Queer
Labeled by the media asn “expert of tales about desire, longing and melancholy sensuality, Guadagnino (whose bets filmis the 2017 Call My By Your Name) takes a bold approach in this adaptation of William S. Burroughs’ semi-autobiographical novel.
Shaped by writer Justin Kuritzkes into sort of a haunted ghost story about romantic and sexual obsession, the tale unflds as a journey from addiction agony to hallucinogenic abstraction to finally plunge into unbearable solitude.
In an affecting performance that’s driven and haunted, Daniel Craig plays Burroughs’ alter ego Lee, a junkie in post-WWII Mexico City. An urbane barfly, he immediately becomes attrated to a preppy young American beauty, played by Drew Starkey with elusive allure.
Shot on the sets at Rome’s Cinecittà Studios, Queer has the feel of a movie made on soundstages and backlots, but its depiction of yearning, connection, and oblivion is raw and authentic.
