10 Average Questions about Call Me By Your Name

Answer: His bedroom

The Perlmans spend their summers in their villa in Northern Italy and each year Professor Perlman hires a graduate student to help with his work. Elio and his girlfriend, Marzia, are upstairs in his bedroom when they hear a car pull up to the driveway. "The usurper," Elio whispers conspiratorially to Marzia, as he goes over to the window to get a look at Oliver. "He seems very confident," Elio observes as he watches Oliver making his introductions to his parents. Elio heads down to meet the new resident. "May I bring your things up to your room?" Elio asks politely, before turning to his mother, Annella, for confirmation. "My room?" Oliver yawns as he follows Elio up the stairs. Elio shows him into his bedroom, clearing away his clothes and guitar. Oliver, exhausted from his journey, proceeds to collapse facedown onto Elio's bed. "My room is now your room. I'll be next door. We have to share the bathroom. It's my only way out," Elio explains, before noticing that Oliver is already fast asleep. Elio laughs nervously. He is talking to no one.

The screenplay by James Ivory reveals that the room Elio moves into is actually a walk-in wardrobe that was re-purposed into a bedroom, which might explain why the only exit from that room is through the attached bathroom. It's ironic that Oliver's arrival sends Elio quite literally into a closet, when Elio turns out to be the least likely of the two men to live a closeted lifestyle.

Answer: Star of David

Oliver heads down the morning after his arrival for breakfast and locates the Perlmans outside on the patio. It's a gorgeous day. Elio offers to show Oliver around the town, as Oliver attempts to crack open a soft-boiled egg but overdoes it. The housekeeper, Mafalda, helps him with another and Oliver practically inhales it, all the while making appreciative noises. Elio can't help but stare at their guest. "Have another egg," Annella says affectionately, which makes Oliver embarrassed. "No, I know myself too well," he says as he wipes his mouth on his napkin. "If I have a second, I'm just gonna have a third, and then a fourth, and then you're just gonna have to roll me out of here." Elio listens with interest, intimidated and yet intrigued by Oliver's self-awareness. He lowers his eyes and notices the Star of David that Oliver wears on a necklace around his neck.

Elio and Oliver couldn't be more different, with Elio's introspective and observant nature contrasting with Oliver's more confident and outgoing personality. But their shared Jewish heritage quickly becomes a source of commonality for the two men. Elio explains his family's ethnicity to Oliver at the Crema town square. "We are Jewish but also American, Italian, French... somewhat atypical combination. Besides my family you are probably the only other Jew to set foot in this town," he says. "I'm from a small town in New England," Oliver shares. "I know what it's like to be the odd Jew out."

Answer: "Later."

Oliver firsts says "Later" on the evening of his arrival, when he asks Elio to make his excuses for him for missing dinner and thanks him for his bedroom. Oliver uses the word to signal the end of the conversation, as he goes back to sleep. He uses a perfunctory "Later" again when he makes his somewhat abrupt departure from Elio in Crema. Elio was in the midst of answering Oliver's question about what there was to do here, when Oliver begins packing up his things and claims his bike. Elio follows suit but loses his balance slightly, causing Oliver to place his hand on his shoulder to steady him. "Later," he says, as he rides off. Elio ponders for a moment, before riding off in the opposite direction.

When Oliver gives Elio an impromptu shoulder massage in between sets of a volleyball game, he offers a brusque "Later" as he runs back to continue the game. Later that evening, Elio seems visibly disappointed when he arrives at the dinner table to find Oliver missing. "He's late," Annella remarks, noticing her son taking in the empty seat. "Don't you think he's impolite when he says 'Later'? Arrogant?" Elio asks in Italian. "I don't think he's arrogant," Professor Perlman replies as he pours the wine. "Just watch," Elio says. "This is how he'll say goodbye to us when the time comes. With his 'Later'." When Mafalda arrives with a platter of food, Annella instructs her to take Oliver's plates away. As the place setting next to him is removed swiftly, Elio looks over at his mother with a surprised, almost hurt expression on his face. He quickly recovers, however, and shifts his chair over to occupy part of the empty space. Elio is feigning disinterest, even animosity, as a means of dealing with his conflicting feelings about Oliver.

Answer: guitar and piano

Oliver is lying down on a towel in the grass, apparently asleep, while Elio sits on a nearby bench playing a Bach cantata on his guitar. "Sounds nice," Oliver mumbles appreciatively. "Play it again, will you?" Elio thinks about it for a moment, then sets down the guitar and walks towards the villa with purpose. "Follow me," he says as he passes Oliver. Elio enters the living room and sits down at the piano. He waits until he's sure that Oliver is within earshot and begins playing. It's the same melody, but the song sounds markedly different. Elio is clearly enjoying putting on this performance for Oliver, exaggerating every flourish and showing off a little.

