Call Me by Your Name – Screenplay by James Ivory and Andre Aciman – another look at the script is at https://realini.blogspot.com/2017/12/call-me-by-your-name-screenplay-by.html - 8 out of 10

 

Call Me by Your Name – Screenplay by James Ivory and Andre Aciman – another look at the script is at https://realini.blogspot.com/2017/12/call-me-by-your-name-screenplay-by.html

8 out of 10

 

 

Call Me By Your Name was one of the most acclaimed films of 2017, nominated for Best Motion Picture at the Academy Awards and elsewhere, perhaps launching the career of the celebrated Timothee Chalamet (in cinemas these days with another huge hit, Dune 2, already said to be an Oscar contender) and winning many trophies

 

Indeed, this is a sophisticated offer, with splendid landscapes, Italy, with fruit trees, archeological treasures – Mister Perlman is the father of the hero, a professor who specializes in Greek – Roman ancient cultures, and he is portrayed by the fantastic Michael Stuhlbarg, the specialist has a new assistant…

That is Oliver, and here we have another formidable performance, from Armie Hammer – the actor has been embroiled in quite a scandal, related to messages he had sent, about a supposed preference for…cannibalism, and then he was Canceled, maybe he is still off the A -lists now, which is a shame, if we think only talent

 

Intellectuals https://realini.blogspot.com/2014/06/intellectuals-by-paul-johnson.html is a stupendous book by Paul Johnson, which looks at Leo Tolstoy, Henrik Ibsen, Ernest Hemingway, Jean-Jacques Rousseau and other luminaries and how they misbehaved, to use an euphemism, in their private lives, towards others

It is heinous, quite often, so if we think thespians, most of them are needy – hence the decision to get in front of audiences and get acclaim – and Armie Hammer could have been joking…nonetheless, let us get back to the film, where Oliver comes to this centuries old Italian villa, and stays with the professor and his family

 

Elio Perlman is given life by Timothee Chalamet, as a seventeen years old boy, skilled, played the piano and guitar, reading books, an aspiring intellectual, looking to have fun, and trying to show the surrounding countryside to the guest…to begin with, Elio thinks Oliver is somewhat, or very arrogant and pretentious

However, with time, the two cycle together, Oliver becomes friendly with the ‘natives’, playing cards with the seniors of the village, interested in a lot, or everything, he dances with one of the young girls, and they all seem to be attracted to him, they watch from the side and long to be in his arms, and moving with the music

 

Only Oliver is gay, or maybe bisexual, somewhere in between, there is another excellent book, Girl, Woman, Other https://realini.blogspot.com/2022/06/girl-woman-other-by-bernardine-evaristo.html Co- Winner of The 2019 Booker Prize, by Bernardine Evaristo, which explains many of the aspects of sexuality…

 

Such as the fact that ‘gender is one of the biggest lies of our civilization’, we apparently change orientation from one minute to the next (or could do that, I am not sure, I am too conservative, mature, which stands for older than thirty, to understand that there is such a dynamic for sexuality) and there is some of that elsewhere

The divine Marcel Proust https://realini.blogspot.com/2013/10/albertine-disparue-by-marcel-proust.html is my absolute favorite writer, he wrote about homosexuality, he was gay, and the works are the nec plus ultra, best one can read, masterpieces that fit the description quoted in the standard ending, at the end of this quote

 

Nevertheless, if I liked Call Me By Your Name the first time, now that it was scheduled on HBO – on Sunday, at prime time, which is something they do lately, instead of giving you a newish offer, they just show what is available on other, free to air channels – again, the result was much less mesmerizing, it was rather lame

There are a few factors at play, one could be Armie Hammer, who may, or may not be a cannibal, but there is an image problem now, then Chalamet could be enjoying rave reviews, a huge following, millions of fans, but that could just be the problem, he does not have enough gravitas, for someone so sophisticated as this cinephile

 

I am just fooling around (there is that joke from Fawlty Towers https://realini.blogspot.com/2017/11/waldorf-salad-by-john-cleese.html where we hear this fellow say ‘pretentious, moi’, which is the best two words blague that I know, furthermore, this is the best comedy series)

The Peach may be the most famous (infamous for some) aspect, element in the narrative, Elio is playing with himself, putting his hand into his pants, and eventually, he starts having intercourse with this…peach, which is clearly original, you had not seen this before, in case you have seen the movie, which sounds improbable

 

If you saw it, then why would you read this, and come to that, why would you be here anyway, film seen or not, it was clear way back, that this is not really about the love affair – if it was that – but more about impressions, thoughts, and the cliché ‘beauty is in the eye of the beholder’, also the notion that it is too much

I have mentioned Marcel Proust, the zenith, crème de la crème, but then there are too many stories wherein I do not identify with the protagonists, too old fashioned, or maybe worse, passe, and so on, but I want stories where I can see myself within

 

Now for my standard closing of the note with a question, and invitation – maybe you have a good idea on how we could make more than a million dollars with this http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/02/unique-in-world.html?q=unique+in+the+world  – as it is, this is a unique technique, which we could promote, sell, open the Oscars show with or something and then make lots of money together, if you have the how, I have the product, I just do not know how to get the befits from it, other than the exercise per se

 

 There is also the small matter of working for AT&T – this huge company asked me to be its Representative for Romania and Bulgaria, on the Calling Card side, which meant sailing into the Black Sea wo meet the US Navy ships, travelling to Sofia, a lot of activity, using my mother’s two bedrooms flat as office and warehouse, all for the grand total of $250, raised after a lot of persuasion to the staggering $400…with retirement ahead, there are no benefits, nothing…it is a longer story, but if you can help get the mastodont to pay some dues, or have an idea how it can happen, let me know

 

As for my role in the Revolution that killed Ceausescu, a smaller Mao, there it is http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/realini-in-newsweek-participant-in.html

 

Some favorite quotes from To The Hermitage and other works

 

‘Fiction is infinitely preferable to real life...As long as you avoid the books of Kafka or Beckett, the everlasting plot of fiction has fewer futile experiences than the careless plot of reality...Fiction's people are fuller, deeper, cleverer, more moving than those in real life…Its actions are more intricate, illuminating, noble, profound…There are many more dramas, climaxes, romantic fulfillment, twists, turns, gratified resolutions…Unlike reality, all of this you can experience without leaving the house or even getting out of bed…What's more, books are a form of intelligent human greatness, as stories are a higher order of sense…As random life is to destiny, so stories are to great authors, who provided us with some of the highest pleasures and the most wonderful mystifications we can find…Few stories are greater than Anna Karenina, that wise epic by an often foolish author…’

 

‚Parturiunt montes, nascetur ridiculus mus’

 

“From Monty Python - The Meaning of Life...Well, it's nothing very special...Try and be nice to people, avoid eating fat, read a good book every now and then, get some walking in, and try and live together in peace and harmony with people of all creeds and nations.”