Call Me by Your Name: Better as a Book or a Movie?

Call Me by Your Name has rapidly become a modern classic and I, like many, was first turned onto this story when the movie adaptation came out in 2017. Though it took me a few years I have finally seen the movie and read the book, and I have some thoughts.

I saw the movie a few years ago on a plane ride, in the middle of the winter and one of my favorite things about the book and the movie is the feeling of summer that they catch. Overall, the movie does an extremely good job of creating a vibe and it’s consistent throughout the film and immerses viewers into the story. 

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Overall I liked the movie, but I did not love it. I felt so much was rushed or missing from the relationship between the two main characters. The actors definitely had chemistry and when they were in tense moments you could feel it. It was just difficult as a viewer to follow the complex feelings the characters were having, leading to the relationship feeling rushed and at times straight forward. Which for a movie that has such realistic moments was unrealistic. 

This issue was completely resolved in the book. A book gives so much insight to the thoughts behind the actions of the characters. This made actions that, in the movie, came across as combative make sense because so often in flirting what makes sense to do can come across very differently. There is also more time for the relationship to develop. 

 

One of my favorite things about the book, is that it was able to maintain the realism that the movie would falter with. This was most apparent after the two main characters get together. In the movie from that point on the characters are blindly in love, but the book shows that love is rarely that straight forwards. For example, the day after the first feeling the main character feels disillusioned, he does still fall into the blind love, but even the slight waiver of his feeling makes the book relatable.  

 

Overall both adaptations are good. It’s a compelling love story that many people can find something to relate to, but as I often find, I enjoyed the book more. I wouldn’t skip the movie though either, but to give it a fair chance, I would see it before reading the book. That allows you to enjoy it for what it is instead of missing the things it couldn’t include. Either adaptation will give you all the summer feelings that are so needed in the middle of winter!

 

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