AwardsWatch – “Queer” review: Luca Guadagnino conjures a psychedelic, sympathetic fever dream of gay love and longing

“What else could I say? Everyone is gay.”

A rather ironic beginning StrangeLuca Guadagnino's adaptation of William S. Burroughs' classic and controversial novel, because the film's central thesis is its main character – an American expat in post-World War II Mexico City – who is constantly trying to figure out who is queer and who isn't. how much he has to ply her with alcohol and flattery to get her into bed.

These lyrics from the Sinead O'Connor cover of Nirvana's “All Apologies” play over the film's opening credits, and while we've become accustomed to slowed down versions of manic rock or pop songs, the deeply plaintive quality of O'Connor's vocals stands out and is a captivating one Setting for Daniel Craig's expat William Lee, who is looking for loose and deep connections. But Guadagnino isn't done with his anachronistic pinpricks yet, because the next song, our true introduction to Lee, follows right after with another Nirvana song: “Come As You Are.” A slow motion shot of Craig running through the streets like the biggest dick in the walk. It's a throatily passionate juxtaposition to the intro and certainly to what's to come.

When Burroughs wrote Strange In the early 1950s he experienced the commercial success of his semi-autobiographical short novel junkiestill in the midst of his heroin and morphine addictions, and those desires spilled over completely into this next semi-autobiographical venture as he became more preoccupied with his sexuality than before and to a degree that delayed the novel's publication for more than 30 years. Published in 1985, there was a resurgence in the works of the Beat poet generation from that period – Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg and the like – and I still remember reading it vividly Strange At 14 or 15, he began his frank but (by today's standards) largely tender portrayal of gay desires and sex. It was adventurous and horny, and if you were a gay teenager in a small town in the 1980s, there was almost nothing better than secretly browsing sites with elicit content, even if it meant using it as a safe haven in a more palatable way Hide material. But that was also an exciting aspect, being on the precipice of danger, the fear of real-world consequences if you got caught.

As Burroughs' alter ego Lee, Craig gives him a youthful, lithe energy (not unlike his 2022 Belvedere vodka ad) that attempts to thwart his late 40s by appearing as the drunken fool, the moody whore at the center of the action Attention acts thoroughly captivating character. It's a brave, lived-in performance, not because of the more graphic gay content (can we please put that behind us), but because of an actor who has to shed his James Bond persona so thoroughly. While he was playing Benoit Blanc in the Knife out Movies with his Foghorn-Leghorn accent and “Well, I'll explain!” stuffiness about what he does Strange is to find something deeper and darker. A brief affair with a stranger (pop star Omar Apollo in a very…revealing role) proves to be one of Lee's many temporary and transactional relationships.

We find our story early and often at the Ship Ahoy, the local watering hole for gays looking to get their booze and whet their appetite for men, led by another expat, the sweet Capote-esque John Dumé (the fabulously funny Drew Droege). . Lee's biggest challenger in the daddy-son Olympics and good friend Joe, a little one. The hairy, round and unrecognizable Jason Schwartzman (who resembles something between Allen Ginsberg and Tom Cruise Tropical thunder). Schwartzman is a hoot here, regaling the bar with tales of robberies or scams by con artists and johns, stealing everything from his books to his socks. challenger Screenwriter Justin Kuritizkes adapts the script here, retaining most of the book's raw dialogue, although he tones down much of Lee's obvious racism throughout the story.

Eugene Allerton makes an appearance, played by the incredibly handsome Drew Starkey (Outer Banks), a fresh-faced 21-year-old (age gap, you can go now), a former military student inspired by Burroughs' lover Adelbert Lewis Marker with high-waisted trousers and perfectly pressed shirts courtesy of Jonathan Anderson, creative director of LOEWE and costume designer for Guadagnino's challenger. Sitting in the corner with his back to the wall, watching Lee and Dumé and other gays and queens fight over a queue, he achieves an unattainable status. For any gay man who has ever been involved or even obsessed with a “straight” man, especially one who is gay-baiting, the hunt is real. You will never reach the goal, even if the game is fun. For Lee, his despair at Allerton's stare reaches comic proportions, but Allerton relents. Is it for money? Boredom? Is he really gay? He actively spends time with hot redhead Mary, playing chess and carrying on in front of Lee and all his potential male suitors, taunting them and making them even more hungry (looking for the right word/phrase).

