So glad to see people are still passioned about CMBYN 😇 ... Did you read the book before the movie came out and if yes, did this effect your experience about watching the movie? And which parts/aspects of the book do you think was missing in the movie ? 💙💛
Dear Anon, you have no idea how happy your message makes me. You're welcome in my inbox at anytime, with any cmbyn thought or any question 💙💛
I've watched the movie first, in the most random decision you can think of. I barely knew what it was about walking into the screening room. I've started the book around a week later (I think I wanted to see the movie a second time before starting, but i don't remember why exactly) and finished it 48 hours later.
Seeing the movie first did affect my experience with the book actually. The main way of it is how I felt about Elio. I think if I had started with the book, I would have needed a bit more time to start loving this boy. I don't think it's because book!Elio is less lovable than movie!Elio but because as a reader, you're way deeper inside Elio's head and the intimacy of it. I find it quite uncomfortable as a first introduction to a character. But thanks to Timmy's work, I already knew him.
About the parts of the book I might have missed in the movie-- there are some, but in the narration of the movie, they wouldn't have made sense, so I don't miss them that much.
The movie is very much anchored in the present of 1983. Unlike the book, the narrator isn't a 20-years-later-Elio talking to the audience. So all the last parts of the book aren't missing as much as they would have in another type of narration.
For a while, I was a bit angry because all the lines where Oliver speaks his feelings for Elio during their summer weren't in the movie. But again, with the narration, it makes sense. 1983!Elio hasn't really understood any of Oliver's declarations in the present of the movie so him not hearing them for real makes sense. The older narrator in the book, because he had 20 years to think about his lover's words, can understand what they meant and what Oliver meant bacj then so the reader is allowed to read them. In the movie, it's more subtle. You can see things on Oliver's face with Armie's acting but Elio doesn't really catch them.
What I can say is, I liked their time in Rome better than their time in Bergamo. The movie version of this part was really short and less deep or meaningful than it was the book. And I miss the ocean in the global scenery and I miss it even more in the "days wasted" scene.
I hope this answers your ask. Thanks again for sending it 💜
