2024-09-06 15:03:35
The thick line behind the role of the womanizing agent 007 James Bond was made by the British actor Daniel Craig. In a new film called Queer, which he brought to the Venice Film Festival this week, he plays a drug-addicted American homosexual who falls in love with a young man in 1950s Mexico.
Erotic scenes between the protagonists may cause a stir. Fifty-six-year-old Daniel Craig doesn’t care if they make him the subject of tabloid attention. “I don’t worry about it. Even if, so what? I won’t affect it anyway,” he says.
The film was based on the novel by the famous American writer William Burroughs, which was published in the Czech translation by Josef Rauvolf under the title Teplouš. Directed by Luca Guadagnino, the Italian author of the dramas Give Me Your Name or Rivals. He would like the audience to go to the news not just for the sex. “Daniel bares his soul wonderfully in this film. I hope it speaks to people more than what he bares in front of the camera,” he notes.
Craig has appeared in five Bond films since 2006, the last one called No Time to Die premiered three years ago. The actor is happy that he could exchange the big-budget production about an agent in the service of Her Majesty for a modest filming in the famous Roman studios of Cinecittà.
“I’ve wanted to film something with Luca Guadagnino for a very long time. We met almost twenty years ago and said we’d do something together one day. So here it is,” notes Craig. He arrived at the Venice festival with his wife, English actress Rachel Weisz, who accompanied him on the red carpet at the world premiere.
Queer takes place after World War II. It tells the story of the American drug addict William Lee, who had to flee from New Orleans to Mexico. Now she sweeps the local bars and seduces young expat men – before falling madly in love with a quiet bisexual from the Navy. He was portrayed by 30-year-old Drew Starkey.
Daniel Craig v roli Williama Leeho. | Photo: Yannis Drakoulidis
In Venice, Craig said that to make their on-camera love scenes believable, he and Starkey took dance lessons. “It helped us break the ice,” notes Daniel Craig.
Burroughs drafted the book between 1951 and 1953, but never finished it and it was not published until the mid-1980s. Guadagnino and screenwriter Justin Kuritzkes have now put an end to the open-ended story. At the end, the protagonists go into the jungle to find a hallucinogenic drug made from a vine called ayahuasca. Craig’s hero cares about her so that, under her influence, the young man will tell him how he really feels about him.
“For a very long time I wanted to make the book into a film. I read it for the first time when I was eighteen,” recalls the director. He finally got the rights the year before. “In other words, I dreamed of a film for 33 years, which I then shot in half a year,” he adds.
Queer is one of 21 titles competing for the main Golden Lion prize at the Venice festival. The winner will be announced on Saturday.
The first reviews are favorable. Variety.com praises the period setting, which makes the sleepy Mexican town reminiscent of Orson Welles’ classic Touch of Evil from 1958. In addition, the director tastefully combines period elements with newer music. For example, the scene when Daniel Craig’s character falls in love with a young man is accompanied by the song Come as You Are by the rock band Nirvana.
“Craig has wisely avoided imitating the older Burroughs, who became a punk icon in the 1980s. He gives a bold, funny and energetic performance in the title role,” praises the magazine, which says the film doesn’t lose its spark until the “wonderful” final shot.
The expedition and Craig’s commitment are also appreciated by the British newspaper Guardian. “Craig is the clear star of the film. Dressed in a scruffy white suit, hat and black glasses, he carries a gun at his waist for all to see. It’s a funny phallic symbol, fitting for this erotic cowboy who is much more lover than brawler,” notes the Guardian. He awarded the newcomer four out of five stars.
Video: Trailer from the film Queer
The film Queer does not yet have a Czech distributor. | Video: The Upcoming