Call Me By Your Name, Too? A distinct possibility.
Riding high on Academy Award nods, director Luca Guadagnino is being a coy little minx and suggesting there could be more Elio, more Oliver, more penetrated peaches, and more lyrical pep talks by peculiarly open-minded, empathic father figures.
To hear Guadagnino say it, the continued story would revolve around the AIDS epidemic, which wasn’t even mentioned in the original film, nor in the book it’s based on by André Aciman.
“I think it’s going to be a very relevant part of the story,” Guadagnino tells The Hollywood Reporter.
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“I think Elio will be a cinephile, and I’d like him to be in a movie theatre watching Paul Vecchiali’s Once More. That could be the first scene…”
(Incidentally, Vecciali’s 1988 film was the first French movie to center around AIDS.)
Related: Armie Hammer addresses Call Me By Your Name’s age-gap romance
Guadagnino wants the Call Me By Your Name universe to expand, even portraying the characters at various phases of their lives. Wizened, jaded Elio. Wistful deathbed Oliver. The possibilities sprawl.
“Call Me can be the first chapter,” he says.
“If the first one is a story of coming of age and becoming a young man, maybe the next chapter will be, what is the position of the young man in the world, what does he want – and what is left a few years later of such an emotional punch that made him who he is?”
Guadagnino also hinted at a sequel talking to Gay Times last year:
“Maybe in time we’ll be able to tell more stories about these people….
“I’ve spoken to [the book’s author] André about that and, yeah, André is up for it.”
Are you?
ChrisK
First a older guy lusting after a young guy. Now a movie about Aids. Wow. So original.
inbama
Actually, it’s not that at all.
It’s all coming from the kid, and between chalamet’s wonderful performance and Ivory’s screenplay, it’s an emotional/erotic roller coaster that will make you remember what love was like when it was totally new.
When something is this good, the sequel can only be downhill.
charlietex
Accolades not acolytes. Come on seriously.
Heywood Jablowme
Thank you! I was trying hard to think of what word they were going for. It’s often hard to guess that. “Acolytes” (i.e. candle-lighters) in the sense of teenage altar boys… maybe an analogy… or something. But I thought maybe they meant “electrolytes”!
mhoffman953
LOL
Mandrake
Leave it alone! The original was ENOUGH. I hope there are no plans for a “Moonlight 2” either.
JaredMacBride
How much does Queerty get for its endless promotion of this mediocre film?
Paulie P
Amen!
Frank
The book version of Call Me by Your Name was set in 1987, but Guadagnino moved the story to 1983 because, he has said, “’83 is the year—in Italy at least—where the ’70s are killed, when everything that was great about the ’70s is definitely shut down.” Part of that shut-down, any cultural history will attest, is that the sexual awakening of the ’60s, which fed the libertine ’70s, smacked into a hard, deadly reality: AIDS.
Anything can be analyzed to death, and if that’s what you wish to do, have at it. To me the film is an experience of pure beauty, love, loss, and joy. Can’t people be allowed a moment of bliss? That this film exists is a miracle.
Lastly, I mean seriously people…READ THE BOOK…there is no mention of AIDS and it ruins the entire story in my opinion and while AIDS was a big deal in the 80s every gay man was not inflicted and/or infected.
Here is a link:
https://lingualeo.com/es/jungle/call-me-by-your-name-by-andre-aciman-506250#/page/1
Kat Casey
There is a brief section in the book where perhaps AIDS is in fact alluded to just prior to Elio and Oliver doing it the first time — pp 133 of my copy. I’d just been reading this last night so it came to mind: I’d been meaning to ask the tactful health question, but that too seemed to have been answered a while ago, because when I finally did find the courage to ask him, he replied, “I already told you, I’m okay.” “Did I tell you I was okay too?” “Yes.” He smiled.
lykeitiz
If straight America goes to see this movie because of the barrage of accolades, it will be 5 years before we get another movie nominated. Two mediocre gay movies in a row (Moonlight & this one), and we’re going to lose our art cred.
davidjohng
Mediocre?? Moonlight won the Oscar. Oscar-nominated films are usually not mediocre(except LaLa Land). The gay movies that have been acknowledged by “st8 America”:Brokeback, Moonlight and Call Me By Your Name range from very good to great.
Frank
DUMBASS comment…nothing more needs to be said…
Kangol
Moonlight was very powerful, and unlike nearly every gay movie out there. This film is pretty typical in a lot of ways–nostalgic story about a young queer upper middle class twink who falls in love, this time with a somewhat older guy–though Timothee Chalamet’s acting is exceptional.
Paulie P
davidjohng
Mediocre?? Moonlight won the Oscar. Oscar-nominated films are usually not mediocre(except LaLa Land). The gay movies that have been acknowledged by “st8 America”:Brokeback, Moonlight and Call Me By Your Name range from very good to great.
You are correct…. Brokeback was great, CMBYN is not. One scene in that movie was great.. the rest not so much. Had this film be released in the states imagine the controversy. A 17 year old being penetrated by a older guy.
Lazycrockett
If you are referring to Love My Way, that is The Psychedelic Furs not Gene Loves Jezebel.
John
Yeah. That stood out to me too. I was like, “Huh?”
am_psi
Ugh. The only legitimate reason to make a sequel to a love story with a sad ending is to make the second one have a happy ending.
