Queer | |
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Directed by | Luca Guadagnino |
Screenplay by | Justin Kuritzkes |
Based on | Queer by William S. Burroughs |
Produced by |
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Starring | |
Cinematography | Sayombhu Mukdeeprom |
Edited by | Marco Costa |
Music by | |
Production companies | |
Distributed by |
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Release dates |
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Running time | 137 minutes [1] |
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Languages |
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Budget | €48 million [3] |
Box office | $1.9 million [4] |
Queer is a 2024 period romantic drama film directed by Luca Guadagnino from a screenplay by Justin Kuritzkes, based on the 1985 novella by William S. Burroughs. Set in 1950s Mexico City, the film follows an outcast American immigrant (Daniel Craig) who becomes infatuated with a younger man (Drew Starkey). Jason Schwartzman, Henry Zaga, Omar Apollo, and Lesley Manville also star.
Queer premiered at the 81st Venice International Film Festival on September 3, 2024, where it played in-competition for the Golden Lion. It was released in the United States in a limited theatrical release on November 27, by A24, and was released nationwide on December 13. The film has received generally positive reviews from critics and was named one of the Top Ten Films of 2024 by the National Board of Review, where Craig was awarded the Best Actor prize. Craig was also nominated for the Golden Globe and Critics' Choice awards for his performance.
William Lee is an American expatriate living in 1950s Mexico City, passing time by bar hopping and indulging in sexual activities with men younger than him. While out on an evening stroll, he catches the sight of Eugene Allerton, a GI who is also an American expatriate. Smitten, Lee grows obsessed with Allerton, searching for him throughout the city in the hopes of gaining his affection. Allerton is cool to Lee’s advances; nevertheless, he permits Lee to seduce him.
Despite establishing their relationship, Allerton maintains his distance from Lee, his demeanor a sharp contrast towards Lee’s desire for connection; Allerton’s explanation for this is that he does not see himself as "queer" in the same manner that Lee does. Desperate to develop their relationship further, Lee invites Allerton to travel with him to South America in the hopes of finding yagé, a plant said to offer telepathic abilities to those who consume it. Allerton demurs from accepting Lee's invitation for a few days before agreeing to accompany Lee after being asked a second time.
The trip goes on, but not without issue: Lee’s dependence of drugs brings on a bout of dysentery, and Allerton keeps Lee at a distance. Lee eventually hears of a doctor who lives in Quito that could assist him in his search for yagé.
The two men arrive in Quito to the residence of Dr. Cotter and her husband. Initially apprehensive, Cotter warms to the men and brews the yagé found in the forest surrounding her residence, creating ayahuasca for the four of them to drink. Shortly after consumption, Lee and Allerton spend the rest of the day experiencing vivid hallucinations such as the two vomiting out their hearts and communicating telepathically then disappearing in front of each other. The night ends with the men melding their bodies together.
The morning after, Dr. Cotter suggests the men stay to further explore the effects of yagé. Before agreeing, Lee witnesses Allerton vanish in the jungle.
Two years pass before Lee returns to Mexico City, where his friend Joe informs him that Allerton has taken another trip down South America as a guide for an army colonel. Later that night, Lee dreams of discovering Allerton in a hotel room adjacent to his. Allerton engages Lee in a round of William Tell by placing a glass on his head. Lee shoots Allerton in the head, then holds his body before it vanishes again, with everything else in the room and Lee following suit.
Lee finds himself in his hotel room, now an elderly man. He settles into bed, where a still-youthful Allerton reappears beside him, cradling Lee as he falls asleep.
Lee dies alone in bed, and the final shot is of flashing lights of different colors.
Guadagnino wanted to make an adaptation of William S. Burroughs' 1985 novella Queer since he read the book when he was 17. In April 2022, he mentioned the book to screenwriter Justin Kuritzkes while they were on set for their film Challengers (2024) in Boston. [6] Guadagnino bought Kuritzkes a copy, which he read and loved. Producer Lorenzo Mieli found the rights to the book, which they secured after a call with James Grauerholz, the literary executor of Burroughs' estate. Kuritzkes began writing the script while they were still working on Challengers. [6] The book was published unfinished, so Kuritzkes and Guadagnino consulted Burroughs' scholar Oliver Harris, on how to give the text a fitting ending, while maintaining the author's vision. [7] Guadagnino described Queer as his most personal film and a tribute to the films of Powell and Pressburger, concretely The Red Shoes (1948), "I think they would appreciate the sex scenes in Queer, which are numerous and quite scandalous". [8]
It was announced in December 2022 that Daniel Craig was in talks to star in the film. [9] Craig was cast after Guadagnino's agent Bryan Lourd had sent the script to the actor. Guadagnino recalled: "Daniel and I were on the phone a week later. Then, a week passed, and he was in the movie". [7] In April 2023, Lesley Manville, Jason Schwartzman, and Henry Zaga were revealed to be in the cast. [10] Starkey was cast after an audition tape he had made for another project landed in front of Guadagnino. Guadagnino consulted with Craig on casting Starkey, and Craig, after watching the tape, told Guadagnino "That's the guy". [11] They auditioned 300 people for the role. [7] In June 2024 it was reported directors Ariel Schulman, Lisandro Alonso and David Lowery would be appearing on the film. [8]
Principal photography began in Rome, Italy on April 29, 2023. [12] [10] The project was filmed at Cinecittà Studios. Additional scenes were shot in Quito, Ecuador, standing in for Mexico City. Production wrapped on June 29, 2023. [13] [14] Jonathan Anderson, creative director of Loewe, served as costume designer, marking his second collaboration with Guadagnino following Challengers. [10] [15]
The original cut submitted to and accepted by the Venice Film Festival was 185 to 200 minutes long before being cut down to its final length of 135 minutes. [16] [17]
Queer (Original Score) | ||||
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Film score by | ||||
Released | December 6, 2024 | |||
Length | 49:21 | |||
Label | Milan | |||
Producer |
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Trent Reznor chronology | ||||
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Atticus Ross chronology | ||||
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Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross composed the score for Queer, their third collaboration with Guadagnino following Bones and All in 2022 and Challengers in 2024. The Spanish-language "Te Maldigo", performed by Omar Apollo, who stars in the film, was the first song released from the soundtrack. [18] The album featuring the original score was released on December 6, 2024, through Milan Records; the first track "Vaster than Empires", performed by Reznor and Brazilian composer Caetano Veloso, contains lyrics from Burroughs' memoirs. [19]
All music is composed by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross; William S. Burroughs is additionally credited as a writer on "Vaster than Empires".
