#samuel perlman

[bleachedduck]

"You had a beautiful friendship. Maybe more than a friendship. And I envy you. In my place, most parents would hope the whole thing goes away, to pray that their sons land on their feet. But I am not such a parent. In your place, if there is pain, nurse it. And if there is a flame, don’t snuff it out. Don’t be brutal with it. We rip out so much of ourselves to be cured of things faster, that we go bankrupt by the age of thirty 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!"

—Samuel Perlman on Call Me By Your Name, by André Aciman. (Picture from the movie adaptation by Luca Guadagnino).

[expendabledreamer]

Find me

“If you were my age, I’d pretend I was happy, I’d pretend I loved my career, your career, our life, but I’d be faking it as I’ve been faking it with everyone I’ve known. My problem is discovering what not faking is—and this is difficult and scary for me, because my bearings are always pitched to who I ought to be, not to who I am, to what I should have, not to what I never knew I craved, to life as I found it, not to the life I’ve let myself think was only a dream. You’re oxygen to me, and I’ve been living off methane.”

Andre Aciman is driving me crazy.

[hazyaltcare]

Elio Perlman x Samuel Perlman (Call Me By Your Name) kin Aesthetic board + summer + Italy + Peaches + Archeology + love

Mod StemRoses

[giveamadeuschohisownmovie]

Who are the cast members in your Die Hard-style action movie?

You are trying to enjoy Christmas Eve when the hotel you’re staying at is attacked by terrorists. The terrorist leader is played by (Pick the actor based on what your first name starts with):

A: Jeremy Renner

B: Don Cheadle

C: Gary Oldman

D: Idris Elba

E: Charlize Theron

F: Michelle Rodriguez

G: Iwan Rheon

H: Lena Headey

I: Gabriel Luna

J: Lee Byung-hun

K: Cate Blanchett

L: Robert Downey Jr.

M: Josh Brolin

N: Tom Hiddleston

O: Jason Statham

P: Edward Norton

Q: Jon Bernthal

R: Benicio Del Toro

S: Ron Perlman

T: Kate Winslet

U: John Travolta

V: Hiroyuki Sanada

W: Matt Damon

X: Helena Bonham Carter

Y: Halle Berry

Z: Samuel L. Jackson

Now you must use your wits in order to save the day, especially since the terrorists are holding your husband/wife captive. Your husband/wife is played by (Pick the actor based on what your last name starts with. Also, pick which actor you prefer since there are two options):

A: Pedro Pascal / Winona Ryder

B: Oscar Isaac / May Calamawy

C: Lee Jung-jae / Ming-na Wen

D: Keanu Reeves / Salma Hayek

E: Chris Pine / Karen Gillan

F: Hugh Jackman / Pom Klementieff

G: Ryan Reynolds / Taraji P. Henson

H: Michael B. Jordan / Hailee Steinfeld

I: Tom Holland / Zendaya

J: Steven Yeun / Amber Midthunder

K: Glen Powell / Daisy Edgar-Jones

L: Adam Driver / Emily Blunt

M: Chris Pratt / Melissa Barrera

N: O'Shea Jackson Jr. / Krysten Ritter

O: Gerard Butler / Brie Larson

P: John Cena / Emilia Clarke

Q: Vin Diesel / Rashida Jones

R: Rami Malek / Hayley Atwell

S: Robert Pattinson / Ana de Armas

T: Chris Evans / Anna Kendrick

U: Channing Tatum / Camilla Belle

V: Kit Harrington / Zoe Saldana

W: Simu Liu / Alicia Vikander

X: John Cho / Morena Baccarin

Y: Chris Hemsworth / Ali Wong

Z: Riz Ahmed / Chloe Bennet

[unrinconmas]

[miyagic]

What he needs

Elio Perlman x m!reader

SUMMARY: What Elio never received, but always wanted and needed in his 17 years of life, you give him in a single day.

CMBYN MASTERLIST

w/c: 1.5k

English is not my first language, sorry for any mistakes.

a/n: You are a man, 1/2 years older than Elio, for me Elio only likes older men 💋. When I say I love Elio, it's because I LOVE Elio, I wanted to kick Oliver's ass and give my baby A LOT of love, as he deserves (I'm part of the Oliver hate club).

a/n: I watched the movie and read the book but Elio's personality feels so real and complex to me that I can't even make him as much accurate as I would like, sorry. I love him so much that I could die.

AFTER going to the town, Elio returns to his house at dusk. His father, Samuel Perlman, went on another one of his study tours, he would probably return in another two days, Samuel took advantage of the fact that it was close to his and Anella's birthday, so they both went out together.

Elio didn't really mind being alone at home, especially because he told his parents they could go without him, not that he didn't like his parents, but it's good to have some air sometimes.

And by air, Elio means you.

You are like a breath of air, a release, cold water on a hot day, soft classical music on a stressful day, a kiss on the eyelids when you're crying, a breath of wind while the water laps at your feet at night. For Elio, you are like going to the beach, but at night, where it is empty and calm, only the sound of the waves can be heard, while you feel the gentle wind and watch the moon and stars.

But unfortunately you are a man, and so is he. Elio doesn't really care about that, but the society does.

However, he doesn't want to let you go, it may seem selfish, but maybe he really is. He wants you all to himself, he wants to be yours, just yours, desperately.

So, honestly? Elio was just happy that his parents were out.

———☆———

AT THE BEGINNING of Anella and Samuel's first day in Berlin, Elio came to your house.

"[Name]?" he knocks on the door, to which he waited nervously. Not a minute later, you open the door, Elio suddenly wants to leave, but at the same time, he desperately wants to grab you and kiss you, explore your body in every way possible and be loved afterwards.

"Hey, El. How are you?" you smile at him and Elio wants to kiss that smile, but also leave that smile on your face forever.

"Hm..." he hesitates, feeling spontaneous regret and shyness, he felt stupid, "I wanted to invite you to go to my spot, with me" he knows his brain struggled to add an 'it's okay if you don't want to', but it wasn't okay, he desperately wanted some of your air, some of your love. He needed.

Or maybe he's convincing himself again that he needed something he just wanted, but if is not now, when?

But you like him too, don't you? Then you wouldn't mind, right?

Oh no, you don't mind.

———☆———

ELIO AND YOU stopped halfway, at a bookstore. Elio wanted to get some books to read there with you, and you being the sweet man that you are (and because you love Elio), you bought Elio a book, also buying one for yourself, "Find Me" by Andre Aciman.

After leaving the bookstore, you and Elio headed to his spot and within a few minutes, you both left your bikes on the grass. Elio hurriedly took off his all stars and placed his backpack on the floor.

You laughed when he almost fell because of his all star, Elio laughed along when he heard your laugh, but soon took your hand and guided you to the water after you took off your own shoes.

