34/48
In 1950s Mexico City, a forty-something American immigrant lives a lonely life in the midst of a small American community. However, the arrival of a young student finally makes him make a meaningful connection with someone. Daniel Craig was ultimately the one who cast Luca Guadagnino as Drew Starkey after watching audition tapes with Guadagnino and telling him "That's the guy" after seeing Starkey… William Lee: Sit on Your Ass! Or What’s Left of It After Four Years in the Navy. Appeared on The Graham Norton Show: Daniel Craig/Nicola Coughlan/Jesse Eisenberg/Kieran Culkin/Flo (2024). I've never seen 'Naked Lunch' (1991), but I found myself thinking about it often during the 2024 London Film Festival’s “Queer” screening: probably to be expected, as William S Burroughs provided the source material for both films. In the 1950s' México, William Lee, an American writer on the wrong side of the… forty? Fifty? He spends his days getting drunk, shooting and having casual sex with other men. One day, a muscular, intelligent young man named Eugene walks into a bar and Lee is shocked. But what does Eugene himself want? Then there’s that telepathic drug, which is worth thinking about… I’m not sure what stylistically director Luca Guadagnino is trying to achieve with this film. The sets are decorated almost exclusively in block colors – dull reds and olive greens, for example – and have that unrealistic, clean Technicolor look that made me think the intention was to pay homage to the films of the era in which the film is set. But if so, why the distinctly un-1950s rock and techno soundtrack? Daniel Craig (is it my imagination or is he starting to look like Sid James?) is stuck in the lead role because he has to constantly make unnecessary speeches. with an accent that is clearly not his own. Drew Starkey is able to give a more subtle performance as the manipulative Eugene, and certainly looks prepared. Lesley Manville is unrecognizable as the doctor living in the South American jungle – well done to the makeup team! This is the kind of film that I feel is more about artistic style than storytelling. It was good to see once, but I don’t plan on watching it again.