No. | Title | Length |
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1. | "Vaster than Empires" (with Caetano Veloso) | 3:52 |
2. | "Pure Love" | 4:34 |
3. | "Centipede" | 1:25 |
4. | "God Had to Create" | 2:53 |
5. | "Thinking Is Not Enough" | 3:00 |
6. | "The Saddest Man in the World" | 1:56 |
7. | "That's Him" | 3:35 |
8. | "Wouldn't You?" | 1:39 |
9. | "Love Would Shatter" | 4:40 |
10. | "Place of Failure" | 4:04 |
11. | "Real Enough" | 1:51 |
12. | "No Holy Grail" | 2:49 |
13. | "No Final Satori" | 3:53 |
14. | "No Final Solution" | 0:58 |
15. | "Just Conflict" | 1:36 |
16. | "Love" | 6:29 |
Notes
Queer had its world premiere in-competition on September 3, 2024 at the 81st Venice International Film Festival. [20] [21] In August 2024, the film was the first announced in the Spotlight Gala of the 62nd New York Film Festival. [22]
Also in September 2024, A24 acquired the film's distribution rights for the United States. [23] In October 2024, Mubi acquired the film rights for multiple regions, including streaming in Italy, [24] The film was banned in Turkey, leading Mubi to cancel a film festival which the film was set to open in November 2024. [25] [26]
It had a limited release in the United States on November 27, 2024, [27] before nationwide releases in both the US and the United Kingdom on December 13. [18]
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 77% of 154 critics gave the film a positive review, with an average rating of 7.1/10. The critics' consensus on the website reads: "A phantasmagorical distillation of William S. Burroughs' preoccupations that's by turns meandering and vital, Queer marks one of Daniel Craig's most sterling performances yet." [28] Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 72 out of 100 based on 49 critics' reviews, indicating a "generally favorable" response. [29]
Craig was widely praised for his performance, [30] [31] [32] [33] with The Guardian 's Peter Bradshaw describing it as a "really funny, open, generous performance – perhaps the only disadvantage is that he upstages Starkey". [34]
The Times found the film to be visually appealing but lacking in substance. [35]
Director John Waters ranked Queer second on a list of his favorite movies of 2024, writing, "Daniel Craig may be queerbait for taking on the gay beatnik role of William Burroughs’s alter ego, but I’m all for it." [36]
Jason Schwartzman is an American actor and musician. Schwartzman made his film debut in Wes Anderson's 1998 film Rushmore, and has since appeared in six other Anderson films: The Darjeeling Limited (2007), Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009), Moonrise Kingdom (2012), The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014), The French Dispatch (2021), and Asteroid City (2023). He also has co-writing credit on The Darjeeling Limited.
Queer is a 1985 novella by American author William S. Burroughs. It is partially a sequel to his 1953 novella Junkie.
Oliver C. G. Harris is a British academic and Professor of American Literature at Keele University. He is the author and editor of eighteen books, including a dozen editions of works by William S. Burroughs: Letters, 1945–1959 (1993), Junky: the definitive text of Junk (2003), The Yage Letters Redux (2006), Queer (2010), The Cut-Up Trilogy, The Soft Machine, Nova Express, and The Ticket That Exploded (2014), Blade Runner: A Movie (2019), Minutes to Go Redux (2020), The Exterminator Redux (2020), BATTLE INSTRUCTIONS (2020) and Dead Fingers Talk (2020). In 2022, he published two short books of essays, A Burroughs Triptych and Making Naked Lunch and in 2023 a collaborative hybrid of criticism and memoir, Two Assassins: William Burroughs/Hassan Sabbah. He is President of the European Beat Studies Network. He served as a consultant to Luca Guadagnino for his 2024 film Queer, based on the Burroughs novel. In 2024, he published a second hybrid of memoir and scholarship, One Shot: A Beat Generation Mystery.