He entered naturally, being completely used to the cold waters of that place, he walked until the water reached below his knees and shorts.

You, not so used to the cold water there, stood on the edge just looking at him. Elio stopped in the middle of the water, looking at you and stretching both arms towards you. Accepting the invitation, you walked over to him, stopping in front of Elio.

Elio maintained eye contact with you, trying in some way to make you understand everything that was going on in his head. When he was satisfied, Elio just leaned in, resting his head on your chest as he closed his arms around you.

You hugged him back and Elio swore he could fall to his knees just from a simple hug.

What a needy boy, hm?

———☆———

IN THE AFTERNOON in that same day, you and Elio lay down on the grass, both wet after a small water fight.

Elio poked your arm and stood up, going to his backpack, he took out the book you bought for him and yourself. He handed you the book and lay down next to you again, but now glued to you, wanting any kind of touch, even if it was just the sides of your bodies touching.

Elio opened his own book, starting to read, while you did the same thing.

After a few minutes of reading, you took one of your hands out of the book and grabbed Elio's hand, taking it out of his book as well, now both of you grabbing the books with just one hand.

Elio squeezed your hand, sighing. You accidentally touched a ticklish spot on Elio when you moved your hands, and that made you put down the book and smile.

"Tickling, Elio?" you smiled wider when he looked at you. You propped yourself up on one of your elbows, letting go of his hand.

He just looked at you, seeming to travel just by looking into your eyes. Then, you started tickling him.

Elio burst into laughter, dropping the book and squirming, he shouted "stop" amidst his laughter. Elio squirmed a lot, more than normal for someone who is just being tickled, and in the middle of this struggle, Elio ended up on top of you, and you stopped your tickling.

It was pretty obvious he had this in mind as he began to squirm and move more. He lay completely on top of you, his weight fell all over you, but he wasn't very heavy.

Elio sighed and relaxed completely, leaving his cheek resting on your chest. You then picked up your book again, reading with him relaxed against you.

Elio felt so complete, but so scared. He felt so good, but bad. It seems wrong, but it felt so right.

However, he shut his brain and felt like everything fell into place now, everything felt right, everything felt complete, he felt good. There was no longer any doubt, he wanted to stay there, just there. With you and only you, and if that were selfishness, he would be selfish with all pleasure. And in the end, his brain agreed too.

Completely at peace, he fell asleep. Oh god, he's so happy now.

———☆———

WHEN Elio woke up, it was already dusk. You left him where he was, however, you turned them sideways.

Elio noticed that you were no longer reading, and when he turned around, spooning, he saw that you were completing some random games in magazines.

“El, you have to go home” you dropped the magazine and Elio leaned his head back, hitting it against your chest, grumbling.

"Why?" he groaned.

“Because it’s almost night” you kissed his forehead and stood up, Elio grabbed you but you just pulled him up with that.

He got up, but threw himself at you, which made you grab his entire body in a hug around the waist.

Elio stayed like that for a few more minutes before accepting and walking towards the bikes. He put on your shoes with you and when he was about to put his backpack on his back, you took it off him and carried it while you sat on the bike.

———☆———

WHEN you arrived at his house, it was already night.

You left your bikes leaning against the wall and entered together. Elio held your hand and led you to his room. You left his backpack on a chair after closing the door and walked over to him.

"...Do you really have to go?" Elio held eye contact again.

"Yes, El, your parents may not be here, but Mafalda is" you ran a hand through his hair and Elio leaned into your touch.

He swallowed and sighed, muttering an "Okay." You ran your hand over his cheek, stroking it lightly and turned to leave, before Elio stood in front of you and hugged you tightly by the neck.

You hugged him back and he almost tried to climb onto you. You tightened the hug and pulled away a little to look at him, but Elio leaned forward again, but now kissing you.

Elio's kiss was almost desperate, but full of affection. After you kissed back, his kiss calmed down. Elio ran his hands over the back of your neck, playing with your hair.

"Elio, I really have to leave" you broke the kiss, touching your forehead to his, "How about we go to the square tomorrow?" Elio instantly cheered up at your words.

"Yes, please," he almost whispered. You rub his back before breaking the hug, leaving only one of your hands clasped with one of his.

You hesitantly let go of each other and then you kissed his cheek with a smack and left his room.

Only after you left did Elio remember that you hadn't agreed on a time. Well, it looks like you're going to have a visitor early in the morning.

[theseshipsshallsail]

MUSIC (THE SHORTHAND OF EMOTION)

It was his high school Latin professor who claimed one must be au fait with a number of languages in order to appreciate the world’s hidden meanings, and if Oliver’s learned anything in regards to the walking enigma known as Elio Samuel Perlman, it’s that while he may be fluent in English, French, and his native Italian, the medium of music remains his preferred method of communication; and via which, he expresses himself perfectly. 

The frustrated chords of Chopin and Rachmaninoff, for example, born of their initial games of cat-and-mouse. 

The melancholic strains of Elgar’s Nimrod when they were no longer speaking.

The beckoning call of Bach’s Capriccio when they were.

But then came the berm. A kiss that shocked him to the core. Two endless nights spent staring at the stars whilst Elio hammered away at the Bösendorfer’s ivory keys. Chain-smoking a pack of unfiltered Gauloises as he clung to his mantra of being good. Grateful. That what they had - a friendship unlike all others - would ultimately suffice.

Only it couldn’t.   

Of course it couldn’t.

Under the harsh Riviera sun he’d been reborn, and not even the threat of familial disownment was enough to prevent his leap into the unknown.

The music was different, after that.

After I’ll see you at midnight. 

After I don’t want you to go. 

After I spoke to your father. He’s happy to extend my stay. 

It was richer. 

Brighter. 

Infused in every carefree giggle: tap-tap-tapped over his too-full heart in the burnished light of dawn.

And Oliver? He loves it. 

Loves him. 

The inscrutable maestro who toppled his house of cards, and whose unconditional acceptance settled deep and warm and forever in his rib cage.

They’re ensconced in the villa’s living room, the pair of them, one perfectly idle Wednesday afternoon: Elio plunking bits and pieces at randomas he makes the occasional note on a sheet of ubiquitous staff paper. Sometimes just a scale. Sometimes a whole refrain. Head bowed. Lips pursed. Seemingly unbothered by the portly bumblebee that entered through the unshuttered windows, and has since taken refuge atop the tall glass of apricot juice forgotten on the credenza.

Ostensibly, Oliver’s double-checking his next chapter’s pages for Signora Milani when the other man arches in a cat-like stretch; the hem of his Lacrosse polo-shirt revealing a pale swathe of skin at his hip. Rising from the plush piano bench, he wanders over to the corner, and Oliver’s curiosity sees him setting his revisions aside as Elio casts an eye over his parents’ extensive record collection: running his thumb along the stiff, cardboard spines.

