Wednesday, July 14, 2004

Querelle

What an odd film. For a start, you know how Dennis Potter used to cast adults as kids in his plays? He was being Clever. Fassbinder does the same in this - he casts People Of Middle Age as Sexy Young Things. It's most odd.

There's a woman who looks like Cilla playing The Most Beautiful Whore in Town. Ronnie Barker plays her husband. The Sexy Policeman appears to be played by Mr Steptoe's dad, and the sexy sailor Querelle is played by Brad Davis - who, from certain angles is a fine young thing. And from others is David Boreanaz.

It all looks beautiful, and is set in a timeless world of pereptual sunset. There's no electricity, but there are space invader machines. It's magical, cynical, and pretentious.

Quite what the message is is unclear. It's made in 1982, but seems far older - and, although I'd love to be wrong, appears to belong to the All Gays Are Tragic school. Whilst also owning a lot of shares in Tom of Finland.

It just ends. Which art house films often do. I was doing my ironing by this point, so didn't really notice.

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