Call Me by Your Name — Character Discussion

A t the start of this week we discussed the storyline of Call Me by Your Name.

Today, we will take a closer look at the two main characters, Elio and Oliver.

Before we start, let’s have a look at the great actors who portrayed these characters.

Timothée Chalamet — Elio

Armie Hammer — Oliver

Elio Perlman

Backstory

Elio is a 17 year old student, with roots in France, Italy and America. Every summer, as well as some other holidays, his family and him spend time at their residence in northern Italy, where the movie takes place. We don’t know much about the family’s background, but we can assume that they come from the upper class, judging by the size of their house and the fact that they get quite some help around the house. Regardless, this isn’t the story of a posh family, but a family which is grounded and kind.

Elio himself seems to be a rather quiet type, spending most of his time reading and transcribing music. Accordingly, he is very smart and talented, especially when it comes to playing the piano and the guitar. Due to his diverse background, he is also fluent in English, French and Italian.

Even though Elio is very educated, he does refer to himself as book-smart, meaning that he may know much about what happened in the world, e.g. the different battles of WW1, but he doesn’t know anything when it comes to life or, in this case, love.

He spends most of his summer at home, relaxing, swimming, riding his bike around town, or meeting his friends. However, it seems like he does get bored at times, as he mentions to primarily wait for summer to be over.

Elio’s Sexuality

It’s unclear as to how aware and comfortable he is with his own sexuality. While we know that he is still in the closet, the people close to him, this includes his parents and Marzia, do see that he has a certain affection for Oliver. Regardless, we can assume that he likes both men and women, as he clearly also enjoys being with Marzia, both in a friendly and sexual manner. Moreover, their relationship does feel very affectionate, leading the viewer to think that he genuinely likes her, and doesn’t just use her to cover up the fact that he likes Oliver.

When it comes to Oliver, Elio does try to hide the fact that he likes him by, not only talking about nearly sleeping with Marzia in his presence, but encouraging Oliver to pursue Chiara, telling him that she has a ‘great body’.

We know that up until that point, Elio did not engage in any sexual interactions - his first time being afterwards with Marzia down by the lake. What is interesting to see, is that he seems to have only gathered up the courage to go all the way with her, after he kissed Oliver. The kiss in general seem to have given Elio a lot of confidence, not only to immediately kiss Oliver again, but to even grab his crotch, something I cannot imagine the rather calm and quiet Elio do beforehand.

Elio and his Parents

Elio and his parents have a very close and good relationship. He frequently shows his affection to his mother, as well as enjoys the little family moments, like when they were talking about the tale of the knight. Furthermore, he also seems to be very open about his private life, telling his father that he nearly had sex with Marzia, as well as openly showing his mother his sadness after Oliver leaves.

His parents are also more than supportive of his sexuality, clearly wanting him to be happy, regardless of who he is with. While they never actually said anything about his and Oliver’s relationship throughout the movie, they do make subtle indications about how close they are. His mother, Annella, even told him that Oliver told her about how much he likes Elio. Moreover, she was the one who suggest that Elio joined Oliver on his trip to Bergamo. Lastly, she was also the one Elio called crying from the train station, asking her to come pick him up.

His father, Samuel, is of course just as loving and supportive of Elio as his mother, just think of that beautiful coming out scene. We already discussed this scene in the plot discussion, so make sure to check it out.

Oliver

Unfortunately, we don’t get much information on Oliver. All we know is that he is spending the summer helping Elio’s father with his research, as well as that he is from New England, USA.

Oliver is a very likeable person, fitting in right away. Throughout the movie, Elio mentions several times that ‘Everyone likes Oliver’ and his friends said ‘Who doesn’t want to be in her (Chiara) shoes’ when she was dancing with Oliver. He seems to charm everyone he meets, even the locals at this small bar he found, where he proceeds to play poker on a regular basis.

From the start, Oliver is described as a very confident and open person, who settles in right away. However, his confidence is quickly leading Elio to perceive him as arrogant, missing dinner the first night and constantly leaving saying nothing but ‘later’.

While we don’t know what Oliver studies exactly, it must have something to do with history and archeology. Accordingly, he too is very smart, even correcting Samuel about where the word ‘apricot’ comes from. Much like Elio, he seems to also have an ear for music, being very good at spotting whenever Elio deviates from the original song, making it his own.

Oliver’s Sexuality

Much like Elio, Oliver seems to like both men and women, even being seen as quite the ladies men. We can see him get very close to and even kiss Chiara at the dance, sparking a lot of talking between Elio’s friends. Moreover, we also know that the story ends with Oliver actually getting engaged and marrying a woman.

Regardless, it does seem like Elio isn’t Oliver’s first male interest, as he, compared to Elio, seems very confident about that side of him. He also indicates that he does have some experience by stopping Elio from kissing him and saying that ‘I know me’. Oliver was also the one to initiate the first kiss, as well as their first night together.

At the end of the movie, Oliver admits to trying to show Elio that he liked him, referring to the volleyball game, where Oliver tried to massage him (helping Elio to loosen up). However, Elio’s rather uncomfortable reaction to his touch made him feel like he was molesting him, which is why he afterwards stayed away from Elio. This just shows that Oliver must have more experience, but also is very aware of the person opposite, treating them with utmost respect.