Josh447
It’s time for some nominated happy ending gay movies. With kids committing suicide over religious soul murders now for decades, we don’t need to revisit the devastation of AIDS. Or is there a addiction to sadness that I’m missing? Brokeback was sad sad sad. So was Call Me By. Seems gay culture is always in a sad mess. We could use some positive balance in the movie industry. Thank you Will and Grace for pulling that in on television. But movies, let’s sell some happiness for a change.
Danny595
Eesh. So they take a movie about a summer romance in a beautiful setting and they are going to follow it up with a movie about a lethal sexually transmitted disease? Cancelled.
michaelmt1009
This movie keeps getting all this praise. Will someone tell me what I missed. I sat through the movie trying to make any sense of it, feeling like they didn’t put it together in the right order. I couldn’t follow the story at all and as an aside, I tried reading the book and had to give up on that also. I just didn’t get it at all.
John
You’re not the only one confused about the praise. It didn’t make sense to me either. Maybe a sequel would be a good thing. I’d like to see Elio and Oliver have personalities deeper than a puddle.
Donston
It’s a pretty movie about two young and pretty white boys falling in love. It has some stand-out scenes. Also, Chalamet does give a very good performance. I’m guessing all that together has equated to the praise. However, I was mildly disappointed. It’s a good enough flick. But it lacks any real tension, intensity or depth. As a romance, it’s kinda awkward and half-baked as are the characters. As a drama, well, there’s hardly any drama in it. It’s about as safe and audience friendly as a movie about a male-male romance can be. Give me “Weekend” any day over this. And to follow this light movie up with a film centered around the AIDS epidemic? No thanks. If they’re gonna continue the series it’s better to do something like the ‘Before’ series. And that series didn’t start doing much for me until the second film. But why copy that?
Everyone just needs to move on.
inbama
Perhaps it was too literate for you.
Kangol
Totally overpraised. But Timothée Chalamet is excellent in his role. He deserves an award for it.
Billy Budd
Look guys, I was also disappointed. Both with the book AND the movie. The book is boring as hell, and written in a WEIRD way. The movie is not horrible, but it is certainly not a masterpiece. The thing is, the story is shallow. It is just beautiful and smart people having a nice time during summer and falling in love. Their personalities, apart from being smart and beautiful, are not really explored. I have no objection to a movie that shows homosexuality without the intolerance/prejudice/repression side of it. But I object to shallow characters. The movie is beautifully shot, but there is a dream sequence with a horrible special effect and there is very bad use of music, specially a piano tune, in some sequences. I do not hate the movie, and I will be glad if it gets Oscars (because we need gay films to get Oscars), but it simply does not deserve such a lot of praise.
Billy Budd
ALSO, I simply abhor, hate, detest movies that focus on the AIDS epidemics of the 80s. I can’t stand them. We should let go, we should go on. That era is gone. I must also add that I abhor all kinds of movies that show people dying slowly and painfully and try to make this as something special. I HATE “Terms of Endearment”. I hate “Love Story”. I hate “Dying Young”. And so on. You get the picture.
davidjohng
So you don’t think people are still being infected? It hasn’t gone away.
dwsboots
It is very troublesome to read “The AIDS epidemic” is an “Era that is gone”.
I asurre you, “The Era” has not gone and is still ifecting people and yes people are still dying of AIDS. It is only my opinion but it seems that the new generation thinks that AIDS is an old thing and that they believe they can take a magic pill called PREP and all their troubles are gone. And if we dont talk about it, or pretend it didnt happen it will go away. I agree it was a sad and horrific time. but to think we should “Just let it go already” is not the answer.
We lost many, many , many great people.
what does or new generation want next????
Get rid or our AIDS Memorial Quilt? so you can “Just let it go already”? so that you are not offeneded by our AIDS epidemic. will that make you feel better, will it make the shame more pleasant for you to cope with?
That era is not gone. It will not just go away because you dont want to hear about or see “Sad” movies or read books about it anymore. BOO HOO!
AIDS is alive and doing well and still taking people from us.
All i ask of the new generation is to show some respect for those many who lost their lives. And to the older generation that lost their freinds, family members and loved ones whom still grieve to this day to that “Era that is gone”
Jaxton
I don’t want to watch a movie about reckless anonymous sex in bath-houses smelling of amyl. How about we celebrate male empowerment as the men we are?
Josh447
When you outgrow the poopy baby terrible twos, be sure to drop a line.
MaxMan
I would totally be up for it if they space them apart like the Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy “Before Sunrise” films. Now that would be masterful. But I have a feeling they would want to rush out the sequels in short order.
Bopper1
…man, what a f@*kin’ losers club in these comments…CMBYN was the best reviewed film of 2017 and has been nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards…duh…
davidjohng
“God’s Own Country” was a much better gay film which sadly and inexplicably didn’t get much of a showing in the US unlike Britain. It’s raw and beautiful. That being said I support any gay mainstream film, mediocre or excellant, that shows the gay experience to the larger public. That’s one of the ways to end homophobia.
JaredMacBride
@davidjohng – You are 1000% right. Call Me was a good movie, God’s Own Country is a great movie, and the far better reviewed of the two.
crowebobby
No! Just no, no, no!!! The beauty and reality of this is that is ephemeral. Let’s us remember them as they are in the transitory moment of that unique summer.
DistingueTraces
This is such a terrible idea.