His face is unreadable as he makes his selection. Slides the vinyl from its protective sleeve. Blows the dust from the vintage turntable, then aligns the stylus with the album’s outer groove. But the moment Édith Piaf’s voice crackles through the air - smothering the din of the knife-grinder’s whetstone - Oliver finds himselfcaptivated.

Non, rien de rien, it begins as Elio closes his eyes, swaying gently to the mournfully poignant tone. Non, je ne regrette rien… 

He’s across the room without conscious decision: feeling a tad self-conscious when he offers an unsteady hand.

Feeling decidedly more so when Elio blinks at him owlishly, before finally reaching to take it.

Ni le bien qu'on m'a fait, the powerful lyrics continue, and his dance partner swallows - clearly bewildered - as Oliver pulls him closer, one palm cradling his slender waist whilst the other flattens their tangled fingers over his left breast pocket. 

Time distils as he guides them into a rocking back-and-forth: Elio’s grip sliding from wrist to elbow, then further, lingering on the sweat-damp hair at Oliver’s collar. If he didn’t know better, he’d think him the picture of innocence, yet the fact that he does - know better, that is - has him grinning like an idiot when he recognises the genuine emotion beneath his slightly-flushed features. 

The three little words that thus far remain unspoken, shining explicitly in his imploring gaze.

“No, I regret nothing,” Oliver translates in a halting whisper, thanking the decisions of his past that irrevocably shaped his future. “Because my life…” he continues, ghosting a kiss to the shell of Elio’s ear. “My joy…” Another, to the hinge of his jaw. “Sweetheart…” The anticipation is glorious. “Today, that starts with you...”

[arosesstorm]

bangtan as love stories ♡₊˚ ・₊✧

jungkook - Bonnie and Clyde The couple was known for their bank robberies, although they preferred to rob small stores or rural funeral homes. Their exploits captured the attention of the American press and its readership during what is occasionally referred to as the "public enemy era" between 1931 and 1934. They were ambushed by police and shot to death in Bienville Parish, Louisiana. They are believed to have murdered at least nine police officers and four civilians.

taehyung - lady and the tramp A pampered Cocker Spaniel whose life takes a sudden turn when a dashing Tramp from the other side of town finds his way into her heart. A streetwise mutt who knows his way about town, but once a little lady catches his eye, this scruffy bachelor becomes one tame Tramp.

yoongi - call me by your name Set in 1983 in northern Italy, Call Me by Your Name chronicles the romantic relationship between a 17-year-old, Elio Perlman, and Oliver, a 24-year-old graduate-student assistant to Elio's father Samuel, an archaeology professor. 

jimin - titanic Incorporating both historical and fictionalized aspects, it is based on accounts of the sinking of RMS Titanic in 1912. Rose and Jack star as members of different social classes who fall in love during the ship's maiden voyage.

namjoon - the notebook The film stars a young couple who fall in love in the 1940s. Their story is read from a notebook in the present day by an elderly man, telling the tale to a fellow nursing home resident.

jin - pride and prejudice A novel of manners, it follows the character development of Elizabeth Bennet, the protagonist of the book, who learns about the repercussions of hasty judgments and comes to appreciate the difference between superficial goodness and actual goodness.

hope - Romeo and Juliet Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about the romance between two Italian youths from feuding families. 

© 2023 of Mia (arosesstorm). All Rights Reserved.

[ghelgheli]

Stuff I Read In May 2024

bold indicates favourites

Books

Hogg, Samuel Delaney

Land Reform & its Direct Effects in Iran, OIPFG [link]

Blackshirts and Reds, Michael Parenti

Black on Both Sides, C. Riley Snorton

The Tyrant Baru Cormorant, Seth Dickinson

Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals, Immanuel Kant

Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle

Yuri/GL

maintenance, crvptozoology [link]

Shimeji Simulation, Tsukumizu

If We Can Meet Tomorrow / Ashita, Kimi Ni Aetara, Aoto Hibiki

Love Thy Neighbour, Willow

Short Fiction

Let's Not, Isaac Asimov

Each an Explorer, Isaac Asimov

Blank!, Isaac Asimov

Palestine

Exiting Law and Entering Revolution, Basel al-Araj [link]

Resisting the Nakba, Joseph Massad [link]

Rain is Coming, Mohammed El-Kurd [link]

Novel Evil, Miriam Gordis [link]

Queer &c.

The Logics of Gender Construction in Asian Modernities, Emiko Ochiai

“It’s Only a Penis”: Rape, Feminism, and Difference, Christine Helliwell [link]

In the Dark Room: Homosexuality and/as Blackness in James Baldwin’s Giovanni’s Room, Josep M. Armengol [link]

She's always a woman: Butch lesbian trans women in the lesbian community, Hannah Rossiter [link]

No Sex Please—We’re Hobbits: The Construction of Female Sexuality in The Lord of the Rings, Brenda Partridge

Toward a historiography of the lesbian transsexual, or the TERF’s nightmare, Jules Gill-Peterson [link]

Sick Woman Theory, Johanna Hedva [link]

The Myth and Tradition of the Black Bulldagger, SDiane A. Bogus [link]

This Infamous Proposal, Jules Joanne Gleeson [link]

Transing and Transpassing across Sex-Gender Walls in Iran, Afsaneh Najmabadi [link]

What Is It Like to Have a Gender Identity? Florence Ashley

Mama's Baby, Papa's Maybe, Hortense J. Spillers

Egg Theory's Early Style, Grace Lavery [link]

NEVER EVER TRANSITION, lily bloodguts [link]

Pol

What Was To Be Done? Protest and Revolution in the 2010s, Jasper Bernes [link]

Anarchy and Scientific Communism, Nikolai Bukharin [link]

Against Innocence, Jackie Wang

Islamology, Ali Shariati [link]

Signals of Disorder: Sowing Anarchy in the Metropolis, A. G. Schwarz [link]

Foucault: The Faux Radical, Gabriel Rockhill [link]

Extractivism in the Anthropocene, John Bellamy Foster [link]

The Xinjiang Atrocity Propaganda Blitz, Roderic Day [link]

I Accuse This Liberal University of Terror and Violence, Fredy Perlman [link]

Other

Public Transit, AJ Julius [link]

Film Bodies: Gender, Genre, and Excess, Linda Williams [link]

The Myth of the Boiling Point, Hasok Chang [link]

[olivereliocorcordium1983]

The Beauty Of Wasted Days

I have decided to keep So You Are Tired going after realizing that Elio didn't really respond to Oliver's news and was also inspired by my current situation. The first two chapters are what you have already read if you read the scene of "So You Are Tired" but the fic itself I have decided to call The Beauty of Wasted Days.

it is a play on Elio's "We wasted so many days, why didn't you give me a sign!" line after the attic scene.

summary: Oliver is diagnosed with cancer and wants to make amends with Elio so he goes searching for him and finds him in a bar. During such a time, Oliver gets an idea to go on a road Trip with Elio as they had always planned to do when he stayed during the summer. And in doing so an adventure sparks and the boys find themselves in a never-ending rollercoaster of emotions as both men learn to appreciate all of those wasted days.

genre: romance/ adventure

rating: Mature to explicit (due to the subject of cancer, and sexual content) Trigger warnings will be put in place for certain scenes will put at the beginning of notes beforehand.

