Review – Queer (2024) directed by Luca Guadagnino.
Watched on October 6th, 2024
Rating: 5/5 Stars
62nd New York Film Festival (2024): Film #6
U.S. Premiere - Q&A with Luca Guadagnino, Daniel Craig, Drew Starkey, Justin Kuritzkes, and Jonathan Anderson
Where to even begin...
I'd be lying if I said I fully understood or absorbed everything this movie is or has to say. Yet I feel like this film, especially that last act, was just such a wild, provoking, and honestly transcendent experience to witness. If anything, it was film for the heart and soul rather than the mind, at least for me who doesn't quite have a full grasp on the symbolism and meaning behind a lot of the more abstract elements of the conclusion. But strikingly enough, I found myself comparing it to David Lynch's Mulholland Drive in terms of form and its overall arc, in the most flattering and positive way (I film that I love and admire tremendously). Luca Guadagnino might be my favorite director (both currently working, and of all time). I think he chooses the most interesting films to make, all of which are bold and dangerous and exciting, yet they are all so distinct and different. He's always reinventing himself and making new things, while maintaining such a strong voice and style that follows him through all his works. There hasn't been a single movie of his that I've disliked.
Daniel Craig and Drew Starkey are truly great here, Craig especially. I could see this being a career-defining role, despite his incredibly defining embodiment of James Bond. I was just truly so taken by his performance, his emotion, his commitment, and it was just such a wonder to watch. So much of this movie feels that way, with incredibly lush and vibrant visual cinematography paired with some of the best needle-drops in recent memory (the Nirvana one in particular might be my favorite moment in the film). It's such a stylishly wonderful movie that I can't get enough of. This is truly one of the best experiences I think I've had with a film.
I recently watched Coralie Fargeat's (the director of The Substance,) four favorites with Letterboxd. She talked about how she visited the Cannes Film Festival with a friend when she was young and still aspiring to make films, and the first ticket she managed to get (coincidentally) was a screening of Mulholland Drive. She describes that foundational and life-changing experience in such a passionate way:
"It was such, what I call the true cinema experience: when you feel that you've witnessed something very special that talks to, at the same time, to you watching the film, but also to your subconscious, and to everything that is within you that you can't explain, where everything doesn't make sense or you can't explain everything, but it just creates such powerful emotions and sensations. And it was a shock."
To be honest, that's exactly how I felt watching this film. Not everything made sense, but I was incredibly immersed, shocked, engaged, and truly felt like I was watching something special. And to have seen this in Alice Tully Hall, at the New York Film Festival, in what I believe is the U.S. premiere, is even more special. And I cannot stop thinking about this film. It was beautiful, odd, strange, confusing, complex, bold, abstract, and quite wonderful overall. I will never forget seeing this movie where I did, and when I did. This movie is special.
Check out the original review posted on Letterboxd here.
