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Queer (film)

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Queer
Teaser poster
Directed byLuca Guadagnino
Screenplay byJustin Kuritzkes
Based onQueer
by William S. Burroughs
Produced by
Starring
CinematographySayombhu Mukdeeprom
Edited byMarco Costa
Music by
Production
companies
Distributed by
  • Lucky Red (Italy)
  • A24 (United States)
Release dates
  • September 3, 2024 (2024-09-03) (Venice)
  • November 27, 2024 (2024-11-27) (United States)
Running time
137 minutes
Countries
  • Italy
  • United States
Languages
  • English
  • Spanish[1]
Budget€48 million[2]

Queer is a 2024 period romantic drama film directed by Luca Guadagnino from a screenplay by Justin Kuritzkes, based on the 1985 novella of the same name by William S. Burroughs. Set in 1950s Mexico City, the film follows an outcast American expat (Daniel Craig) who becomes infatuated with a younger man (Drew Starkey). Lesley Manville, Jason Schwartzman, Henry Zaga, and Omar Apollo also star.

Queer premiered at the 81st Venice International Film Festival on September 3, 2024, where it played in-competition for the Golden Lion.[3][4] It is scheduled to be released in the United States in a limited theatrical release on November 27, by A24.

Premise

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Set in 1940s Mexico City, it follows Lee who, after fleeing from a drug bust in New Orleans, wanders around the city's clubs and becomes infatuated with drug user Allerton, a discharged American Navy serviceman.[5]

Cast

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Additionally, Omar Apollo, Michaël Borremans, Andra Ursuța, Lisandro Alonso, Ford Leland, Sean Cubito, Diego Benzoni, Radu Murarasu and Francesco Lupo Sturani appear in undisclosed roles.

Production

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Development

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Guadagnino wanted to make an adaptation of William S. Burroughs' 1985 novel 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, "Daniel and I were on the phone a week later. Then, a week passed, and he was in the movie". Guadagnino recalled.[7] In April 2023, Lesley Manville, Jason Schwartzman, and Henry Zaga were revealed to be in the cast.[5] 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".[10] 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]

Filming

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Principal photography began in Rome, Italy on April 29, 2023.[11][5] 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.[12][13] Jonathan Anderson, creative director of Loewe, served as costume designer, marking his second collaboration with Guadagnino following Challengers.[5][14]

Post-production

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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.[15][16]

Release

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The cast of Queer at the 81st Venice International Film Festival.

In February 2024, Variety reported that the film was expected to hit the festival circuit in late 2024.[17][18] This was confirmed in July 2024, when it was announced that Queer would have its world premiere in-competition at the 81st Venice International Film Festival.[19] In August 2024, the film was the first announced in the Spotlight Gala of the 62nd New York Film Festival.[20] That same month, A24 acquired the film's distribution rights for the United States.[21] In October 2024, Mubi acquired the film rights for multiple regions, including streaming in Italy,[22] but the film was banned in Turkey, leading Mubi to cancel a film festival which the film was set to open.[23][24] It is scheduled for a limited release in the United States on November 27, 2024.[25]

Reception

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Critical reception

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On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 78% of 68 critics gave the film a positive review and the average rating was 7.1 out of 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."[26] Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 74 out of 100 based on 27 critics' reviews, indicating a "generally favorable" response.[27]

Craig was widely praised for his performance,[28][29][30][31] with The Guardian's Peter Bradshaw describing it as a "really funny, open, generous performance – perhaps the only disadvantage is that he upstages Starkey".[32]

The Times found the film to be visually appealing but lacking in substance.[33]

Accolades

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Award Date of ceremony Category Recipient(s) Result Ref.
Venice International Film Festival 7 September 2024 Golden Lion Luca Guadagnino Nominated [34]
Queer Lion Nominated
European Film Awards 7 December 2024 European Actor Daniel Craig Pending [35]