Age Difference

The movie never mentions how old Oliver is, however, the book says that he is 24 years old. Unfortunately, this doesn’t quite come across in the movie. Don’t get me wrong, I love Armie Hammer and believe that he portrayed Oliver in such an amazing way, fitting the role very well. However, Armie Hammer was in his early 30s when filming this, whereas Timothée was in his early 20s. While Timothée can portray a 17 year old, I feel like Armie Hammer didn’t quite come across as a 24 year old, but rather is actual age, which is early 30s. Therefore, it felt like a 17 year old was interacting with a 30 year old, creating quite a visual age difference. I strongly believe that age is just a number, but in this case it felt like the casting was a bit off, making it seem like an adult was falling in love with a teenager.

Elio and Oliver’s Relationship

Elio and Oliver had quite an interesting relationship. When they first met, Elio was actually not that keen on Oliver, calling him arrogant and being rather cold towards him. However, this quickly changed as they started to hang out a lot more, having Elio show him around. Additionally, the two showed no interest towards each other, both being occupied with Marzia and Chiara.

However, we can see how little by little the two start to become more affectionate towards each other, including subtle touches here and there. And of course we can see Elio starting to snoop around Oliver’s room, even sniffing his shorts and putting them over his head.

It’s not until the scene at the plaza, when the two start to admit that they might have more that just friendly feelings for each other. During that very ambiguous conversation, Elio admits that, while he knows a lot, he doesn’t know anything about things that matter. With this statement, I believe that he wanted to tell Oliver that he doesn’t know anything about relationships, especially with a men. When Oliver then asks him why he told him that, he responds with ‘ I thought you should know’. This answer isn’t quite satisfactory to Oliver, asking Elio again. This time, Elio responds with ‘Because I wanted you to know’.
By saying this, he, in my opinion, admits to liking Oliver, saying that he wanted Oliver to know that he hasn’t been with a man yet, but that he wants to be with him. Oliver dismisses the conversation as they were in a public place and goes on to picking up his papers. He quickly tells Elio to stay right there, to which Elio replies ‘You know I’m not going anywhere’, again indicating that he likes Oliver and that he, quite literally, won’t go anywhere.

As said before, their first kiss was initiated by Oliver who wants to help Elio relieve some of the ‘pressure/urges’ he has. After the kiss, Oliver asks Elio if he is feeling better now, to which Elio just starts kissing him again. However, Oliver quickly pushes him away, saying that they cannot continue. Nevertheless, Elio has now become pretty confident, grabbing Oliver’s crotch, teasing him before they leave.

After the kiss, the two start to become more affectionate and aware of each other. One example would be when Elio gets a nose bleed, making Oliver visibly worried, leading to him looking for Elio and helping him with a foot massage.

While the two seem very happy, Oliver does start to pull back, becoming more secretive again, giving Elio the silent treatment. This is actually the reason why Elio then meets Marzia and ends up having sex with her.

Elio then tries to reach out to Oliver with a note, asking to speak to him. This then leads to their first night together. While Elio is visibly nervous, Oliver seems rather calm, making sure Elio is comfortable at all times. The next day, Elio seems rather off. It’s unclear as to why exactly, but he does still want to be with Oliver, as the two go swimming together. For the first time, the movie actually focuses on Oliver, showing his worry and uncertainty, rather than Elio and what he is feeling.

Later on, we can actually see the tables turn, as Elio starts to be worried about Oliver being more reserved, following him to town. When Oliver asks him why he is here, Elio simply says that he wanted to be with him. However, saying that makes him feel like he in fact shouldn’t have followed Oliver, which is why he wants to leave. But, Oliver then says something very important ‘Do you know how happy I am that we slept together?’. He does however mention his worry of having ‘fucked up’ Elio, possibly making him regret what had happened.

Their relationship continues to grow over the next few days and, while it is very sexual, we can also see the two being very caring, e.g. when Elio is crying after the famous peach scene.

The highlight of their relationship is their trip to Bergamo, where they, even if only at night, can finally be open and happy about their relationship, running and dancing around town.

Like many of you, I had hoped that we would get a happy ending, however, that was not the case. The movie ends with Oliver actually announcing his wedding to a women, closing all doors on his and Elio’s relationship. Regardless, the phone call shows how much they still like each other and Oliver admits that he still knows everything that happened.

Religion

As last part of this discussion, I want to talk about the role of religion. As we know, the movie takes place in 1983, meaning that society was still very much disapproving of same-sex relationships. Not only was it not accepted in society, but religion still played a much larger role as well.

We find out that both Elio and Oliver’s families are Jewish, however, while Oliver is proudly wearing his Star of David as a necklace, Elio and his family consider themselves ‘Jews of Discretion’, as they are ‘probably the only Jews to ever set foot in this town’.

Their religion and the societal standards played a big role at the beginning of their relationship, as Oliver often dismisses their talks as they cannot talk about it, especially not in public spaces. After their first kiss, Oliver even says that they haven’t done anything wrong yet and that they don’t need to be ashamed. However, he does also dismiss Elio’s attempt of further kissing him by saying that he wants to be good, indicating that he very much wants to oblige his beliefs, and not commit any sin.

Lastly, Oliver’s pride in his religion, has led to Elio finding his old necklace with the Star of David, and even giving him the courage to wear it again. We can observe Elio wearing it for the rest of the movie.

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This concludes our character discussion. I hope you found it interesting!

Let me know in the comments how you interpret some of the characters and if there is something I forgot to mention.

I wish you all a lovely day!