Characters: Annella and Samuel Perlman, Elio Perlman, Vimini, Oliver, dr Sanchez (oc)

tags: major character death, inspired by "So You Are Tired" by Sufjan Stevens, mentions and talks of cancer, roadtrip fic, eventual sex, love confessions, kissing,

[bleachedduck]

"When you least expect it, nature has cunning ways of finding our weakest spot. Just remember I’m here. Right now, you may not want to feel anything. Maybe you’ll never want to feel anything. And, maybe it’s not to me you want to speak about these things, but I feel something you obviously did.

Look, you had a beautiful friendship. Maybe more than a friendship. And I envy you.

In my place, most parents would hope the whole thing goes away, or pray that their sons land on their feet. But I am not such a parent. 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!

And I’ll say one more thing… it’ll clear the air. I may have come close, but I never have what you two have. Something always held me back or stood in the way. How you live your life is your business. Just remember, our hearts and our bodies are given to us only once, and before you know it, your heart’s worn out. And as for your body, there comes a point when no one looks at it, much less wants to come near it. Right now, there’s sorrow, pain; don’t kill it, and with it, the joy you’ve felt."

—Call Me By Your Name, by André Aciman, 2007. (Pictures from the movie adaptation directed by Luca Guadagnino, 2018).

(extended version cause there's no humanly possible way i'm ever getting over this ever)

[expendabledreamer]

Find Me

“Everything I have is yours. Not much, I know,” she said. I let a palm rub the tears down from the side of her face. “Everything you have I’ve never had. What more is there to want?"

Andre Aciman

[arte-e-homoerotismo]

Call Me by Your Name (film)

Me Chame Pelo Seu Nome (em italiano: Chiamami col tuo nome ) é um filme de drama romântico de 2017 dirigido por Luca Guadagnino . Seu roteiro, de James Ivory , que também coproduziu, é baseado no romance de 2007 de André Aciman . O filme é a parte final da trilogia temática "Desire" de Guadagnino, depois de I Am Love (2009) e A Bigger Splash (2015). Ambientado no norte da Itália em 1983, Me Chame Pelo Seu Nome narra o relacionamento romântico entre Elio Perlman ( Timothée Chalamet ) , de 17 anos,e Oliver ( Armie Hammer ), um assistente de pós-graduação de 24 anos do pai de Elio, Samuel ( Michael Stuhlbarg ), um professor de arqueologia. O filme também é estrelado por Amira Casar , Esther Garrel e Victoire Du Bois .

O desenvolvimento começou em 2007, quando os produtores Peter Spears e Howard Rosenman optaram pelos direitos do romance de Aciman. Ivory foi escolhida para codirigir com Guadagnino, mas desistiu em 2016. Guadagnino se juntou ao projeto como olheiro de locação e eventualmente se tornou o único diretor e coprodutor. Me Chame Pelo Seu Nome foi financiado por várias empresas internacionais, e sua fotografia principal ocorreu principalmente na cidade e comuna de Crema, Lombardia , em maio e junho de 2016. O diretor de fotografia Sayombhu Mukdeeprom usou filme de 35 mm , em vez de empregar cinematografia digital . Os cineastas passaram semanas decorando a Villa Albergoni , um dos principais locais de filmagem. Guadagnino foi o curador da trilha sonora do filme , que apresenta três músicas originais do cantor e compositor americano Sufjan Stevens .

A Sony Pictures Classics adquiriu os direitos de distribuição mundial de Me Chame Pelo Seu Nome antes de sua estreia no Festival de Cinema de Sundance de 2017 em 22 de janeiro de 2017. O filme começou um lançamento limitado nos Estados Unidos em 24 de novembro de 2017 e foi lançado geral em 19 de janeiro de 2018. Recebeu ampla aclamação da crítica, particularmente pelo roteiro de Ivory, a direção de Guadagnino, a cinematografia de Mukdeeprom e as performances de Chalamet, Hammer e Stuhlbarg. O filme recebeu vários elogios , incluindo muitos por seu roteiro, direção, atuação e música. Recebeu quatro indicações ao 90º Oscar , incluindo Melhor Filme e Melhor Ator para Chalamet, de 22 anos (o terceiro indicado mais jovem na categoria), e ganhou Melhor Roteiro Adaptado , tornando Ivory o vencedor mais velho de um Oscar competitivo em qualquer categoria. O roteiro também ganhou no 23º Critics' Choice Awards , 71º British Academy Film Awards e no 70º Writers Guild of America Awards . Me Chame Pelo Seu Nome é agora considerado um dos melhores filmes do século XXI. 

Trama

No verão de 1983, Elio Perlman, um jovem judeu franco-italiano de 17 anos, mora com os pais na zona rural do norte da Itália. O pai de Elio, professor de arqueologia, convida Oliver, um estudante de pós-graduação judeu-americano de 24 anos, para morar com a família durante o verão e ajudá-lo com seus trabalhos acadêmicos. Elio, um músico e leitor voraz introspectivo, inicialmente pensa ter pouco em comum com Oliver, que parece confiante e despreocupado. Elio passa grande parte do verão lendo, tocando piano e saindo com suas amigas de infância, Chiara e Marzia. Durante uma partida de vôlei, Oliver toca as costas de Elio, mas Elio ignora. Mais tarde, Elio sente ciúmes ao ver Oliver beijar Chiara.

Elio e Oliver passam mais tempo juntos, fazendo longas caminhadas pela cidade e acompanhando o pai de Elio em uma viagem arqueológica. Elio sente-se cada vez mais atraído por Oliver, chegando a entrar furtivamente no quarto dele para cheirar suas roupas. Elio acaba confessando seus sentimentos a Oliver, que lhe diz que não podem discutir tais assuntos. Mais tarde, em um local isolado, os dois se beijam pela primeira vez. Oliver reluta em levar as coisas adiante, e eles ficam sem se falar por vários dias.

Elio sai com Marzia e os dois fazem sexo. Elio deixa um bilhete para Oliver romper o silêncio. Oliver responde pedindo para Elio encontrá-lo à meia-noite. Elio concorda e eles dormem juntos pela primeira vez. Depois, Oliver diz a Elio: "Me chame pelo seu nome e eu te chamo pelo meu". Na manhã seguinte, Elio fica brevemente em conflito com o encontro e descarrega sua frustração sexual se masturbando com um pêssego. Quando Oliver o encontra, Elio chora sobre o pouco tempo que ele e Oliver têm juntos. Marzia confronta Elio depois de três dias sem notícias dele. Ele responde com indiferença, magoando-a.

