I recently watched a movie that was released two years ago and has received many great reviews. I had been planning to watch ‘Call me by your name’ for a while, and a few days ago it finally happened.
I thought it was a beautiful film in the purest sense of the word. A movie that really touched me, like no other movie did. When I read the description, I thought the main topic was “homosexuality.” Although there is of course nothing wrong with that, I found it very innovative and enlarging that the main subject turned out to be ‘love’. A love that is unconditional and beautiful. It makes you realize that love is pure and has nothing to do with gender. That love can shake you and leave you with grief and gratitude at the same time.
I am convinced that we must cherish this as human. If someone is lucky enough to meet someone he or she loves that much, we should be happy for that person. Whether it is a male-male, male-female or female-female relationship. The last thing we have to do is, often because of our own discomfort about homosexuality, reject the relationship. Because love is love. Love can blur difficulties, existential fears. Love can cause a profound sense of loneliness to disappear like snow in the sun.
Elio’s father (the 17-year-old main character) realizes the uniqueness of his son’s relationship with Oliver (the student who lives with them). He therefore turns this into anything but a problem and advises his son not to swallow his feelings, but to experience them. I think he expresses an essence here that is often forgotten today. Feelings are not signs of weakness, they are just signs of an intense life that is fully lived. Elio can happily praise himself with such a father, although I hope to see this attitude taken for granted by all parents now and in the future.
Herewith, I wish everyone a lot of love in his or her life. Experience it, and never let people stop you. Their hate is just a sign that they don’t know what love actually is.
Watching or reading ‘Call me by your name’?
The Idealist 