am just saying that the story would have been the same without it). I think I am really sensitive to stuff like this because I know the feeling so well of wanting something to never end but having it stop light years before you are prepared for it.