À medida que a estadia de Oliver se aproxima do fim, os pais de Elio, que parecem cientes do vínculo entre os dois, recomendam que ele e Oliver visitem Bérgamo juntos antes de Oliver retornar aos EUA. Eles passam três dias românticos juntos. Desolado após a partida de Oliver, Elio liga para a mãe e pede que ela o busque na estação de trem e o leve para casa. Marzia se solidariza com os sentimentos de Elio e diz que quer continuar amiga deles. O pai de Elio, observando sua infelicidade, diz a ele que o vínculo que ele tinha com Oliver era raro e que inveja Elio porque ele nunca teve o que Elio e Oliver tiveram.

Durante o Hanukkah , Oliver liga para a família de Elio para contar que está noivo de uma mulher com quem namora intermitentemente há alguns anos. Elio chama Oliver pelo nome e Oliver responde com o seu; Oliver diz que se lembra de "tudo". Após a ligação, Elio senta-se perto da lareira e olha fixamente para as chamas, refletindo em lágrimas, enquanto seus pais e funcionários preparam o jantar.

Elenco

Armie Hammer como Oliver

Timothée Chalamet como Elio Perlman

Michael Stuhlbarg como Sr. Perlman [ a ]

Amira Casar como Annella Perlman

Esther Garrel como Marzia

Victoire Du Bois como Chiara

Vanda Capriolo como Mafalda

Antonio Rimoldi como Anchise

Elena Bucci como Bambi

Marco Sgrosso como Nico

André Aciman como Mounir

Peter Spears como Isaac

Beppe Grillo como ele mesmo (imagens de arquivo) 

Estilos e temas

Me Chame Pelo Seu Nome é a última parte de uma trilogia temática que Guadagnino chama de sua trilogia "Desire"; as outras duas partes foram I Am Love (2009) e A Bigger Splash (2015). Guadagnino descreveu sua abordagem ao filme como "alegre e simples", um afastamento de seu trabalho anterior, que foi chamado de "altamente estilizado [e] deslumbrante". Guadagnino considera Me Chame Pelo Seu Nome uma "homenagem aos pais da minha vida: meu próprio pai e meus pais cinematográficos", referindo-se aos cineastas Jean Renoir , Jacques Rivette , Éric Rohmer e Bernardo Bertolucci , que ele diz que o inspiraram.

Guadagnino descreveu Me Chame Pelo Seu Nome como um filme voltado para a família com o propósito de "transmissão de conhecimento e esperança de que pessoas de diferentes gerações venham ver o filme juntas". [ 18 ] Ele não o vê como um filme "gay", mas como um sobre "a beleza da ideia recém-nascida de desejo, imparcial e não cínica", refletindo seu lema de viver "com uma sensação de joie de vivre ". [ 14 ] [ 15 ] "Devemos sempre ser muito sinceros com os próprios sentimentos, em vez de escondê-los ou nos proteger", disse ele. [ 12 ] Ele o considera um "filme edificante" sobre "ser quem você quer ser e se encontrar no olhar do outro em sua alteridade". 

Guadagnino tentou evitar as falhas que viu na maioria dos filmes de amadurecimento , onde o crescimento é frequentemente retratado como resultado da resolução de dilemas preconcebidos, como uma escolha forçada entre dois amantes. Ele também queria que a história seguisse duas pessoas "no momento", em vez de se concentrar em um antagonista ou uma tragédia - uma abordagem inspirada em À nos amours (1983), de Maurice Pialat . Como alguém que considera o sexo no cinema uma representação do comportamento e da identidade dos personagens, Guadagnino não estava interessado em incluir cenas de sexo explícitas no filme. Ele explicou sua intenção: "Eu queria que o público confiasse completamente na viagem emocional dessas pessoas e sentisse o primeiro amor... Era importante para mim criar essa universalidade poderosa, porque toda a ideia do filme é que a outra pessoa o torna bonito - o ilumina, o eleva." 

Junto com um motivo sexual de amadurecimento, o filme também aborda o tema do romance de Elio descobrindo e se conectando à sua identidade judaica por meio do abertamente judeu Oliver e em contraste com sua própria família, que são, como sua mãe diz, "judeus da discrição". Sua identidade judaica comum é parte do que une Elio e Oliver e é representada pelo colar da Estrela de Davi que Oliver usa inicialmente, pelo qual Elio se sente atraído. O tema da autodescoberta sexual é paralelo ao tema judaico: em ambos os casos, Elio começa reservado sobre essas partes de si mesmo e desenvolve maior autoaceitação, ambas as jornadas conectadas ao papel de Oliver em sua vida. Há uma dica de que Oliver pode ter dado a Elio seu colar da Estrela de Davi pouco antes de se separarem na estação de trem. O colar de Elio pode ser visto claramente durante a conversa da qual o filme (e o romance) tira seu título.

Adaptação

O filme difere de seu material de origem em vários aspectos. O romance é escrito em flashback, da perspectiva de Elio. Os cineastas ambientaram o filme inteiramente em 1983 para ajudar o público a entender os personagens, acreditando que essa abordagem permitiria que permanecessem fiéis ao espírito do livro. O cenário foi alterado de Bordighera para o interior de Crema, onde Guadagnino mora. A praça da cidade selecionada para as filmagens diferia daquela do romance, que na visão de Aciman era "muito menor e ficava no alto de uma colina com vista para um Mediterrâneo varrido pelo vento". O clima árido de Crema e a paisagem "assustadoramente deserta" sugeriram a ele que o filme não corresponderia ao romance. Guadagnino também mudou o ano dos eventos de 1987 para 1983. Em suas palavras, Guadagnino escolheu "o ano - pelo menos na Itália - em que os anos 70 são mortos, quando tudo o que era ótimo nos anos 70 é definitivamente encerrado", mas também uma época em que os personagens poderiam ser "de certa forma intocados pela corrupção dos anos 80 - nos EUA, Reagan e, no Reino Unido, Thatcher". 

