In 1950s Mexico City, an American immigrant in his late forties leads a solitary life amidst a small American community. However, the arrival of a young student stirs the man into finally es... Read allIn 1950s Mexico City, an American immigrant in his late forties leads a solitary life amidst a small American community. However, the arrival of a young student stirs the man into finally establishing a meaningful connection with someone.In 1950s Mexico City, an American immigrant in his late forties leads a solitary life amidst a small American community. However, the arrival of a young student stirs the man into finally establishing a meaningful connection with someone.
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In 1950s' México, William Lee, an American writer on the wrong side of... forty? Fifty? Spends his days getting drunk, shooting up and having casual sex with other men. One day muscular, smart young hunk Eugene walks into the bar and Lee is smitten. But what does Eugene himself want? Plus there is that telepathic drug to think about...
I am not sure what, stylistically, director Luca Guadagnino is trying to achieve with this film. The sets are decorated almost exclusively in block colours - dull reds and olive greens, for example - and have that vaguely unrealistic, clean, Technicolour look that made me think the intention is to homage the films of the era in which the film is set. But if that is the case, why the decidedly un-1950s rock- and techno soundtrack?
Daniel Craig (is it my imagination or is he beginning to look like Sid James?) is hamstrung in the lead role by constantly having to declaim nonsense speeches in an accent clearly not his own. Drew Starkey is able to give a subtler performance as the manipulative Eugene, and certainly looks the preppy part. Lesley Manville is unrecognisable as a doctor living in the South American jungle - well done to the make-up team!
This is the kind of film that strikes me as being more about arty style than storytelling substance. It was okay to see once, but I shall not be watching it again.
Regrettably, I cannot extend the same level of admiration to "Queer."
While the performances by Craig and Starkey are commendable, their characters or rather the storytelling at core did not resonate with me. Intricacies of the relationship too failed to evoke the kind of emotional response I was expecting.
However, the final thirty minutes of the film provides an extraordinary experience, offering a sense of catharsis that is quite experimental, even for a filmmaker like Luca Guadagnino, who often deviates from traditional narratives.
Synopsis: 1950. William Lee, an American expat in Mexico City, spends his days almost entirely alone, except for a few contacts with other members of the small American community. His encounter with Eugene Allerton, an expat former soldier, new to the city, shows him, for the first time, that it might be finally possible to establish an intimate connection with somebody.
Did you know
- TriviaDaniel Craig was ultimately the one who convinced Luca Guadagnino to cast Drew Starkey after watching audition tapes with Guadagnino and telling him "That's the guy" after seeing Starkey's.
- GoofsOn the bar scene around minute 13-14 when William Lee (Daniel Craig) notices the centipede necklace, he lifts his glasses over his eyebrows with his left hand and hold it like that, on the follow up scene his glasses are correctly in place and his left hand not visible. The next scene when the man across from him touch William's leg, he is still holding the glasses above his eyebrows and then correctly puts it back in place.
- Quotes
[via telepathy]
Eugene Allerton: I'm not queer. Lee... I'm not queer.
William Lee: I know.
Eugene Allerton: I'm disembodied.
- Crazy creditsAlthough every effort has been made to identify and contact all intellectual property rights holders of the materials used in the film, the producer remains available to any rights holders who were unknown or unreachable at the time of the film's production and/or in case of any unintentional omissions.
- Alternate versionsThe Singapore release is a censored version, with 3 minutes cut due to 'explicit depictions of sexual activities between two men'. According to the local censors, 'These have exceeded the Classification Guidelines which state that "any material that is about or promotes... sexual behaviour that does not reflect current community attitudes and values in Singapore" will be refused classification.'
- SoundtracksAll Apologies
Written by Kurt Cobain (as Kurt Donald Cobain)
Performed by Sinéad O'Connor
Courtesy of Chrysalis Records Limited
- How long is Queer?Powered by Alexa
Details
Box office
- Gross US & Canada
- $3,736,813
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $200,951
- Dec 1, 2024
- Gross worldwide
- $7,000,927
- Runtime2 hours 17 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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