Call Me by Your Name (2017) is a romantic drama based on the book of the same name by André Aciman. The coming-of-age film, which garnered multiple Oscar nominations, starred Timothée Chalamet and Armie Hammer as the leads. It focuses on the story of Elio Perlman (Chalamet), a teenage son of a Columbia professor living in Italy in the 80s, and Oliver (Hammer), a 24-year-old scholar staying with Elio’s family for a summer of research. As the golden days of an Italian summer wane, the two embark on a tender romance.
This is a rare movie displaying a cautious, then passionate, first queer love through the bisexual gaze, unfolding through an enchanted summer. We feel for the lovers through their halting passes at each other, their misunderstandings during courtship, and their deafening emotions. But the story doesn’t happen in a time vacuum — both men recognize that the pressure of having a same-sex affair in the 80s isn’t coming exclusively from the outside — even though Elio’s parents are hugely supportive — but also from within themselves. Call Me takes care to depict both characters as bi men, each having a female lover they are attracted to throughout the summer.
The film adaptation does a fantastic job of following the trajectory of a bittersweet first love through all of its emotional beats, mostly from Elio’s perspective, including their parting and its emotional aftermath. However, while the audience usually follows with Elio’s thoughts and emotions, the film doesn’t exclude Oliver’s emotional insight about their relationship unfolding.
That said, Call Me by Your Name is not without its faults. For one, the term “bi” is never mentioned throughout the film. Even more so, neither of the female love interests is given much agency or a semblance of a story, often accepting their roles rather than pursuing their desires. There is also the issue of the age gap between the two main characters. While Elio is seventeen and Oliver is twenty-four — both above the age of consent in the U.S. and Italy during that time — the pairing can still leave some viewers uneasy. This is further complicated by the noticeable physical difference between Armie Hammer and Timothée Chalamet, especially given Hammer’s larger build and his being 29 during filming, rather than closer to Oliver’s age. This gap is further discussed in more detail in a related article from Slate.
In an interview with Christiane Amanpour for CNN, Chalamet noted he was fine with it being called a bi movie:
It’d be fair for anybody to watch this movie and say it’s a bisexual movie, or a coming-of-age story, or a coming-out story, or a northern countryside in Italy movie, or a first romance.
Ultimately, Call Me seems to chart the territory of a first love for two bi men in a searing, emotional way. And it feels like for many, the movie offers good bi representation.