45/32
References Beau travail (1999)
Synopsis
Lee, who recounts his life in Mexico, among American expat students and bar owners who survive on part-time jobs and GI Bill benefits. He is forced to search for a young man named Allerton, based on Adelbert Lewis Marker. IMDb editor Arno Kazarian previews the 12 films he will screen at the 2024 New York Film Festival, including Anora and the dangerous, strangely erotic Misericordia. Luca Guadagnino has said in an interview that Queer is a project he has wanted to make since he was 20.
In 1950s Mexico, William Lee, an American writer from the wrong side of… the 1940s?
I have never seen Naked Lunch (1991), but I often thought about it during a screening of Queer; at the 2024 London Film Festival: probably to be expected, since both films were sourced by William S. Burroughs. Fifty? Spends his days getting drunk, shooting up guns, and having random sex with other men.
But what does Eugene want?
One day, a muscular, smart young dude named Eugene walks into a bar and Lee is smitten. And then there’s that telepathic drug, which is worth thinking about… I’m not sure what director Luca Guadagnino is trying to achieve stylistically with this film. The sets are done almost exclusively in block colors—like dull reds and olive greens—and have this slightly unrealistic, clean Technicolor look that made me think it was meant to pay homage to the films of the era the film was set in. But if that’s the case, why is the soundtrack decidedly un-50s-esque rock and techno?
I managed to see it once, but I won’t be watching it again
Daniel Craig (is it just my imagination or is he starting to resemble Sid James?) has a hard time playing the lead role, as he constantly has to recite gibberish in an accent that is clearly not his. Drew Starkey could give a more subtle performance as the manipulative Eugene and certainly looks stylish. Lesley Manville is unrecognizable as a doctor living in the jungles of South America – kudos to the makeup team! To me, this is the kind of film that is more about the visual style than the storytelling.