But Allerton is not cruel, rather he is compassionate and kind to Lee. “I’m not queer, I’m disembodied,” Lee says at one point, and sure enough, in one of the film’s early moments of magical realism, the two of them are watching Cocteau’s ghostly masterpiece Orpheus And when he looks at Allerton, Lee's desire to touch him turns him into an apparition himself. I was reminded of Andrew Haighs more than once We are all strangersanother beautiful ghost story about the hunt for our past in an unimaginable future. But although the relationship becomes very physical, there is no compromise here. Craig and Starkey devour each other in sweaty, sloppy carnality and it's clear that Guadagnino probably felt the negative comments about his move away from sex Call me by your name because he addresses this moment more than directly here. Name it Boners and everything. Musical collaborators Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross provide the film's score, which largely deviates from the pulsating beats of Challenger, They opt for traditionally romantic strings and horns to great effect, paired with an even wilder song selection from artists like New Order and Prince.

But Lee has more than just sex on his mind. He becomes obsessed with a short-sighted obsession with traveling to South America in search of yagé (also known as ayahuasca), hoping to develop telepathy to contact his dead wife, Joan Vollmer, a woman himself in a drug-induced game of William Tell. shoot her in the head (a memory rearing its ugly head here). When Burroughs wrote the novel, he was awaiting trial for the alleged accidental murder. “When I wrote Junkie, I felt like I was written in queer,” he said. Through drug withdrawal and twice-weekly sex, Allerton agrees to accompany Lee on this Indiana Jones adventure, searching for scientists in Ecuador and eventually Lesley Manville as a botanist who becomes a jungle voodoo priestess in an absolutely crazy performance . Here Guadagnino really lets off steam as Lee and Allerton absorb the native plant and embark on a psychedelic journey of body and mind that sometimes literally merges into one, peppered with interpretive dance. It is Twin Peaks by Powell and Pressburger and it is the surreality that gives us our most grounded look at Lee, and the chemistry between Craig and Starkey simmers with beauty, sadness and surreal sexual transmogrification.

I find it hard to imagine anyone other than Luca Guadagnino being as perfectly suited to this material as he is at this point in his career. He understands longing and compulsion, but also compassion. Together with cinematographer Sayombhu Mukdeeprom (their fourth collaboration), he understands the difference between sexuality and sensuality. That in a film full of horny tendencies, the most erotic moment can be the flash of bicep and armpit hair in a tight white T-shirt. Production designer Stefano Baisi, working exclusively on sets built at the famed Cinecittà Studios in Italy, creates (often through shockingly good miniatures) a world of a reality that never seems entirely real, pushing us to the brink of even being ourselves recognize.

Luca Guadagnino has crafted a stunning adaptation of an almost impossible story to film, curating a provocative culmination of the director's work, a showcase for Daniel Craig and Drew Starkey, and perhaps a place where Burroughs and his ghosts can finally rest. As a friend. As an old memory.

Grade: A

This review is from the 2024 New York Film Festival and published by A24 Strange in select theaters on November 27th.

Erik Anderson is the founder/owner and editor-in-chief of AwardsWatch and has always loved all things Oscars. He's been watching the Oscars since he was in the single digits. Creating lists, rankings and predictions throughout the show. This led to his obsession with awards. Much later, he attended GoldDerby's film school and film forums, then moved to the former Oscarwatch (now AwardsDaily) before dropping out in 2013 to found AwardsWatch.

He is a Rotten Tomatoes recognized critic, accredited to the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and others. He is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS) and the Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Hollywood Critics Association (HCA) and the International Press Academy. Among his many accomplished goals with AwardsWatch is providing a platform and access to film festivals and the industry for underrepresented writers and critics, and calling the Bay Area home, where he lives with his husband and son.

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