Daniel Wroughton Craig is an English actor. He gained international fame by playing the fictional secret agent James Bond for five installments in the film series: Casino Royale (2006), Quantum of Solace (2008), Skyfall (2012), Spectre (2015), and No Time to Die (2021).
Luca Guadagnino is an Italian film director and producer. His films are characterized by their emotional complexity, eroticism, and lavish visuals. Guadagnino has received numerous accolades, including a Silver Lion, alongside nominations for an Academy Award and three BAFTA Awards.
Andrew Gerhardt Droege is an American actor, comedian, writer, and director best known for his online impressions of Chloë Sevigny.
Call Me by Your Name is a 2017 coming-of-age romantic drama film directed by Luca Guadagnino. Its screenplay, by James Ivory, who also co-produced, is based on the 2007 novel by André Aciman. The film is the final installment in Guadagnino's thematic "Desire" trilogy, after I Am Love (2009) and A Bigger Splash (2015). Set in northern Italy in 1983, Call Me by Your Name chronicles the romantic relationship between 17-year-old Elio Perlman and Oliver, a 24-year-old graduate-student assistant to Elio's father Samuel, an archaeology professor. The film also stars Amira Casar, Esther Garrel, and Victoire Du Bois.
Joseph Andrew Starkey is an American actor. He began his career with supporting roles in the teen drama films Love, Simon and The Hate U Give. He gained recognition for his portrayal of troubled teenager Rafe Cameron in the Netflix adventure series Outer Banks (2020−present), and has since starred in Luca Guadagnino's romantic drama film Queer (2024).
Bones and All is a 2022 romantic horror film directed by Luca Guadagnino from a screenplay by David Kajganich, based on the 2015 novel Bones & All by Camille DeAngelis. Set in the late 1980s, the film stars Taylor Russell and Timothée Chalamet as a pair of young cannibals who develop feelings for each other on a road trip across the United States. Michael Stuhlbarg, André Holland, Chloë Sevigny, David Gordon Green, Jessica Harper, Jake Horowitz, and Mark Rylance appear in supporting roles.
Justin Kuritzkes is an American playwright, novelist, and screenwriter best known for writing the scripts for two of Luca Guadagnino's films, Challengers and Queer. He has also been the subject of media coverage because of his activities on YouTube, such as the 2011 video "Potion Seller".
Challengers is a 2024 American romantic sports drama film directed by Luca Guadagnino and written by Justin Kuritzkes. It follows the love triangle between an injured tennis star-turned-coach (Zendaya), her low-circuit tennis player ex-boyfriend, and her tennis champion husband across 13 years of their relationship, culminating in the latter two's match on the ATP Challenger Tour.
Bones and All (Original Score) is the score album to the 2022 film of the same name, directed by Luca Guadagnino and starring Taylor Russell and Timothée Chalamet. The film's score was composed by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross and was released on November 18, 2022, on Reznor's label The Null Corporation. It features 23 score tracks, along with the original song, "(You Make Me Feel Like) Home". The score features acoustic music representing the Midwestern United States, and draws inspiration from classical Americana songs, that depicts the relationship between the leading characters, despite the horror setting.
The Brutalist is a 2024 epic historical drama film directed and produced by Brady Corbet from a script he co-wrote with Mona Fastvold. An international co-production between the United States, United Kingdom, and Hungary, it stars Adrien Brody, Felicity Jones, Guy Pearce, Joe Alwyn, Raffey Cassidy, Stacy Martin, Emma Laird, Isaach de Bankolé, and Alessandro Nivola. It follows the life of László Tóth, a Hungarian-born Jewish architect who survives the Holocaust and emigrates to the United States, where he struggles to achieve the American Dream until a wealthy client changes his life.
Babygirl is a 2024 American erotic thriller film written, directed, and co-produced by Halina Reijn. It stars Nicole Kidman, Harris Dickinson, Sophie Wilde, and Antonio Banderas.
After the Hunt is an upcoming thriller film directed by Luca Guadagnino from a screenplay by Nora Garrett. It stars Julia Roberts, Ayo Edebiri, Andrew Garfield, Michael Stuhlbarg, and Chloë Sevigny.
The following is a list of unproduced Luca Guadagnino projects in roughly chronological order.
April is a 2024 drama film written and directed by Déa Kulumbegashvili. It stars Ia Sukhitashvili, Kakha Kintsurashvili and Merab Ninidze.
Mistress Dispeller is a 2024 American-Chinese documentary film, directed and produced by Elizabeth Lo. It follows a woman in China who hires a professional to go undercover and break up her husband's affair.
Elizabeth Lo is a Hong Kong film director, producer, and cinematographer. She has directed the documentary features Stray (2020) and Mistress Dispeller (2024).
Frenesy Film Company S.r.l. an Italian film production company founded by Luca Guadagnino.
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: CS1 maint: url-status (link)There were three versions of the film. The first one was more than three hours long. The second one was two and one half. The final version is two hours and 15 minutes.