"That sounds different. Did you change it?" Oliver is standing just in front of the big double doors, leaning on an armchair for support. "I changed it a little bit," Elio confesses. "I just played it the way Liszt would have played it if he'd altered Bach's version." Oliver asks Elio to play the song again. "Play what again?" Elio asks innocently. "The thing you played outside," Oliver replies. "Oh, you want me to play the thing I played outside?" Elio says. The only thing Elio is playing is Oliver. "Please," Oliver says. Elio begins playing, but it is yet again different from the two previous versions. Harsher. "I can't believe you changed it again!" Oliver exclaims. We can't tell if he's annoyed or impressed. "I just played it the way Busoni would have played it if he'd altered Liszt's version," Elio offers. "And what is wrong with Bach, the way Bach would have played Bach's version?" Oliver asks impatiently. "Bach never wrote it for guitar. In fact, we're not even sure Bach wrote it at all," Elio clarifies, clearly enjoying Oliver's frustration. "Forget I asked," Oliver says as he throws his hands up in the air and heads out the door. Elio immediately begins playing the original version, gently and lovingly, coaxing Oliver back into the room. He turns to watch Oliver as he perches on the end of the couch and closes his eyes, enjoying the music.

Answer: "Is it better to speak or to die?"

The Perlmans are spending the day indoors as a thunderstorm rages outside. "Darling, have you seen my 'Heptameron'?" Annella asks her husband. She locates the book on top of a pile and is surprised to find that it's in German. She opens the book to a passage and takes a seat on the couch next to her husband and son. Elio stretches out comfortably across his parents' laps as Annella reads out loud from the German text, pausing to translate:

"A handsome young knight is madly in love with a princess and she too is in love with him, though she seems not to be entirely aware of it. Despite the friendship (freundschaft) that blossoms between them, or perhaps because of that very friendship, the young knight finds himself so humbled and speechless that he is totally unable to bring up the subject of his love. So one day he asks the princess point-blank: 'Ich bitte euch ratet mir was besser ist reden oder sterben?' Is it better to speak or to die?"

Just then, the lights in the room flicker and the electricity goes out in the house from a lightning strike. "I'd never have the courage to ask a question like that," Elio remarks. "I doubt that," Mr. Perlman says, as Annella strokes Elio's hair lovingly. "Hey," he says to Elio. "You do know that you can always talk to us?"

Answer: He confesses his feelings for him.

Elio uses his musical ability and book smarts to compensate for his lack of life experience, so his decision to confess his feelings for Oliver is a turning point in many ways. When Oliver mistakenly attributes the memorial in the center of the town square to the second World War, Elio corrects him. "This is World War I. You'd have to be at least 80 years old to have known any of them," he says. "I never even heard of the Battle of Piave," Oliver says as he starts to walk around the memorial. "Battle of Piave was one of the most lethal battles of World War I. A hundred and seventy thousand people died," Elio remarks. "Is there anything you don't know?" Oliver asks rhetorically. Elio laughs, shakes his head, and takes a drag from his cigarette. "I know nothing, Oliver," he says as he walks round to the other side of the memorial. "Well, you seem to know more than anybody else around here," Oliver says. "Well, if you only knew how little I know about the things that matter," Elio replies.

Oliver knows what Elio is talking about but isn't prepared to face it. "Why are you telling me this?" he asks. "'Cause I thought you should know," Elio replies. "Because I wanted you to know." Elio walks round the memorial to meet Oliver on the other side. "Because there's no one else I can say this to but you," he says, all the while holding his gaze. When Oliver asks if he's saying what he thinks he's saying, Elio nods his answer. "I shouldn't have said anything," Elio eventually admits. "Just pretend you never did," Oliver replies. "Does that mean we're on speaking terms, but not really?" Elio asks. Oliver stops and turns around to face Elio. "It means we can't talk about those kinds of things," he says, as he hands Elio the pages of his manuscript to place in his backpack. Elio gets on his bike and for once leads the way. Oliver follows.

Answer: nosebleed

Elio brings Oliver to his special place - a pond where spring water from the Alpi Orobie mountains collects. They kiss while sunbathing on the shores of the pond, but Oliver stops things from progressing any further. Later, Elio, Oliver, and the Perlmans are having lunch in the patio with a middle-aged Italian couple who are engaged in a spirited discussion. Elio's nose starts to bleed during dessert and he rushes into the kitchen to look for some ice. Oliver is alarmed but the Perlmans are not concerned. "It's nothing," Annella explains. "It happens all the time." Oliver excuses himself and finds Elio inside sitting on the floor. He joins him. "I'm a mess," Elio says, as he looks down at the napkin he's been using to stop the nosebleed, which has bright red stains in it. Oliver strokes Elio's leg tenderly, then takes his left foot in his hands and begins massaging it until Elio grimaces in pain. "Where did you learn to do that?" he asks as he grabs Oliver's shoulder to steady himself. "My bubbe used to do this for us when we were sick. Trust me, it helps," Oliver offers. Elio begins stroking Oliver's neck with his fingers and finds the Star of David around his neck. "I used to have one of these," Elio says. "You used to?" Oliver asks. "How come you never wear it?" Elio thinks for a moment. "My mother says we are Jews of discretion," he finally says. "Well," Oliver says as he moves on to the other foot, "I guess that works for your mother." Oliver finishes what he's doing, and kisses Elio's foot tenderly.

Marzia and Chiara arrive to check in on Elio. Later, when they go swimming in the river, Elio is wearing his Star of David necklace.

