euroGary
Joined Mar 2013
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euroGary's rating
I have never seen 'Naked Lunch' (1991) but I found myself frequently thinking of it during the 2024 London Film Festival screening of 'Queer': probably to be expected, as William S Burroughs provided the source material for both films.
In 1950s' México, William Lee, an American writer on the wrong side of... forty? Fifty? Spends his days getting drunk, shooting up and having casual sex with other men. One day muscular, smart young hunk Eugene walks into the bar and Lee is smitten. But what does Eugene himself want? Plus there is that telepathic drug to think about...
I am not sure what, stylistically, director Luca Guadagnino is trying to achieve with this film. The sets are decorated almost exclusively in block colours - dull reds and olive greens, for example - and have that vaguely unrealistic, clean, Technicolour look that made me think the intention is to homage the films of the era in which the film is set. But if that is the case, why the decidedly un-1950s rock- and techno soundtrack?
Daniel Craig (is it my imagination or is he beginning to look like Sid James?) is hamstrung in the lead role by constantly having to declaim nonsense speeches in an accent clearly not his own. Drew Starkey is able to give a subtler performance as the manipulative Eugene, and certainly looks the preppy part. Lesley Manville is unrecognisable as a doctor living in the South American jungle - well done to the make-up team!
This is the kind of film that strikes me as being more about arty style than storytelling substance. It was okay to see once, but I shall not be watching it again.
In 1950s' México, William Lee, an American writer on the wrong side of... forty? Fifty? Spends his days getting drunk, shooting up and having casual sex with other men. One day muscular, smart young hunk Eugene walks into the bar and Lee is smitten. But what does Eugene himself want? Plus there is that telepathic drug to think about...
I am not sure what, stylistically, director Luca Guadagnino is trying to achieve with this film. The sets are decorated almost exclusively in block colours - dull reds and olive greens, for example - and have that vaguely unrealistic, clean, Technicolour look that made me think the intention is to homage the films of the era in which the film is set. But if that is the case, why the decidedly un-1950s rock- and techno soundtrack?
Daniel Craig (is it my imagination or is he beginning to look like Sid James?) is hamstrung in the lead role by constantly having to declaim nonsense speeches in an accent clearly not his own. Drew Starkey is able to give a subtler performance as the manipulative Eugene, and certainly looks the preppy part. Lesley Manville is unrecognisable as a doctor living in the South American jungle - well done to the make-up team!
This is the kind of film that strikes me as being more about arty style than storytelling substance. It was okay to see once, but I shall not be watching it again.
Tobias (Andrew Garfield) is hit by a car driven by Almut (Florence Pugh). She stays in the hospital until he wakes up and because - despite having a broken arm and being in a neck brace - he has already been discharged (there are not enough beds available - political comment there!) takes him to dinner. He is newly-divorced, she has just come out of a lesbian relationship. Despite this unpromising beginning, there is mutual attraction and the pair begin a years-long relationship.
The two leads make an engaging couple. Pugh, especially, is easy to accept as the fiery Almut. Garfield plays nice guy Tobias a bit too geeky to be completely believable, but he manages to stay on the right side of annoying (and, if the shapely bare buttocks in the bathroom scene belong to him and not to a body double, he has a very nice bottom - just saying...) No other actors get enough screen time to make an impact, although I was struck at seeing Douglas Hodge playing Tobias' father - twenty or thirty years ago, he would probably have been playing the male lead himself.
This is a good example of a chick flick: romantic, cheesy and leaving not a single dry eye in the house. I am not sure I would watch it again, but I am glad I saw it at least once.
The two leads make an engaging couple. Pugh, especially, is easy to accept as the fiery Almut. Garfield plays nice guy Tobias a bit too geeky to be completely believable, but he manages to stay on the right side of annoying (and, if the shapely bare buttocks in the bathroom scene belong to him and not to a body double, he has a very nice bottom - just saying...) No other actors get enough screen time to make an impact, although I was struck at seeing Douglas Hodge playing Tobias' father - twenty or thirty years ago, he would probably have been playing the male lead himself.
This is a good example of a chick flick: romantic, cheesy and leaving not a single dry eye in the house. I am not sure I would watch it again, but I am glad I saw it at least once.
Japan in the not-too-distant future. Buildings are gigantic viewing screens, news headlines are beamed onto clouds, and the Prime Minister seeks swingeing powers to impose societal controls.
In Tokyo, a group of teenagers attend their last year of school, if only to use the music laboratory, with its exciting electronic equipment. Their friendships survive differing levels of mental maturity and political engagement.
It is difficult to pin down a central cohesive plot for the film, but the climax, such as it is, involves the headmaster's imposition of a surveillance regime, and the reaction of non-Japanese pupils when they are excluded from a lecture by the Japanese Self-Defence Forces.
It is unusual - at least in those that make it to the West - to see a Japanese film with a multi-ethnic cast. But it is strange that while one of the characters, a fourth-generation immigrant of Korean ethnicity, is a frequent target of comments about being 'not Japanese', another of the group, who is black, never attracts such comments.
Acting honours go to Shirô Sano as the exasperated, suspicious headmaster. Other actors are competent enough, with the exception of those playing the security guard and - especially - the headmaster's aide-de-camp, who turn in slapstick performances that sit uncomfortably with the overall tone of the film.
One final thought: although the school scenes are full of extras, when the characters are out and about in the city itself, the streets and bridges on which they walk and chat are always deserted. And I always thought Tokyo was very densely populated...
In Tokyo, a group of teenagers attend their last year of school, if only to use the music laboratory, with its exciting electronic equipment. Their friendships survive differing levels of mental maturity and political engagement.
It is difficult to pin down a central cohesive plot for the film, but the climax, such as it is, involves the headmaster's imposition of a surveillance regime, and the reaction of non-Japanese pupils when they are excluded from a lecture by the Japanese Self-Defence Forces.
It is unusual - at least in those that make it to the West - to see a Japanese film with a multi-ethnic cast. But it is strange that while one of the characters, a fourth-generation immigrant of Korean ethnicity, is a frequent target of comments about being 'not Japanese', another of the group, who is black, never attracts such comments.
Acting honours go to Shirô Sano as the exasperated, suspicious headmaster. Other actors are competent enough, with the exception of those playing the security guard and - especially - the headmaster's aide-de-camp, who turn in slapstick performances that sit uncomfortably with the overall tone of the film.
One final thought: although the school scenes are full of extras, when the characters are out and about in the city itself, the streets and bridges on which they walk and chat are always deserted. And I always thought Tokyo was very densely populated...