41/45
The Performance of Orpheus (1950)
Scenario
Lee, who tells the story of his life in Mexico City among American college students abroad and bar owners who survive on part-time jobs and GI Bill benefits. He is forced to pursue a young man named Allerton, who is based on Adelbert Lewis Marker. Daniel Craig was ultimately the one who convinced Luca Guadagnino to cast Drew Starkey after watching Guadagnino’s audition tapes and telling him, “That’s the guy” after seeing Starkey..
In 1950s Mexico, William Lee, an American writer on the wrong side of
I’ve never seen ‘Naked Lunch’ (1991), but I thought about it often during the screening of ‘Queer’ at the 2024 London Film Festival: probably to be expected, since the source material for both films was provided by William S Burroughs. forties? Fifty?
But what does Eugene want?
He spends his days getting drunk, shooting, and having casual sex with other men. One day, a muscular, smart young hunk named Eugene walks into the bar, and Lee is impressed. Plus, there’s that telepathic drug of contemplation… I’m not sure what director Luca Guadagnino is trying to achieve stylistically with this film.
In an accent that’s clearly not his
The sets are decorated almost entirely in block colors—like dull red and olive green—and have that vaguely unrealistic, clean, technical look that makes me think the intention is to pay homage to the films of the era in which the film is set. But if that’s the case, why the decidedly 1950s rock and techno soundtrack? Daniel Craig (is it my imagination, or is he starting to sound like Sid James?) is crippled in the lead role by the constant need to utter nonsensical words.
It was okay to see once, but I won’t be watching it again
Drew Starkey is able to give a more subtle performance as the manipulative Eugene and he definitely looks preppy. Lesley Manville is unrecognizable as a doctor living in the South American jungle – well done to the makeup team! This is the kind of movie that feels more about the art style than the substance of the story.