Call Me By Your Name's Peach Scene Is Deeper Than You Think

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“Call Me by Your Name” made a pretty big splash upon its initial release in 2017. Nominated for four Academy Awards, one of which it won, the film helped put Italian filmmaker Luca Guadagnino on the map and also helped launch the career of burgeoning Hollywood superstar Timothée Chalamet.

However, “Call Me by Your Name” wasn’t without controversy. While some criticized the gay romance for the age gap between its two central characters, co-star Armie Hammer has since been accused of sexual misconduct and other crimes. Still, fans will recall that in the movie’s story, there was one particularly provocative scene involving a boy, a peach, and an uncontrollable desire.

As Elio (Chalamet) examines the peach, he begins to see it in more sensual terms, relieving himself in bed and depositing his seed into the peach itself. However, as explained by the author of the “Call Me by Your Name” book in an interview with TIFF (via X, formerly known as Twitter), there is more to the scene in question than simple base provocation. “The peach scene is, I think, very essential,” said author André Aciman, “partly because it’s so shocking but also at the same time because it is the most intimate moment between the two men.” The writer went on to explain that the scene goes even further in the book.

Yup, there’s a version where Oliver does indeed eat the peach

“In the book, Oliver eats the peach,” André Aciman explained. “And he says, ‘because I want every part of you. If you’re going to die, I want part of you to stay with me in my system, and that’s the way I’m going to do it.’ So it is a very powerful moment.”

Though Oliver only teases Elio in the film version of “Call Me By Your Name,” suggesting very emphatically and convincingly that he will eat the peach, he actually does bite into the peach in the novel, making the scene far more shocking than its cinematic counterpart. “In the film, he just puts his finger [into it] and almost licks it, and that is good enough for cinema,” Aciman went on. “We don’t need to see more.”

The “Call Me By Your Name” author also dove into what the scene means to the two central characters. As the scene progresses, Elio and Oliver briefly struggle, and Aciman went into the import of this: “At some point, Elio will say, ‘You’re hurting me.’ And [Oliver] says, ‘Let go then’ … at which point, Elio just breaks down and cries, and he says, ‘I don’t want you to go.’ … It takes a very physical, almost lusty, moment and finds its emotional equivalent right away.”