Diving in, guys. About to watch #CallMeByYourName

I am fully prepared to be a mess. Shall give my blow by blow reaction and review in this thread so, spoilers, obviously.

Context: I listened to the audiobook on @audible_com. Armie’s narration is beautiful & tender & sucked me in from the first words. The book itself is, without a doubt, one of the most gorgeous pieces of writing & storytelling I’ve ever experienced. It’s now a firm favourite.

So it’s clear that I think @aaciman is a genius. I bet I’m going to go read the book again after watching the film.

So far so good. I pictured Mafalda a little fatter

I kinda want to go stay in this house now.

Elio throwing the book on the floor to wake Oliver

The camera angles create an interesting perspective. At times I feel like I’m seeing through elio’s eyes but then it shifts and I’m outside him. The focus is always Elio though.

FASCINATING that we haven’t actually seen Oliver’s face properly yet.

Making a note of this slamming door to Elio’s (now Oliver’s) room. Something tells me it’s important.

Heavens the early 80s fashions though

Why does Armie make eating an egg sexy?

Also, Christ he’s tall.

How interesting that it doesn’t sound like they did any ADR for the scenes in town. I really like that, it has an organic and authentic feel. In real life we have to speak louder when a car passes. I find ADR often makes scenes feel sanitized and removed from reality somehow.

I said when I had barely finished chapter one that if @RealChalamet played Elio half as beautifully as he was written, the world’s adulation and adoration of him would be justified.

He did. His performance is a masterclass of subtle facial expressions and vulnerability.

Elio’s father is an overlooked character. It’s a strange portrait painted of him in the book, and I wasn’t even sure if I liked him until that final conversation with Elio. But #MichaelStuhlbarg makes him a character I liked immediately.

The Professor has exactly the measure of Oliver from the beginning! “I think he’s shy”.

I like hearing @RealAdamRose speak Italian. Dunno why.

So far the film is doing a beautiful job in the first 15 minutes of establishing how utterly miserable poor Elio was before he was even sure of his own feelings, much less Oliver’s.

That hand on the shoulder scene was CRINGE CITY, just as it should be.

Well done on the piano @RealChalamet!

Loooove how this piano scene is Elio showing off and enjoying the attention and low key flirting and yet Timothée also betrays the bewilderment and insecurity Elio must be feeing.

I now have to go watch everything Timothée has ever done.

I’m stopping and starting because unless I watch something at 2am, my family doesnt leave me alone to watch in peace.

Ahhhh the infamous dance scene

The evocative imagery of the statue of a man coming out of the water is bested only by the metaphor.

Oliver shakes Elio’s hand with the statue’s severed arm, and then they watch together as the statue is brought to the surface.

What a gorgeous addition to the story.

Ah the weirdness of teenage desire

What lovely long shots we get to see. It’s another thing that adds to the realness of the film. So far it feels so authentic that I can almost smell the place, and the heat, and the rain.

Oh, the genuine affectionate relationship between Elio and his parents is just wonderful. Elio just put his head in his father’s lap and I nearly burst into tears.

The details in this film are just to die for. So good.

In the book when Elio tells Oliver about the knight who asks “better to speak or die” I thought he was talking only about himself. But in the film, Oliver is also moved by it, & it becomes a quick link between he and Elio.

Act 1 was a beautiful set up & intro to the characters. And so Act 2 begins. People might argue it begins when Oliver suggests they go to town together. But I say it begins at the monument. It’s the first time Elio says something intimate about himself (“I know nothing.”)

I gotta pause right here to go make the cookies I promised my household.

Delayed gratification...so fitting for the film I’m watching.

This scene with them biking up the road could have been filmed right here in Barbados, except for the poplar trees. In Bim they’d be mahogany trees, or perhaps Casurinas.

I LOVE that the moment the scene cuts away from them riding the background music stops. I love that the subsequent scenes are devoid of any score and there is only the sound of birds and cicadas and flies. It’s perfect and atmospheric without having any noise to distract us.

Heeheee the look on Elio’s face after they kiss the first time, like “holy shiiiiit”. So cute.

Timothée captures that odd combination of horniness and curiosity and mischievousness and uncertainty that plagues a teenager’s mind.

Awwwww the nosebleed scene. I felt so bad for poor Elio when I read this scene, and Timothée is breaking my heart even worse for some unknown reason. Perhaps it’s seeing it “in person”.

Ooooh that provocative and slightly suggestive shot of Oliver’s knees so close to Elio’s!

The physical ease between @RealChalamet and @armiehammer is such a joy to witness.

I’m a makeup artist. I’m often asked to make sure actors don’t sweat much. I know wardrobe has tricks for that too.

But I’m ridiculously pleased to see shiny skin & sweat in Amira’s pits. Is that weird?

There is such a disarming, charming authenticity to this film. I love it.

This story is a testament to the reality of teenage angst being profoundly painful and beautiful and not something to be dismissed. #CallMeByYourName

Marzia is so sweet, poor girl.

Ahahahaha “is it because they’re gay or because they’re ridiculous?”

@RealChalamet and his adorable bow-legged walk in direct juxtaposition against @armiehammer’s totally straight legs is cute. I don’t know why I find this cute. I’m just weird.

There’s a such a sweet affectionate playfulness to @RealChalamet and @armiehammer as Elio and Oliver together that is totally their own invention and I love it so much. Helps to remind you that even though Oliver is older he’s still quite young, and it’s endearing in Elio.

With Marzia, Elio is taking charge and initiating, and it’s simple lust.

With Oliver, Elio is letting go and giving up control. It’s a wonderful contrast. And it’s done so well, you know which one will stay in his heart.

THERE’S THE SLAMMING DOOR! I knew it would mean something later! LMAO

The devil is in the details, kids.

Haaaaaa the subtly shaking camera angled on the tree is a genius blink and you’ll miss it moment

First ever super close up on Oliver’s face after they go swimming. Wow.

@armiehammer looks really good in blue. Just saying.

I wonder how many guys tried masturbatung with peaches after seeing this movie. We should take a poll.

Awwwww poor Elio’s shame is so heartbreaking

Thank goodness for Oliver.

@RealChalamet and @armiehammer this scene is so touching.

I hope one day to be as cool as these parents who know everything and never let on.

I love how @armiehammer is just too big for everything in Italy. All the door and window frames are tiny in comparison.

And suddenly Elio is a little boy again, who needs his mother’s comfort, and his father’s wisdom.

This particular speech by Elio’s father in the book made me tear up, and it’s doing exactly the same in the film. Dammit, man.

“But to make yoursef feel nothing, so as not to feel anything...what a waste.”

Michael Stuhlbarg should play Robin Williams. He looks so much like him especially in this film with the beard.

“I remember everything.” Oh, break my heart why don’t you.

This last long shot could win all the awards all by itself. Oh, Elio.

What a film. Just, wow.

Watch it, guys. #CallMeByYourName is a masterpiece.

Read the book too, it is also a masterpiece.