24/33
Mentioned in Close-Up: Why do we need the Venice Film Festival?
Narrative
Lee, who recounts his life in Mexico City among American expat students and bar owners who survive on part-time jobs and GI Bill benefits. He is driven to search for a young man named Allerton, who is based on Adelbert Lewis Marker. It was Daniel Craig who eventually convinced Luca Guadagnino to hire Drew Starkey after watching the audition tapes with Guadagnino and telling him “That’s ‘the’ guy” after seeing Starkey’s..
But what does Eugene himself want?
(2024). I’ve never seen ‘Naked Lunch’ (1991), but I found myself thinking about it often during a screening of ‘Queer’ at the 2024 London Film Festival to be expected, as William S Burroughs provided the source material for both films and casually having sex with other men. One day, a muscular, smart young dude, walks into a bar.
Plus 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 done almost exclusively in block colors – dull reds and olive greens, for example – and have that vaguely unrealistic, clean, Technicolor look that made me think the intention was to pay homage to the films of the era in which the film is set. But if that’s the case, why a decidedly non-1950s rock and techno soundtrack?
Drew Starkey can give a more subtle performance as the manipulative Eugene, and he certainly looks stylish
Daniel Craig (is it my imagination or is he starting to look like Sid James?) is hampered in the lead role as he constantly has to recite gibberish in an accent that clearly isn’t his. Lesley Manville is unrecognizable as a doctor living in a South American jungle – well done to the makeup team! This is the kind of movie that feels more about art style than storytelling content to me.
It was okay to see once, but I won’t watch it again
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