Linbeymusol
Wonderful character development!
VividSimon
Simply Perfect
Pluskylang
Great Film overall
sunheadbowed
Fassbinder's swan song takes everything to the extreme. So much so that critics have never quite been able to stomach it.'Querelle' is such a stunning work of art on several levels: the Navy dockyard set with its near-sepia hazy opiate yellows and browns (contrasting against the colour of the sailors' outfits, the brilliant whiteness a parody of purity), evoking both sickness and a perpetual dusk of hard-ons, repression, indulgence and violence; the cinematography, some of the best in any Fassbinder film, capturing the actors' reflections in mirrors as the camera coolly observes the lovers they talk to (or 'at') -- lust in an impenetrable frame in which no one can be satisfied and everyone has their own agenda; the incredible erotic sexual ambiance that manages to be both appealing and threatening; the acting (Davis clearly finds this unsubtle role liberating after working in the very gay yet very homophobic world of Hollywood). I find more to enjoy in this film every time I view it.The critics got it wrong here; perhaps a little too much sodomy for their bourgeois tastes? Let's see.. it has Brad Davis shirtless and sweaty in almost every scene (the one in which he's covered in oil and grease has to be the money shot); it features Jeanne Moreau being dramatic and elegant and making statements about men's 'pricks' (in a role that seemingly couldn't have been anyone else's); it's an adaptation of a work by the brilliant Jean Genet; it's directed by the incredible Fassbinder; it has lines like, 'my cock came out covered in s--t, if you want to know' -- how could all of this equal a bad film? Not in my book.The film ends with an ode to Genet: 'Apart from his books we know nothing about him. Not even the date of his death, which he supposes to be near.' Fassbinder would be dead before the film was released, four years before Genet. And besides his films, we know nothing about Fassbinder.'Querelle' is Fassbinder's final 'f--k you.'
PeterMitchell-506-564364
Although this movie is not gonna be favored by everyone, especially anti gay people, this is a strangely fascinating set piece, sometimes, shocking, sometimes terrifying, but always absorbing. Querelle played adequately by Davis is a gay sailor, who just arrived at his new port,, starts to frequent this bar, to pick up other sailors and have sex with them. I admit, parts of this movie are grossly disgusting, one such scene I can't go into detail, but it involves Davis and another guy, which gives you cause to wonder about Brad's real aids problem. Querelle goes too far with one lover killing him, a blood rivering down the victim's body. On the run, he is protected by another sailor, hiding him out, until he can gets means of escape. Querelle is quite popular, not just with men. Unfortunately he isn't that way inclined. His old macho brother is doing the woman (Jeanne Moreau) just wonderful here, who runs the hotel and sings in a classic Vaudevillian kind of voice, it's adds some flavor to the air of awkward scenes if from the perspective of Davis's character, awkward around women. Franco Nero, as always, is in top form as Querelle's captain, who even he has a thing for Davis, and we have thought provoking points in his words, plus voice overs, from a faceless star, which, a couple of annoying psalms appear on the black screen as we fade into another. The loud backdrops for this film are fun to view, we almost wish they were real locations. Davis uncomfortably fits this role, and too his character, I didn't like that much. Querelle is a different movie experience, in one sense, a superior sickish kind of movie, which I must warn again is not for all tastes, but you be the judge.
Jay Harris
QUERILLE is based on a novel by Genet.Combining the artistry of Fassbinder & Genet into one film is not easy.The film is a murder mystery,a many part love story (mostly male). Absract images bordering on being psychedelic.The acting by all is low key & excellent. The main known actors are Brad Davis (he died a few years later from the ravages of AIDS). He was an exceptional actor & is very well missed. We lost this year another actor who had them same superb acting chops. Heath Ledger.Jeanne Moreau gives another excellent performance as the bar Owner.Franco Nero plays the ship officer who is lusting after Querille (Brad Davis).All the other actors are equally excellent.There are a few sex scenes (male-male) they are done with erotic & are in no way offensive.The cinematography is quite abstract with beautiful images almost like paintings.This film is not for all tastes, but for Fassbinder fans it is a must.One more thing, I have viewed this a few times previously and finally understood the song that Jeane Moreau sings throughout the movieRatings: ***1/2 (out of 4) 91 points (out of 100 IMDb 8 (out of 10)
jaibo
What an absolute peerless masterpiece this is. A glorious and sensual dream about subjectivity, objectification, image-making, masculinity and the disavowal from the male world of the abject female traits. But these traits cannot be disavowed, because all power needs fascination and fascination requires abjection.The film traces Querelle's journey from rigid singularity through an induction into a masculine world to an abject melting into the arms of the weakest of male figures. Seblon, excluded voyeur and viewer of Querelle's story is actually Querelle's final resting place - as we all finally rest before the images which dazzle us.An extremely ambiguous film, intricately bound within the image matrix it critiques - a weird and wonderful, fascinating world of mirrors, where all fall in love with their own idealised reflection & "each man kills the thing he loves." Certainly one of the most complex, provocative and seductive films of all time.
