Let’s talk about water y’all! More importantly, water’s role in punctuating the story of our beloved Elio and Oliver in the film. We love a good motif!!!
I tried to find screencaps of each shot I talk about in this post, but they were kind of difficult to come by, so I threw what I could in there, and as for the rest...I hope I explain the shot I’m referencing accurately!
First, there are the swim trunk shots — where Oliver’s trunks are hanging from the faucet of the tub. The faucet is dripping, just as Elio’s (and Oliver’s, but we’ll focus on our boy elly belly for the time being) feelings are beginning to trickle out, or at least, he’s beginning to become aware of what his feelings are exactly. He’s never experienced this before, and he’s slow to let this foreign emotion spill out in the slightest.
I’m building up to the good stuff, I swear!
Then comes the shot just before Oliver’s “listen to this drivel,” that shows the fountain (it’s more like a faucet for the pool?? but idk what else to call it) letting out a steady stream of water into their lil swimming trough. Their exchange here -- “that’s the kindest thing anyone has said to me in months” -- opens Elio up to the thought of giving himself over to feeling, maybe even letting himself think that Oliver could be feeling just as he is. The feeling faucet™, is beginning to fill Elio’s emotional tub (there’s gotta be a more eloquent way for me to say this, but here we are).
Then there’s the shot preceding Annella’s story time. We all know the story of the princess and the knight, that mirrors Elio and Oliver almost exactly (shouts out to Annella, we stan the queen of quietly meddling) -- I DIGRESS. It’s storming, and the rain is heavy and unrelenting; the shot shows the peach trees and the rest of the orchard getting hounded by the storm, much like Elio’s own whirlwind of emotion underneath the surface. He’s confused, troubled over what he’s feeling for Oliver. Troubled over whether or not it’s right, whether or not it’s possible that the feeling could be reciprocated, whether or not he should act on it. “I’ll never have the courage to ask a question like that,” he says. But then what happens the next day?!
The next day: Oliver sitting on the edge of the pool, with his foot swaying idly in the water. Literally dipping his toe in the pool of this thing they’re on the precipice of (it’s love, bitch!! letting yourself love and be loved!!) After they conclude that the princess says it’s “better to speak,” well...Oliver speaks. “Why don’t we go together” -- not an outright confession of wanting, but a subtle volley of the ball back into Elio’s court. The best way Oliver knows to communicate how he’s feeling. And then Monet’s Berm happens. *cries*
Then we approach a sort of stalemate. Sitting water, if you will. We see Elio swim, but here, the water -- it’s more of a cleansing he’s chasing. Trying to wash away the feelings that are persisting after the Berm, perhaps? In and out of the water, he pops up out of the lake with the Star of David on his neck, in his mouth. With Oliver is distancing himself, that’s Elio’s way of being with him again. To be connected through their shared faith, if nothing else. In and out of the water with Marzia, trying to wash away his craving her, his craving Oliver. With each dip and reemergence, Elio wanting something different -- going back under again and again because he’s unsure of what he wants, or should want, each time he thinks he’s made up his mind. And after the midnight scene, his and Oliver’s morning swim was probably meant to bring him some clarity after his (sexual/moral) identity crisis. Water is cleansing, but it’s also literally fluid, fluidity. It can take countless forms. You can have rain, snow, ice; it can be cold or hot or anything between the two extremes -- be a lake, river, pool, ocean. Just as love has infinite forms -- wanting man and/or woman, the love you have for your family, your friends, star-crossed love, calling-the-other-by-your-name love. Endless variations.
And then, ladies and gentlemen, we have fucking Bergamo. This is the love dam breaking. A deafening, constant, roaring roll of water, of love, flowing hard and fast. In this place, the two of them can be wholly themselves, completely in love, without the weight of their inevitable goodbye, of judgment, of anything from the outside world. They know no one there, only each other. They can just be. Running up these mountains screaming “Love My Way,” calling each by the other’s name at the top of their lungs. The enormity of their love, of Elio accepting that he is in love, that this, arguably most important human emotion, is being reciprocated and the fact that they’re living in this bliss even for just a few days, is manifested physically in the shots of these unbelievable feats of nature. And love is a feat of nature in and of itself. There’s an air of mystery around a waterfall as well -- I don’t know how to describe it, and I don’t know how many of you have ever witnessed one in person -- it’s so loud, so impossible to ignore, so crazy to witness with your own eyes. You just have to stand there and take it all in. This is that moment for Elio and Oliver, taking in everything that their love has to offer them in this heartbreakingly short amount of time. I’m crying ?????
And then, just like that, Oliver is gone. And the winter comes. The Berm has frozen over, the home, the town in which they spent all of their time together has all but been buried in snow. The water has frozen, the love has frozen. It hasn’t disappeared, it’s just...existing under the ice. And it may take a while, but ice always, always thaws.
...aaaaaand that’s all I’ve got. I need the sequel pronto! I need to see their love flow freely again!!!
