Call Me by Your Name Page #11

Revision50.

ELIO:

(to himself, under his

breath)

Traitor. Traitor!

68 EXT. GARDEN IN FRONT OF THE KITCHEN -PERLMAN VILLA -DAY 68 *

The next day. ELIO is the last to arrive. He pretends to

ignore OLIVER, who is cracking open the top of his soft-

boiled egg. ANNELLA looks at OLIVER in a worried way:

ANNELLA:

Guarda un po’ quanto sei pallido.

(How gaunt you look!)

PERLMAN looks up from his paper.

PERLMAN:

I pray to God you made a killing

last night, otherwise I’ll have to

answer to your father.

OLIVER:

(speaking down into the

messy egg-cracking

business)

I never lose, Pro.

PERLMAN:

Does your father approve?

OLIVER:

I pay my own way. I’ve paid my way

since high school. My father

couldn’t possibly disapprove.

PERLMAN:

Did you have a lot to drink last

night?

OLIVER:

(buttering his bread)

That -and other things.

PERLMAN:

I don’t think I want to know.

OLIVER:

Neither does my father. And to be

perfectly frank, I don’t think I

care to remember myself.

ELIO looks up at this.

PERLMAN:

Do you save your winnings?

51.

OLIVER:

Save and invest, Pro.

PERLMAN:

I wish I’d had your head at your

age; I would have spared myself

many mistaken turns.

OLIVER:

Mistaken turns? I can’t picture you

even imagining a mistaken turn.

PERLMAN:

That’s because you see me as a

figure, not a human being. Worse

yet:
as an old figure. But there

were. Mistaken turns, that is.

Everyone goes through a period of traviamento -when we take, say, a

different turn in life, the other via. Dante himself did. Some

recover, some pretend to recover,

some never come back, some chicken

out before ever starting, and some,

for fear of taking any turns, find

themselves leading the wrong life

all life long.

Both young men listen. At the end OLIVER proceeds to crack

another egg. He has big bags under his eyes. He does look

gaunt.

OLIVER:

Sometimes the traviamento turns out

to be the right way, Pro. Or asgood a way as any. I know myself.

PERLMAN:

(lighting a cigarette, and

nodding)

At your age I knew nothing. But

today everyone knows everything,

and everyone talks, talks, talks.

ANNELLA:

Perhaps what Oliver needs is sleep,

sleep, sleep.

OLIVER:

Tonight, I promise, Signora P., No

poker, no drinking. I’ll put on

clean clothes, go over my

manuscript, and after dinner we’ll

all watch TV and play canasta, like

old folks in Little Italy.

ANNELLA sighs melodiously, relieved that Perlman’s words have

convinced him to stay home and rest.

52.

She offers Oliver more coffee, tells her seventeen year old

son not to slouch in his chair. MAFALDA brings in some

apricot juice in a chilled silver pitcher.

69 EXT. MAIN ENTRANCE LAWN -PERLMAN VILLA -DAY 69

OLIVER is doing some work for Perlman, specify. He seems hard

at work and does not look up as ELIO approaches. ELIO doesn’t

know how to break the silence. Then he sees and kicks the

volleyball lying under the nearby lime trees. The ball hits

Oliver “waking him up” from his work.

ELIO:

(despite himself, sounding

peevish)

I waited for you last night.

Oliver throws back the ball at him.

OLIVER:

Why didn’t you come into town?

Elio stops the ball.

ELIO:

Dunno.

OLIVER:

We had a nice time. You would have

too. Did you rest at least? Mafalda

said you went swimming.

ELIO:

I was okay. Restless, I guess.

OLIVER goes back to staring at the page he is writing and

mouthing the syllables. Elio kicks the ball again.

ELIO (CONT’D)

Are you headed into town this

morning?

OLIVER:

Later, maybe.

ELIO:

I was going to head into town

myself.

OLIVER:

Ummmm. I see.

ELIO:

A book I ordered finally arrived.

53.

70 INT PERLMAN STUDIO -PERLMAN VILLA -DAY 70

From inside his studio PERLMAN watches the two boys talking

on the lawn.

71 EXT. MAIN ENTRANCE LAWN -PERLMAN VILLA -DAY (CONT’D) 71

The conversation continues.

OLIVER:

I’ll pick it up for you if you

want.

ELIO:

It was just that I was hoping we’d

go together.

OLIVER:

You mean like the other day?

ELIO:

I don’t think we’ll ever do

anything like that again. But yes,

like that.

(beat)

That day belongs to a differenttime warp. We should leave sleeping

dogs

OLIVER listens, now looking at Elio straight in the face.

OLIVER:

That voice of wisdom is your most

winning trait. Do you like me that

much, Elio?

ELIO:

Do I like you? Do I like you,

Oliver? I worship you.

OLIVER’s face softens. He is touched by Elio’s forthright and

brave avowal.

OLIVER:

I’ll go with you but -no speeches.

ELIO:

No speeches, not a word.

OLIVER:

(gathering his things)

What do you say we grab our bikes

in half an hour?

54.

72 EXT. SPRINGS -FONTANILI GAVERINE -DAY 72

The vital, pure, and joyful sight of a fresh water spring,

the unstoppable stream gushing out from earth.

NARRATOR (V.O.)

Two young men travelling by bike,

riding into town and back... They

swam, played volley-ball, ate,

drank, and late at night ran into

each other on the very same

piazzetta where two mornings before

so much -but actually nothing

was said between them. Oliver was

with a girl, Elio also was with a

girl. If he hadn't messed things up

with his dramatics, Elio could have

enjoyed this for its own sake.

Every day they could have ridden

into town and back, and even if

that was all Oliver was willing to

give Elio, he would have taken it.

73 OMITTED 73

74 EXT. STREETS OF CREMA -DAY 74

ELIO and OLIVER walk their bikes along the streets of Crema.

ELIO stops and gives a book to OLIVER, who opens it and reads

what he has written.

OLIVER Zwischen Immer und Nie... (For you

in silence, somewhere in Italy in

the mid-eighties). This is the best

present I’ve received all year.

ELIO:

I’m glad then. I just wanted to...

(lightly)

I know -no speeches. Ever.

75 EXT. COUNTRY ROAD -FONTANILI GAVERINE -DAY 75

On the return ride, ELIO ignores the turn to “his place”, i

Fontanili. OLIVER, on the other hand, recognizes it, and as

he passes sees the pathway disappearing into the trees.

Oliver’s POV of the path.

55.

76 EXT. SOUTH TERRAZZA -PERLMAN VILLA -SUNSET 76

The PERLMANS are sitting having a drink at sundown. They are

joined by OLIVER, his hair glistening and slicked back after

his late afternoon shower. He makes himself a light drink and

eases back into his chair with a sigh of content. His ‘star’

look beams all over his features.

ANNELLA:

Our muvi star...

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