Guadagnino ficou tentado a remover a cena em que Elio se masturba em um pêssego sem caroço, achando-a muito explícita. Chalamet também estava nervoso com a cena, chamando-a de "uma metamorfose de algumas das ideias mais fortes do filme" e a chave para iluminar a "energia sexual superabundante" do personagem. Tanto Guadagnino quanto Chalamet acreditavam que era implausível se masturbar com um pêssego, mas cada um testou o método independentemente. Para sua surpresa, funcionou, então Guadagnino filmou a cena e a incluiu no filme. Uma cena com Elio e Oliver dançando entusiasticamente ao som da música " Love My Way " do The Psychedelic Furs em um pequeno bar não está no livro. Foi inspirado em Something Wild (1986) de Jonathan Demme e na experiência de Guadagnino de dançar sozinho quando era jovem. Ivory alterou a profissão do Sr. Perlman de um estudioso de clássicos para "um tipo de historiador de arte/arqueólogo", uma decisão que Aciman chamou de "perfeita" e "mais visual, [...] mais emocionante, em oposição ao que um estudioso faz em sua mesa". 

Quando ele revisou o rascunho do roteiro de Ivory, Guadagnino removeu a narração em voz off e grande parte da nudez. Ele disse que a nudez explícita era "absolutamente irrelevante" para sua visão do filme, e que não gostou da ideia de ter o personagem principal contando a história retrospectivamente, dizendo: "isso mata a surpresa". Perto do final do romance, Elio e Oliver visitam Roma, uma viagem que dura um capítulo inteiro e apresenta novos personagens em vários locais. Devido ao orçamento limitado do filme, Ivory e os produtores escreveram várias variações, uma das quais era deixar os personagens principais sozinhos na casa da família, antes de decidirem por outra viagem, para Bérgamo , onde os personagens passam muito tempo sozinhos em um quarto de hotel. No rascunho de Ivory, os pais de Elio discutem o HIV/AIDS em duas cenas e Elio decora uma árvore de Natal na casa de sua família na última cena. Ivory teve que reduzir o comprimento do discurso do Sr. Perlman, mas estava comprometido em mantê-lo no roteiro. Aciman disse em uma entrevista que sugeriu que Ivory mantivesse o diálogo antes do discurso de Perlman no mínimo para não "roubar a surpresa e o suspense que acontecem" à medida que se desenrolam. Ivory descreveu a cena em que Elio transmite seus sentimentos a Oliver como um dos momentos que captura a "paixão eufórica e o nervosismo" de seu primeiro amor. Aciman ficou surpreso com a cena final de Guadagnino, na qual Elio chora perto da lareira; ele escreveu sobre a adaptação para o cinema:

O cinema pode ser um meio inteiramente mágico. O que eu faço como escritor, e o que Guadagnino faz como diretor de cinema, é mais do que falar duas línguas diferentes. O que eu faço é esculpir uma estátua até os seus detalhes mais sutis e elusivos. O que um diretor de cinema faz é fazer a estátua se mover. 

Muitas das mudanças no roteiro de Ivory foram feitas durante as filmagens; Ivory não estava presente no set. Em maio de 2016, Ivory disse que ele e Guadagnino discutiram como filmar as cenas envolvendo nudez, mas Guadagnino depois as abandonou. Na opinião de Ivory, algumas das declarações de Guadagnino à imprensa deturparam a omissão de nudez do filme como uma "decisão estética consciente", já que eles nunca haviam discutido a remoção da nudez do roteiro. Ivory disse: "Quando as pessoas estão vagando antes ou depois de fazer amor e estão decorosamente cobertas com lençóis, sempre me pareceu falso." Em contraste, Ivory citou cenas de seu filme Maurice (1987) — um drama romântico gay que inclui nudez masculina — como "uma maneira mais natural de fazer as coisas do que escondê-las ou fazer o que Luca fez, que é mover a câmera para fora da janela em direção a algumas árvores". Guadagnino disse que entendia a posição de Ivory, mas que estava claro que não havia "limitações sobre o que queríamos fazer". 

Resposta crítica

Em sua estreia no Festival de Cinema de Sundance, Me Chame Pelo Seu Nome recebeu uma ovação de pé. Quando foi exibido no Alice Tully Hall como parte do Festival de Cinema de Nova York, recebeu uma ovação de dez minutos, a mais longa da história do festival. No agregador de críticas Rotten Tomatoes , o filme tem uma taxa de aprovação de 95% com base em 363 avaliações, com uma classificação média de 8,8/10. O consenso crítico do site diz: " Me Chame Pelo Seu Nome oferece um retrato melancólico e poderosamente comovente do primeiro amor, atuado com empatia por Timothée Chalamet e Armie Hammer." Foi o lançamento limitado mais bem avaliado e o segundo filme de romance mais bem avaliado de 2017 no site. No Metacritic , o filme tem uma pontuação média ponderada de 94 em 100, com base em 53 críticos, indicando "aclamação universal". Foi o quinto filme mais bem avaliado do ano no Metacritic. A direção de Guadagnino foi particularmente elogiada pela crítica.

Escrevendo para o The Hollywood Reporter , Boyd van Hoeij descreveu Me Chame Pelo Seu Nome como uma adaptação "extremamente sensual... íntima e penetrantemente honesta" do romance de Aciman e chamou a atuação de Chalamet de "a verdadeira explosão do filme". Peter Debruge, da Variety, escreveu que o filme "avança o cânone do cinema gay" ao retratar "uma história de primeiro amor... que transcende a dinâmica do mesmo sexo de seu casal central". Ele comparou a direção "sensual" de Guadagnino à de Pedro Almodóvar e François Ozon , e colocou Me Chame Pelo Seu Nome "no mesmo nível do melhor de seus trabalhos". David Ehrlich, da IndieWire, também elogiou a direção de Guadagnino, que, segundo ele, ajudou o filme a "igualar a arte e a empatia" de Carol (2015) e Moonlight (2016). Sam Adams, da BBC, escreveu que a atuação de Stuhlbarg "coloca uma moldura em torno da pintura do filme e abre caminhos que talvez não tivéssemos pensado em explorar", e a chamou de "uma de suas melhores" até o momento. Ele exaltou o filme como um dos "muitos filmes que apelaram com tanto sucesso tanto ao intelectual quanto ao erótico desde os dias de glória de Patrice Chéreau e André Téchiné ".

Ty Burr do The Boston Globe deu ao filme três estrelas e meia, elogiou Guadagnino por "ampliar seu abraço à humanidade ao atingir novos patamares de felicidade cinematográfica" e escreveu que o filme "pode ​​ser uma fantasia, mas é adorável e sábio". David Morgan da CBS elogiou a cinematografia, o design de produção e o figurino por "tornar um verão na década de 1980 palpavelmente vivo novamente". Ele considerou o personagem de Stuhlbarg "o pai mais visionário da história do cinema". Richard Lawson escreveu que a adaptação de Guadagnino "foi feita com amor verdadeiro, com boas intenções, com clareza de coração e intelecto proposital e despretensioso" e a saudou como um "clássico gay moderno" em sua crítica da Vanity Fair . Michael Phillips do Chicago Tribune ficou satisfeito com os interesses visuais "maravilhosamente paradoxais" de Guadagnino e escreveu que as canções de Stevens "funcionam como mágica em suas simpatias em relação ao despertar emocional de Elio". Ele elogiou a performance de Hammer como "um dos melhores trabalhos mais fáceis e relaxados de sua carreira". 