Answer: peach

Annella grows fruit trees in the garden of the villa. They have peaches, cherries, apricots, and pomegranates. Elio picks two ripe peaches from a tree in the garden and eats one on the mattress in the attic. He stops reading his book and ponders the second peach. The camera lingers on Elio's face as he gives in to his impulses, registering the changes in his expression as it goes from curiosity to excitement, release and finally shame. He places the remains of the peach on the table next to him and rolls over to sleep. Oliver finds him a little while later and begins kissing him. "What did you do?" he asks. "Nothing," Elio replies. Oliver picks up the peach with a chuckle. "Oh, I see," he says. He places a finger inside the peach. "Please don't do that," Elio says repeatedly, his pleas becoming more urgent when Oliver doesn't stop. Elio brings his hand up to Oliver, who grabs it by the wrist, holding it down. With the other hand, Oliver makes as if to eat the peach. "Why are you doing this to me?" Elio asks as he smacks Oliver's hand away, and they jostle about on the bed. Overcome with emotion, Elio suddenly breaks down and cries, hugging Oliver around the waist and burying his face in his lap. Oliver puts the peach down, and cradles Elio as he cries into his shoulder. "Sorry," Elio says when he recovers. "It's okay," Oliver says, before kissing him. "I don't want you to go," Elio finally says.

The peach is a metaphor for Elio and Oliver's impossible relationship - the proverbial forbidden fruit. The scene is also the closest the two men get to declaring their love for one another.

Answer: Don't stifle the pain you feel.

When the inevitable moment comes for them to say goodbye, Oliver and Elio stare at each other silently at the train station. Oliver pulls Elio into a hug and tries to pull away first, only to find Elio pulling him closer. He relents and falls into the hug again. When Elio finally releases him, Oliver silently retrieves his bags and steps on board the train. The conductor comes along and shuts the door. Through the window, Oliver looks back one last time at Elio as the train pulls away from the station. Elio sits on a bench at the station and then calls Annella to come get him. In the car, Elio fights back tears unsuccessfully as his mother runs her hand through his hair affectionately.

Back in the villa, Elio joins his father on the couch in his study. "Oliver enjoyed the trip?" Mr. Perlman asks. Elio can't help but smile. "Yeah. I think he did," he says. "You two had a nice friendship," Mr. Perlman says, before taking a drag on his cigarette. "You're too smart not to know how rare, how special what you two had was." Elio starts to talk about Oliver's intelligence, but his father stops him. "He was more than intelligent. What you two had, had everything and nothing to do with intelligence. He was good. You were both lucky to have found each other, because you, too, are good," he says. "I think he was better than me," Elio says, and leans over to place his head on his father's knee. "I'm sure he'd say the same thing about you," Mr. Perlman says, before adding, "It flatters you both." Elio shakes his head, but his father continues. "Right now, you may not want to feel anything. Maybe you never wanted to feel anything, and maybe it's not to me you'd want to speak about these things. But feel something you obviously did," he says. "We rip out so much of ourselves to be cured of things faster, that we go bankrupt by the age of 30, and have less to offer each time we start with someone new. But to make yourself feel nothing so as not to feel anything - what a waste." He gives Elio a moment to take all of this in, then adds, "Have I spoken out of turn?" Elio shakes his head. "Right now, there's sorrow, pain," Mr. Perlman says. "Don't kill it and with it the joy you felt." Elio nods in understanding, tears welling in his eyes.

Answer: He is getting married.

The river is frozen over, and the garden and trees are covered in snow. Inside, Mafalda is preparing for Hanukkah. Elio enters and hangs up his coat and beret before throwing himself into a chair. The phone rings, and Elio gets to it first. It is Oliver, and the pair exchange pleasantries before Elio breaks the awkward tension. "I miss you," he says. "I miss you too. Very much. I have some news," Oliver offers. "News? Oh, you're getting married, I suppose?" Elio asks. "I might be getting married next spring, yeah," Oliver replies. When Elio comments that Oliver never mentioned his relationship, Oliver explains that it's been off and on for three years. "That's wonderful news," Elio says. "Do you mind?" Oliver asks. Their conversation is interrupted by Elio's parents, who pick up the other line in the study. They chat briefly, and Oliver shares his news. After congratulating him, the Perlmans leave Oliver to speak to Elio. "They know about us," Elio says when they have the line to themselves again. "I figured," Oliver remarks. "From the way that your dad spoke to me, he made me feel like I was part of the family. Almost like a son-in-law. You're so lucky. My father would have carted me off to a correctional facility." Elio doesn't want to hear it. He closes his eyes and whispers his name into the phone: "Elio," recalling Oliver's request to "call me by your name and I'll call you by mine". Oliver reciprocates by whispering back, "Oliver," before adding, "I remember everything." Elio smiles as a wave of relief washes over his face.

Elio walks into the kitchen and places his Walkman on the table. He makes his way over to the fireplace and settles down in front of the fire. The film ends with an extended close-up on Elio as he stares into the fire, alone with his thoughts and memories, a wave of different expressions crossing his face as his tears, anguish, and devastation eventually give way to a sublime, bittersweet smile.