19/23
In 1950s Mexico City, an American immigrant in his forties lives a solitary life in the midst of a small American community. However, the arrival of a young student pushes the man to finally form a meaningful connection with someone.. Ultimately, Daniel Craig was 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.. William Lee: Sit on your ass! Or what’s left of it after four years in the Navy.. Appeared on The Graham Norton Show: Daniel Craig/Nicola Coughlan/Jesse Eisenberg/Kieran Culkin/Flo (2024). I’ve never seen Naked Lunch (1991), but I found myself thinking about it a lot during the screening of Queer at the 2024 London Film Festival – probably to be expected, given that William S. Burroughs provided the source material for both films. In 1950s Mexico, William Lee, an American writer on the wrong side of… forty? Fifty? spends his days getting drunk, doing drugs and having casual sex with other men. One day, the young, muscular Eugene walks into the bar and Lee is smitten. But what does Eugene want? And then there’s that telepathic drug to think about… I’m not sure what, stylistically, director Luca Guadagnino is trying to achieve with this film. The sets are decorated almost exclusively in solid colors, such as dull reds and olive greens, and have that vaguely unrealistic, clean, Technicolor look that made me think they were trying to pay homage to the era in which the film is set. But if that’s the case, why the decidedly un-50s rock and techno soundtrack? Daniel Craig (is it my imagination or is he starting to sound like Sid James?) is hampered in the lead role by having to constantly spout gibberish in an accent that’s clearly not his own. Drew Starkey is able to give a more subtle performance as the manipulative Eugene, and certainly looks the part of preppy. Lesley Manville is unrecognizable as a doctor living in the South American jungle – kudos to the makeup team! This is the kind of film that seems more about art style than narrative substance to me. It was nice to see it once, but I won’t watch it again.
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