Base de fãs

O filme conquistou uma grande base de fãs internacionais. Durante sua temporada em festivais, as pessoas cruzaram fronteiras e oceanos para estar entre as primeiras a ver o filme. Em 2018, Barb Mirell publicou uma coleção de histórias de fãs ao redor do mundo sobre o que o filme significava para eles. No início de 2018, o filme atraiu seguidores na China entre mulheres heterossexuais, que o viam como um romance ocidental de " amor de meninos ", evidenciado por sua popularidade na rede social chinesa e no banco de dados de mídia Douban . 

Depois que um fã italiano publicou as coordenadas dos locais de filmagem, visitar Crema tornou-se uma peregrinação para os fãs do filme. A cidade agora oferece passeios oficiais. 

CALL ME BY YOUR NAME (2017) dir. Luca Guadagnino

[hazyaltcare]

can i get an aesthetic board for an incest paring elio perlman x samuel perlman from call me by your name? With themes of summer, italy, peaches, archeology, and love.

Sure

Queued.

Mod StemRoses

[brookstonalmanac]

Birthdays 4.13

Beer Birthdays

Joseph Bramah (1748)

Albert C. Houghton (1844)

George Gund II (1888)

Julie Bradford Johnson (1953)

Ray McCoy (1960)

Andreas Fält (1971)

Five Favorite Birthdays

Don Adams; actor (1923)

Peter Davison; actor, "Dr. Who" (1951)

James Ensor; Belgian artist (1860)

Al Green; R&B singer (1946)

Thomas Jefferson; 3rd U.S. President (1743)

Famous Birthdays

Lyle Alzado; Denver Broncos DE, actor (1949)

Samuel Beckett; Irish writer (1906)

Lou Bega; pop musician (1975)

Peabo Bryson; pop singer (1951)

Alfred Butts; Scrabble game creator (1899)

Jack Casady; rock bassist (1944)

Teddy Charles; jazz vibraphonist (1928)

Bill Conti; composer (1942)

Jana Cova; Czech porn actor, model (1980)

Erich von Daniken; writer (1935)

Stanley Donen; film director (1924)

Tony Dow; actor (1945)

William Henry Drummond; Canadian poet (1854)

Guy Fawkes; English conspirator (1570)

Edward Fox; actor (1937)

Bud Freeman; jazz saxophonist (1906)

Amy Goodman; journalist, writer (1957)

Dan Gurney; auto racer (1931)

Jeanne Guyon; French mystic, founder of Quietism (1648)

Seamus Heaney; poet (1939)

Garry Kasparov; chess player (1963)

Howard Keel; actor (1919)

Davis Love III; golfer (1964)

Ron Perlman; actor (1950)

Philippe de Rothschild; French winemaker (1902)

Rick Schroder; actor (1970)

Paul Sorvino; actor (1939)

Jon Stone; Sesame Street co-creator (1931)

Lyle Waggoner; actor (1935)

Max Weinberg; drummer (1951)

Eudora Welty; writer (1909)

F.W. Woolworth; merchant, 5&10 cent store creator (1852)

[theseshipsshallsail]

Chapter 4

There’s no set pattern, he learns, as they stroll alongside the billowing bed linen strung up on the line to dry.

“One minute she’s condemning Bush’s war. Or telling Little Ollie how I jammed a shell up my nose when I was six.” Elio adjusts his sunglasses, wiping the fine sheen of sweat from his temple. “And the next she’s crying uncontrollably. Dismayed we haven’t paid the knife-grinder ‘cause it’s Wednesday afternoon, and she can’t hear the grate of his whetstone over the pasta machine’s rollers.”

Nodding gravely, Oliver dodges a cobalt beetle flitting by the honeysuckle. “It’s curious,” he says. “The sights and sounds on which we grow dependent.” 

We are all products of our subconscious, mon cœur, his invisible Elio pipes up.

Some more than others, Oliver acknowledges, closing the orchard gate behind them. “I keep listening out for Anchise’s hammer,” he says aloud, skirting a patch of ruby-red poppies. “The snip of his pruning shears as he goes about his grafts.”

Elio chuckles: sunshine after a hurricane. “The endless quarrels with Manfredi over dowsing his tomatoes…” Changing direction, he strides through the tawny rye grass. “We lost him to cancer, too, poor man. I used to think he was so old, but he wasn’t even fifty.”

“Mortality is no respecter of age,” Oliver says, longing for a glimpse of Vimini’s sombrero amongst the heavily-laden trees. “I had a Humanities colleague who’d argue it’s the breadth of one’s life that’s paramount. Not the length.”

Elio smirks in his peripheral. “Is that a euphemism?” he asks, and Oliver shakes his head as he plucks a glossy cherry from the bough. 

“Goose.”

They’d begun their jaunt with a brief inspection of Samuel’s former office: Oliver cradling his first-edition Heraclitus as a Compaq laptop and dial-up modem whirred gratingly where Pro’s clunky typewriter once sat. From there, they’d ventured to the living room - past conversations rising up like dybbuks when Elio whisked a glissando upon the Bösendorfer’s ivory keys - but the notable absence of the Perlman patriarch soon drew them to the gardens outside.

“I had no idea he was so sick…” 

“Very few did,” Elio’d revealed, standing shiva by the metre-high oak whose roots sheltered his father’s ashes. “There’s nothing Homeric in dying, mio figlio.” His impression had been uncanny. “So why set the cat amongst someone else’s pigeons?” 

“These walls aren’t meant for silence,” Oliver tells him now. “Micol and the boys… they welcomed the leisurely pace that weekend. Lazing by the pool. Eating their fill of Mafalda’s bomboloni. But without you plunking Bach as Busoni or Liszt -” Without his barbs. His wit. His challenging disposition. “It all seemed false. Tarnished.” Something that saw him weeping in Sami’s arms during his late-night meltdown. “I couldn’t get past it,” Oliver confesses over the chirping cicadas. “The double standards. The disloyalty. The life we’d had to sacrifice to bring my traviamento about…”

Elio pauses by a thicket of brambles. “All forms of obligation entail some measure of submission,” he replies carefully. “Mankind is flawed; in that, we’re all the same. The mandate pressure to conform. To appease. To be liked and esteemed... that’s the modus vivendi. It’s how society works.”

Oliver appreciates the tact, but: “That doesn’t make it right.”

“No,” Elio replies, chewing slowly. “It doesn’t.”

“And to see your family dote on mine as if they were - oi!” Oliver baulks when a squidgy projectile ricochets off his forehead. “Did you just throw a berry?”

“Technically it’s an aggregate.”

“Pardon me?”

