‘Call Me By Your Name’ author reveals Elio’s dad is not gay
“The father may have been attracted to men or not, we don’t know from the book."
By Steve Brown
Words: Steve Brown
‘Call Me By Your Name’ author André Aciman has confirmed Elio’s dad is not gay.
The movie adaptation of Aciman’s popular LGBTQ novel starred the likes of Armie Hammer and Timothee Chalamet as Oliver and Elio respectively.
And although the film was critically acclaimed, one of the best pieces of dialogue comes towards the end of the film from Elio’s father.
The final speech of the film, the father gives a seminal monologue where he comforts his son during his heartbreak and towards the end of this moving dialogue, he goes on to say: “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.”
Later Elio almost whispers: “Does mom know?”
“I don’t think she does,” he replies.
Watch the clip below:
Many fans of the film interpreted this as a hint that Elio’s father had, in his past, a same-sex romance just like his son.
However, the author of the novel has confirmed that the father is not gay and teased his relationship in the upcoming sequel ‘Find Me’.
Speaking to GQ, Aciman said: “This was not at all my intention when I wrote the book.
“The movie has basically validated that particular approach. And I have to say that I can see that this is equally a valid approach to the father’s speech.
“The father may have been attracted to men or not, we don’t know from the book.
“From the movie, you have every right to infer that. But not in the book. So when he splits with his wife, he’s not splitting because he has homosexual tendencies, but simply because something must have gone wrong in their marriage.”