21/48
In 1950s Mexico City, an American immigrant in his late forties lives a lonely life in the midst of a small American community. However, the arrival of a young student finally inspires the man to have a meaningful relationship with someone.. It was Daniel Craig who convinced Luca Guadagnino to cast Drew Starkey after watching audition tapes with Guadagnino and seeing Starkey and saying, “That’s the guy.”. William Lee: Sit on Your Ass! Or What’s Left of It After Four Years in the Navy.. The Graham Norton Show features: Daniel Craig/Nicola Coughlan/Jesse Eisenberg/Kieran Culkin/Flo (2024). I’ve never seen ‘Naked Lunch’. (1991) But I thought about it often during the screening of ‘Queer’ at the 2024 London Film Festival: probably something to be expected, since William S. Burroughs provided the source material for both films. In 1950s Mexico, American writer William Lee, … forty? fifty? spends his time drinking, shooting and having casual sex with other men. One day, Eugene, a muscular, intelligent young hunk, walks into the bar and Lee is shocked. But what does Eugene himself want? Besides that telepathic drug to think about… Stylistically, I’m not sure what director Luca Guadagnino is trying to achieve with this film. The sets are almost entirely blocky in color – dark red and olive green, for example – and have that vaguely unrealistic, clean, technicolor look that I thought was intended to pay homage to the films of the era in which the film is set. But if that’s the case, why the rock and techno soundtrack that doesn’t belong in the 1950s? Daniel Craig (is it my imagination or is he starting to sound like Sid James?) is hampered by having to constantly deliver absurd speeches in the lead role, in an accent that is clearly not his own. Drew Starkey gives a subtle performance as the manipulative Eugene and certainly looks the part in preparation. Leslie Manville is unrecognizable as a doctor living in the South American jungle – kudos to the makeup team! This is the kind of film that I feel is more about the artistic style than the substance of the storytelling. It’s okay to watch once, but I won’t watch it again.