“Single flower: multiple ovaries,” Elio says with deliberate insouciance, calmly partaking of a second. “You need to stop torturing yourself, mio amico. We aren't made for looking back; not with all that lies before us. What’s done is done.” 

If only it were that clear-cut. “I’d still hear you,” Oliver mumbles, snapping the cherry’s spindly stalk. “Talk to you - in my mind, that is…”

Elio’s eyes narrow suspiciously. “In your mind?”

“Sometimes out loud.” Oliver scrunches his face. “Like a wise-cracking Jiminy Cricket,” he says, earning a baleful glare, and the raucous scuffle that ensues sees them howling in fits of wild abandon.

“This stuff is like gold dust in New England,” Oliver explains, smacking his lips as he smears the condensation on his bottled Peroni. “I lucked out in Manhattan - mom-and-pop trattoria near the dry-cleaners - but Hanover’s liquor stores are… well…”

“Scraping the barrel?” Elio suggests, snickering into the dregs of his sparkling Negroni. “I had a similar problem my freshman year at Julliard. Got so homesick for melanzane alla parmigiana, Mafalda had to teach me some recipes over the winter break.”

They’re seated underneath the tricolore parasol of the Pirozi’s open-air café. The exact same venue they’d loitered at the day Elio presented him a dedicated copy of Stendahl’s Armance. A mid-week market lays claim to the piazzetta, yet the grand, Baroque architecture draws Oliver’s gaze to the residential balconies above: where the same moss-riddled window boxes spill forth a scarlet cascade of geraniums; the petals of which create an arbour over the same slatted door by which their younger-selves would’ve kissed if they could. 

It’s about there, however, that the likenesses end, because the Zanetti’s bookshop has been replaced by a trendy wine bar, la osteria bears all the hallmarks of a pizza parlour, and the chalkboards advertising the traders’ wares tout the prices in euros, rather than lira. All in all, it should be jarring, but 1983 is another country, so Oliver revels in the casual brush of knees below the cast iron table, instead. The cathartic freedom that comes from such simple displays of affection.

“My roommates could barely make toast without setting off the smoke detectors,” Elio tells him then, wrinkling his nose at the exhaust fumes when a wheezing shuttle-bus pulls up by the Piave memorial. “We got by on takeaway menus and instant noodles for weeks.” A snort. “That all changed when I introduced them to torta barozzi and homemade ribollita.”

“I bet it did.” Oliver spies a cassocked priest disembarking the idling vehicle. “You’ll have to tutor me on ziti alla norma. Lord knows how Mafalda dices the eggplant that thinly.”

“Lo farò.” Elio leers. “It’s all in the wrist action.” 

“Reprobate.”

“You love it,” Elio says, taking an economic sip, and the bob of his throat makes Oliver’s mouth water for a delicacy more alluring than the deep-fried arancini they’d devoured earlier.

Because he does. 

He does love it. 

Loves him. 

And hard as it is to credit? Elio loves him, too.

“Do you know what else I couldn’t find in the States?” 

The other man tilts back in his chair. “Besides me, you mean?”

It’s coy to the point of transparency. “Yes, you miscreant. Besides you.” 

“Illuminami.” Elio swirls the melting ice cubes in the bottom of his glass. “What else couldn’t you find?”

“That.” Oliver nods at the harlequin awning of the gelateria. “The genuine article, at any rate. How about it, huh? A scoop of something cold before we hit the road?”

The tips of Elio’s ears rouge pink. “Are you asking me on a date?”

“And what if I am?”

“And what if I am, he says…” Elio bites his lower lip. “In that case, I’m ordering the stracciatella.” A beat. “Chocolate sauce, too.” 

“Chocolate sauce?” Oliver’s outright giddy; something he hasn’t experienced in a long, long while. “What are you? Twelve?”

Elio winks. “When in Rome…”

“Desecrate a fountain? Vomit in a trash can?” 

The gentle weight of a sneaker butts his canvas toe-cap, and Oliver grins indulgently as Elio hums a couple lines of Fenesta Ca Lucive. “Perhaps if I ask her nicely,” he says, low and teasing. “…Sofia might sprinkle on some peas…”

“A worthwhile goal is like a strenuous exercise, my boy: you must exert yourself to achieve it!”

That’s the mantra his zayde used to preach, giving his six-year-old self that extra boost when his stubby fingers couldn’t reach the rugelach cooling on his bakery counter. Solid advice, indeed - a motto that’s seen him through school and vocation, alike - so it’s no surprise that Oliver repeats it verbatim until the quad-aching moment he finally scrambles to the summit of San Giacomo’s spiralling belfry. 

They’d forgone their bikes at the base of the hiking trail; entrusted them to a crumbling cenotaph whose granite Neptune stood valiantly despite an encroaching veneer of bougainvillaea and silver lichen. Within minutes, Elio’d shunned the drab, wooden markers - their arrows so worn as to be almost indecipherable - and grabbing Oliver’s hand he’d leapfrogged a petering brook, steps brisk and undaunted on the cumbersome terrain.

“You know what?” Oliver says, bow-taut and gasping. “I stand by my previous assertion. I am too old for this kind of schlep.”

Both their shirts are dotted with perspiration, and Elio’s scoff bounces off the seventeenth century stonework as he doubles over; hip-checking him lightly. “Don’t be so defeatist. You’ve hardly aged a day.”

“Tell that to my joints,” Oliver grouches, rubbing his left patella. “Though I’d like to think I’ve gained some modicum of wisdom.” 

“You’ve always liked to think that.”

“Brat,” Oliver grunts, drunk on the build. 

They’re four-hundred metres above sea-level - if his sketchy interpretation of the bacheca informativa holds true - and when a balmy wind ruffles his hair Oliver leans into it. Leans atop the parapet, also; inhaling raggedly as he takes in the view. 

The vivid tapestry of poplars and cyprī woven into the verdant landscape.

The two-masted schooner where sky meets ocean.

The swarm of American sightseers clogging the tapered path, whose overbearing hubbub precipitated them taking Elio’s shortcut in the first place.

“Magnificent, isn’t it?” 

“Bellissimo,” Oliver replies, sidling closer to where Elio’s propped his forearms on the rusty railings. “To-die-for,” he adds, evoking the parochial nickname. “It’s just a shame we’re not -”

“Da questa parte, signore e signori!” 

Oliver groans at the shrill interloper marshalling her troops in the flagstone courtyard below.  

“Riuniti in stretta. This way, please!” the tour guide continues, launching into a pre-prepared spiel on the history of the Franciscan watchtower. 

Elio sniggers when she starts in on the legends of the six copper bells - muttering his own annotations whenever she fudges - and Oliver’s forced to stifle a guffaw when the peeved woman glances up mid-flow; her entire entourage following suit like a mob of reproachful meerkats.