Something that has always interested me is how similar films and books are while ironically also being completely different. Movies and books both have the power to tell amazing stories, but how they go about doing so always ends up being different.
I am a firm believer that the book is always better than the movie, however, I try to keep an open mind when watching the film adaptations. One movie that I have been obsessing over recently is "Call Me By Your Name" starring Timothee Chalamet and Armie Hammer, directed by Luca Guadagnino. This is unlike me because I am normally one to read the book before watching the movie.
Here’s a summary of the story before I begin comparing the film to the book. "Call Me By Your Name" is a story about 17-year-old Elio, the main protagonist, falling in love with his father’s research assistant, 24-year-old Oliver. Both the book and movie follow their adventures and time together during Oliver’s 6 week stay. However, the ending of the movie is not the same ending in the book.
Personally, I think the book, written by Andre Aciman, is better than the movie. One of my reasons is because in the movie, the director chose to compress the time frame that originally took place in the book. While in the movie it just follows their 6 weeks together, the book goes on for over 20 years after that initial summer. This made such a huge impact because a little less than half the story was physically cut out of the movie. That is one aspect of movies that differ from books. When writing a book, the author can make it as long as they want. They have complete creative license. Contrastingly, with movies, it’s a little different because most people don’t want to watch a six-hour movie.
Another piece of the book that I enjoyed over the movie is that the book was narrated by Elio himself. Because we actually had a narrator, the reader was able to get inside Elio’s head and feel the same emotions as the character. In the movie, there were several parts that I found to be “dead” or “quiet” because there was no narrator or guide to the story. This left many gaps in not only scene but also thought. I felt as though there were times I didn’t quite understand why Elio would do something the way he did but when I went and read it in the book, it was stated or described in a more eloquent fashion.
As I mentioned earlier, the ending is different in both the book and film. The film ends when Oliver calls a few months later to announce that he is engaged to a woman while telling Elio he “remembers everything.” However, in the book, Elio goes on to explaining his life after Oliver and actually ends up seeing Oliver on two separate occasions after that summer in the 80’s. The book ends with Oliver returning to Italy and staying with Elio and his remaining family for a vacation/ I guess you could say the endings have similarities because the book ends with Oliver telling a surprised Elio that he “remembers the way” to one of their spots in the small town.
Overall, this has made its way into one of my top favorite books. I think if you enjoy a coming of age, love story that doesn’t exactly take the road you think it will, this is the book for you. And after you are done with the book, then watch the film.
I will leave you with my favorite quote from the book. The scene is when Oliver finally leaves and Elio’s father is talking with him about the time he had with Oliver and how he is sad to see him go: “We rip out so much of ourselves to be cured of things faster than we should that we go bankrupt by the age of thirty and have less to offer each time we start with someone new. But to feel nothing so as not to feel anything- what a waste!”
