Just announced, the movie Call Me By Your Name garnered six Independent Spirit Award nominations, more than any other film. On the same day, Andre Aciman and Luca Guadagnino, just back from Italy, spoke about the film at the New York Public Library at 42nd Street.
“I hate the word adaptation,” said Andre Aciman, about, eh, the adaptation of his 2007 novel Call Me By Your Name by James Ivory for the new movie of that title, directed by Luca Guadagnino. Aciman addressed a crowded auditorium of fans at the Library: “They cut this and add that,” he explained, so authors complain, “but I could see that film can do things that cannot be done in a book.”
Then there’s the matter of a memorable sensual scene with a peach. Elio, Timothee Chalamet’s character, experiments with the juicy fruit in ways that one can only imagine. Yes, the scene is in the book, but neither Aciman, nor Guadagnino would cop to having tried it, at first. Relying on the emotional intelligence of his actors, Guadagnino pondered how to visualize such a moment without the scene becoming ridiculous: “I tried it,” he laughed, “and it worked.”
When asked, what was his favorite scene in the movie, Aciman said it was when the father, played wonderfully by Michael Stuhlbarg, encourages his son, Elio, to follow his passion for the charismatic Oliver (Hammer). Set in 1983, the movie’s sexual politics seem radical, so the speech comes as a surprise. If this film can accomplish anything, Aciman suggested, it should be for parents to accept and love their children.
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