Queer - Movie REVIEW | Venice Film Festival 2024

it's finally time my friends my favorite Tradition at the Venice Film Festival watching a brand new Luca guadino movie except last year when Challengers was removed due to the strikes my name is Ren and this is my review of queer welcome back film family thank you for joining me for what has been my most anticipated film of this year's Venice film festival in great part because I remember being heartbroken in 2023 after Challengers was removed as the opening film of the festival due to the strikes and after finally watching queer I may be heartbroken all over again set in 1950s Mexico we follow William Lee an American expat in his late 40s who leads a solitary life amidst a small American Community however the arrival in town of Eugene Allerton a young student stirs William into finally chasing a meaningful connection with someone here stands out not just from this year's Venice lineup but even amongst guadino filmography this could not be a more different film from Challengers if it tried due to its elegance and refinement delicately handling complex themes as guadino excels in portraying unfulfilled love and deep regrets infusing The Narrative with a deep em emotional charge his poetic Direction and the immaculate cinematography create a captivating atmosphere and to No Surprise guadino is a masterful actor's director once more having struck gold with a revelation that is Drew starky an effortlessly Charming empathetic and thoughtful young man who takes a liking to Lee despite all the red flags being waved Daniel Craig shines in one extraordinary performance bringing an intense sensitivity to Lee successfully portraying a disillusioned man trapped in Endless cycles of self-hatred and struggling to find a genuine human connection using sex and carnal desires to mask his overwhelming addiction we all know Daniel Craig is a great actor we all know he has range I have never seen this kind of performance from him where he is so sensitive where he demonstrates a constant emotional vulnerability on screen however he does get to have fun this film gets into some weird trippy which we'll get to later in this review but it is probably Luca guano's funniest film in great part due to Jason schwartzman's small heart it is also yet another fantastic score from Trent resner and attakus Ross who are basically now competing against each other on the score Oscar race but it is also a fantastic movie for needle drops some of the best and most unexpected needle drops of the year are found in queer but despite these strengths the film fails to deliver a compelling Deep dive into the abyss that Lee is perpetually heading towards which left me with a sense of shallowness as a second half flx structure and arguably coherent I admire the second half's free flowing nature of the film as it transforms from an intimate drama about a troubled man's self-destructive Tendencies and longing for connection into a surreal abstract examination of the self that blends multiple genre but it is a radical bold pivot that feels ultimately aimless perhaps because infamous queer had 1 hour of its runtime cut from the final version of the film and one example where this is clear to me is Daniel Craig and Drew starky while the actors share wonderful chemistry in intense passionate sex scenes and love scenes the characters needed more time on screen to develop a more believable connection or at least one that develops Slayers as the story evolves evolves and I personally never found the relationship to believably grow from desirous to genuinely loving now the biggest point of discussion as I've already experienced this watching this movie in the morning with friends is Luca guano's dive into surrealism I am all for the recors taking big swings you know how sometimes we see people not enjoying others referencing movies as thrill rides or roller coaster that I love it I want directors to take me for a ride that I don't expect but apart from one nightmarish sequence perfectly conveying Lee's internalized Agony and emotional turmoil most of these sequences feel cut short with jarring cuts that ruin the pacing in the back end and lack the depth that conceptually they could have offered Lee Eugene their relationship and the story as a whole like I said queer was originally meant to be 3 hours long instead of the 2 hours and 15 that we did get at Venice and Luca had to cut it my guess to appeal more to marketers and Distributors and it wouldn't surprise me if this missing hour of the film makes the movie's transformative quality marry its two halves so much more organically what's more frustrating is this clearly is not a case of guano lacking a vision for his film every immaculately scored moment words spoken and gorgeous shot feel in tension and weighty but rather as individual pieces rather than components that complete each other as essential elements to one story this is not a movie that bored me this is not a movie that lost my interest I was in for the ride but the resolution or lack there of Never Fully satisfied me it's not just my biggest disappointment of the festival it's my biggest disappointment as a big fan of Luca guino but what I love is the engaging discussions that I'm having of what failed in the movie and what didn't because there's just so many elements that are open to interpretation there's so much heavy symbolism that we can argue about and what represents for the characters and for the stories and because of this bold undertaking he takes on that second half even with a bolt strategy of adapting the second book in a series without telling the story of the first one there is so much richness that is undeniable about queer that as much as I was disappointed I cannot say this is a bad movie I cannot say that I don't love talking about it and I'm looking forward to rewatching it see if it Sparks something in me but those are just my thoughts on queer now it's up to you to start the conversation about it in the comments below if you've seen it if you're excited about it rank all the gluca guadino movies that you've seen which one is your favorite if you're enjoying the Venice Film Festival reviews thus far there's a few more right up here I have more written ones on mge.com but as soon as I can more video reviews for them will come and if you want to join me for all those talk more movies and TV this is the place to be consider clicking that subscribe button and you won't miss any future conversations on your favorite movies n TV here is a film of two halves while at first a compelling exploration of one man's self-destruction in his eternal pursuit of human connection it radically pivots into a surreal Oddball Adventure that fails to effectively dive any deeper into any of its layers or meaning I really wish I could have loved it I'm giving queer a B minus thank you so much for watching film family remember to start the conversation about queer in the comments below many more Venice Film Festival reviews to come as fast as I can they will be out there let me know what is your favorite Daniel Craig performance anything and everything down there big shout out to my channel members for always supporting the channel and I'll be back very soon with more Venice reviews so until the next one love each other and love the movies come