Why the peach scene from 'call me by your name' is an art form

Timothée Chalamet fiddles with the peach in the jaw-dropping scene from Academy Award Winning film, gọi Me by Your Name

Filmmaker Luca Guadagnino"s film, Call Me by Your Name (based on the novel by André Aciman) has been circulating the film scene since it’s Sundance debut at the beginning of 2017. It is just now starting to lớn creep its way back into the mainstream thanks lớn its reintroduction khổng lồ the Tik Tok generation & the viral “#TimotheeChalamet” challenge.

The tender, vulnerable, và outright genuine film follows the blooming relationship between the seventeen-year-old Elio Perlman (Timothée Chalamet) & a visiting grad student Oliver (Armie Hammer). The film is an artistic bundle of emotions that highlights the value of relationship, the importance of self-exploration, & the beauty of living in the present và taking chances.

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Almost 155,000 Letterboxd users favor the film with nearly 89,000 users giving the film a five-star rating. It’s no secret that the film has been well-received, but there is one scene from the film that has sparked debate among critics and fans alike. One of the more memorable scenes takes place in a detached building from Perlman"s villa in the middle of an Italian summer afternoon. We see a shirtless Elio laying on a mattress placed on the floor in the empty room where he is listening lớn music and reading. Suddenly, he reaches for a peach và begins fiddling with it, thinking intensely about what he is going to vị next.

Then, he plunges his finger into the peach và juice from the fruit begins dripping onto Elio’s toàn thân as he continues khổng lồ violate the fruit with his fingers. He removes the pit, throws it across the room, & stares intently at the peach & the gaping hole he has created in it. I bet you can guess what he does next.

I watched this movie with a group of about 28 people and all 28 of our jaws dropped to lớn the floor as Elio lowers the peach past his abdomen and underneath the band of his shorts. Although the camera does not show it, the squishing sounds that echo through the empty room và the facial expressions Elio is making indicate that he is indeed masturbating with the help of the prune. After he is finished violating the peach, he sets it down on the bedside table, rolls over, và falls asleep.

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The debate revolving around the “controversial” scene is split between those who see the scene as an unnecessary, pornographic element that only exists to add a shock factor, while others interpret it as an artistic element that is essential khổng lồ the development of the characters and the plot of the film. There are valid arguments on both sides of the debate, but essentially, only one of these sides is correct. Sorry, but if you think that this scene is more pornographic than it is artistic, your opinion is wrong!

In order khổng lồ understand the artfulness of this scene, you must first understand the context of the film as a whole & the major themes evident in the story. In this scene, we can see that Elio is a curious teenager & is experimenting with his sexuality. If anything, Elio’s peach-love-making scene was one of the most vulnerable, human scenes in the entire film and this statement is further supported by the actions that follow the aforementioned peach sex. Oliver, Elio’s love interest, comes in as Elio is sleeping & wakes him up by performing oral sex on him.

Oliver asks Elio about the peach taste và Elio avoids the question. Elio’s attempts to lớn cover up what he has done fail when Oliver peers over at the peach sitting on the table và puts the pieces together. Elio then asks a question that lets us know that there is something much deeper to lớn this scene than just the shock of fruit-rape.

Oliver picks up the peach and examines it as Elio asks, “I’m sick, aren’t I?” With this one line, we discover that Elio is confused about sexuality in general. We can infer this, even more, when Oliver tries to lớn consume the semen-filled peach in an attempt lớn be deviant và Elio tries relentlessly to lớn stop him. So much so that it gets to lớn the point where Oliver is physically restraining Elio, preventing him from interrupting his eating of the peach.Before Oliver gets the chance to lớn ingest the peach, Elio breaks, leading to lớn the revelation that this scene is more than what it appears lớn be. Elio’s emotional breakdown allows us lớn experience the same confusion, frustration, và embarrassment that he feels.

Timothée Chalamet, who plays the role of Elio, agrees with this side of the argument. “When Elio mindlessly makes love to this fruit it illuminates this idea of boundaryless love awakening in this growing adult,” Chalamet says. “What made André’s book so powerful và new, to me, was this ambiguity it had to any sort of strict views on sexuality. The peach scene really is this idea in the film that everything is of the Earth. Life is just organic. I don’t know what side of the peach debate that puts me on...”

Don’t worry, Timmy! We know what side that puts you on! The writer of the book, André Aciman, & director of the film, Luca Guadagnino, both included this scene in their works for a reason—they found that this scene was a crucial piece of a puzzle that is comprised of authentic, human moments. In my opinion, that is the very definition of art.