JOIN OUR WHATSAPP CHANNEL
'Imagery Is Crucial': Daniel Craig And Luca Guadagnino Give Interpretations Of Their Film Queer's Tragic Ending
Daniel Craig and acclaimed director Luca Guadagnino spoke about their film Queer and how “imagery” played a crucial role in depicting nuanced moments between the leads. Deets inside!
Daniel Craig leads the Luca Guadagnino-helmed drama Queer and portrays the love interest of a young man played by Drew Starkey. The LGTBTQ+ movie set in 1950s Mexico City revolves around an American ex-pat, Lee (Craig), who ends up meeting Eugene Allerton at a bar and becomes irresistibly obsessed.
The film, based on William S. Burroughs’ famous unfinished semi-autobiographical novella, which was published in 1985, portrays the shortcomings of suppressing one’s sexual identity. In the trailer, the dilemma of following their hearts and sticking to societal expectations is evident in some scenes. Therefore *spoiler alert* the film ends in a tragedy!
Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, the director and Craig weigh in on the tragic ending. “The movie is this fever dream, this alternative reality that we're in all through the beginning of the movie into the quest to South America,” the actor told the outlet. He explained why the film’s imagery was “crucial” and had deep hidden meanings.
“Every sequence is beautifully relevant, mainly because Luca directed it,” Craig added. Speaking of the film's ending, he called it a continuation of “the ayahuasca trip” (a drug that plays a crucial role in the film). “We never quite leave it,” he added.
Guadagnino, who previously directed the Zendaya starer film Challengers, spoke about incorporating aspects of Burroughs’ life into the movie. “We wanted to make it clear that we weren’t making a biopic about Burroughs. We were making a fictional story about Queer, about his book,” he said.
He recalled that afterward, published by the author in some versions of his novella; the latter shared that it was his wife’s death that inspired him to pursue writing. Burroughs, who was allegedly indicted on the charges of the accidental homicide of his wife Joan Vollmer, started and completed his book while awaiting his trial.
The director explained that they aimed to make a film that was “very romantic” and a testament to the romanticism between the leads, Lee and Allerton. He also talked about the psychedelic dream Lee experienced with lingering memories of Allerton. “It was irresistible with editing, with the miracle of cinema, to jump into a lifetime. It goes from that moment to, boom, the future,” he said.
Queer is currently available in theaters.
Latest Articles
