‘Queer’ REVIEW: An Unseen Desire Misunderstood
‘Queer’ REVIEW: An Unseen Desire Misunderstood
Daniel Craig as William Lee and Drew Starkey as Eugene Allerton in ‘Queer’ | Still courtesy of Fremantle, The Apartment Pictures and Frenesy Film Company
Following the detailed adventures of an American expat named William Lee (Daniel Craig) during a bright summer day in 1950s Mexico City, which served as a refuge for many white homosexual men who escaped persecution as homosexuality was then illegal in the United States due to fear of espionage and communism in the height of the Cold War, Queer is a soul-searching film disguised as a travelogue where one must get into something to understand his motivations further.
Desire, danger, and reaching its denouement, Luca Guadagnino’s Queer is a slow-burning period erotica. Throughout the roaming sequences of Lee’s whereabouts, it reminded me of Grindr and Bumble meetups back in the day, though cruising for desire for flesh has been a long part of our everyday lives.
1950s Mexico City as depicted in ‘Queer’ | Still courtesy of Fremantle, The Apartment Pictures and Frenesy Film Company
One of the key moments of the film is when Lee buys gifts to get Allerton under his control — an antiquated form of findom (financial domination) which is commonly known nowadays in BDSM subcultures. Through Lee’s relationship with Alberon, fading touches and embraces often imply that Lee wanted Alberon for himself and nothing more.
While I do not know much about the author William S. Burroughs himself, the film best reflects his writings as a misunderstood and emotionally volatile person. A real-life event at a point in Borough’s life is that he accidentally killed his wife, which will later be channeled in the 1985 novel and in the film itself.
Lee and Allerton in the Ecuadorian jungle in ‘Queer’ | Still courtesy of Fremantle, The Apartment Pictures and Frenesy Film Company
This film is not for everyone. Even I, as a queer person. Well, one can relate to rivalry in Challengers and a much more digestible, misunderstood romance in Call Me By Your Name; one should get into the substance to fully immerse in the world. Anyway, for the cinematography alone, it's a feast for the eyes to be immersed in provincial Mexico to the jungles of Ecuador thanks to Luca’s long-time collaborator, Sayombhu Mukdeeprom.
I wished Lee had more intimate moments with Joe (Jason Schwartzman), though.
‘Queer’ releases exclusively in Ayala Malls Cinemas this June.