References

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  1. ^ "Queer". BFI. Retrieved 14 October 2024.
  2. ^ Armocida, Pedro (28 August 2024). "Alberto Barbera: «La mia Venezia è diversa»" [Alberto Barbera: 'My Venice is different']. Box Office (in Italian). Retrieved 28 August 2024.
  3. ^ "Venezia 81 Competition | Queer". Venice Biennale. 9 July 2024. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
  4. ^ Tartaglione, Nancy; Aboul Kheir, Nada (3 September 2024). "Luca Guadagnino's Queer Earns 11-Minute Ovation At Venice Film Festival". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 10 September 2024.
  5. ^ a b c d Vivarelli, Nick (21 April 2023). "Drew Starkey to Star With Daniel Craig in Luca Guadagnino's Queer With Filming Starting This Month in Italy (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Archived from the original on 21 April 2023. Retrieved 21 April 2023.
  6. ^ a b Jacobbi, Paola (22 March 2024). "Challengers è il nuovo film sul tennis di Luca Guadagnino: "I fischi ai miei film? La gente si offende troppo facilmente"". la Repubblica (in Italian). Retrieved 26 March 2024.
  7. ^ a b c Vivarelli, Nick (2 September 2024). "Luca Guadagnino Unpacks Queer: How Burroughs' 'Universal' Love Story, Casting Daniel Craig and Lots of On-Screen Sex Resulted in a 'Very Revolutionary' Film". Variety. Archived from the original on 3 September 2024. Retrieved 3 September 2024.
  8. ^ a b Cavaggioni, Alessandro (22 June 2024). "Guadagnino: "Queer sarà il mio film più personale"". Cinecittà News (in Italian). Archived from the original on 23 June 2024. Retrieved 1 September 2024.
  9. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony; Kroll, Justin (9 December 2022). "Luca Guadagnino-Directed Adaptation Of Queer With Daniel Craig In Works". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on 13 December 2022. Retrieved 13 December 2022.
  10. ^ Cartter, Eileen (29 February 2024). "Is Outer Banks Star Drew Starkey Hollywood's Next Prestige Heartthrob?". GQ. Archived from the original on 29 February 2024. Retrieved 26 March 2024.
  11. ^ Deon, Brynn (29 April 2023). "Luca Guadagnino's Queer Has Begun Filming". Maxblizz. Retrieved 30 June 2023.
  12. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (3 September 2023). "Lorenzo Mieli: How The Italian Producer Of Sofia Coppola's Priscilla, Luca Guadagnino's Queer & HBO's My Brilliant Friend Is Breaking Global Boundaries – Venice". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on 3 September 2023. Retrieved 16 October 2023.
  13. ^ Jonathan Anderson [@jonathan.anderson] (29 June 2023). "Today we wrap". Retrieved 28 June 2024 – via Instagram.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  14. ^ Cartner-Morley, Jess (17 February 2023). "Fashion needs to step up as UK is 'in a paralysis', says Jonathan Anderson". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 19 March 2023. Retrieved 21 April 2023.
  15. ^ Ford, Rebecca (15 August 2024). "Venice Film Festival's Artistic Director on the Boldest Films and Biggest Stars of This Year's Lineup". Vanity Fair. Retrieved 16 August 2024. 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.
  16. ^ Gramatica, Lorenzo (26 August 2024). "Una vita per il cinema. Intervista ad Alberto Barbera" [A Life for Cinema. Interview with Alberto Barbera]. Lucy. Sulla cultura (in Italian). Retrieved 26 August 2024.
  17. ^ Vivarelli, Nick (17 February 2024). "New Italian Movies Set to Hit This Year's Festival Circuit". Variety. Archived from the original on 27 June 2024. Retrieved 26 March 2024.
  18. ^ Vivarelli, Nick (25 March 2024). "Josh O'Connor in Talks to Star in Luca Guadagnino's Gay Romance Film 'Separate Rooms' (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Archived from the original on 20 June 2024. Retrieved 26 March 2024.
  19. ^ Vivarelli, Nick; Shafer, Ellise (23 July 2024). "Venice Film Festival Reveals Lineup (Updating Live)". Variety. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
  20. ^ "Queer". Toronto International Film Festival. Retrieved 25 August 2024.
  21. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (28 August 2024). "Luca Guadagnino's Daniel Craig Feature Queer Landing At A24". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 28 August 2024.
  22. ^ Whittock, Jesse (4 October 2024). "Mubi Buys Daniel Craig-Starrer Queer For Multiple Territories". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 4 October 2024.
  23. ^ "Festival cancelled in Turkey over ban of Luca Guadagnino's film 'Queer'". Euronews. 8 November 2024. Retrieved 9 November 2024.
  24. ^ "Mubi cancels film festival in Turkey after Daniel Craig film 'Queer' is banned". NBC News. 8 November 2024. Retrieved 9 November 2024.
  25. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (24 September 2024). "A24 Sets Awards Season Release Dates For Luca Guadagnino's Queer & Brady Corbet's The Brutalist". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 24 September 2024.
  26. ^ "Queer". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved 23 October 2024.
  27. ^ "Queer". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Retrieved 12 October 2024.
  28. ^ Barber, Nicholas (3 September 2024). "Queer review: Daniel Craig is 'heartbreaking' in this explicit gay romance, but the story goes off the rails". BBC. Retrieved 4 September 2024.
  29. ^ Collin, Robbie (3 September 2024). "Queer: Daniel Craig puts Bond to bed with this sensational – and explicit – gay drama". The Daily Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 4 September 2024.
  30. ^ Lattanzio, Ryan (3 September 2024). "Queer Review: Daniel Craig Is Heartbreaking in Luca Guadagnino's Profound Kaleidoscope of Unrequited Love, Addiction, and Ayahuasca". IndieWire. Retrieved 4 September 2024.
  31. ^ Rooney, David (3 September 2024). "Queer Review: Daniel Craig Burns a Hole in the Screen With Obsessive Desire in Luca Guadagnino's Trippy Gay Odyssey". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 4 September 2024.
  32. ^ Bradshaw, Peter (3 September 2024). "Queer review – Daniel Craig is needy, horny and mesmeric in Guadagnino's erotic drama". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 4 September 2024.
  33. ^ Maher, Kevin (3 September 2024). "Queer review — Daniel Craig beguiles as a sexual predator and addict". The Times. Retrieved 4 September 2024.
  34. ^ Gardner, Chris (27 August 2024). "From Brangelina to Joaquin Phoenix: The Venice Red Carpet Will Be Filled With A-Listers and Intrigue". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 27 August 2024. Retrieved 28 August 2024.
  35. ^ Shafer, Ellise (5 November 2024). "European Film Awards Nominations: 'Emilia Pérez,' 'The Substance,' 'The Room Next Door' and More Up for Best Film". Variety. Retrieved 5 November 2024.
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