🎥 Queer – Queer Cinema

Luca Guadagnino’s (Call Me By Your Name) Queer is a surreal and intense film based on the semi-autobiographical novel by William S. Burroughs. The story is set against Burroughs’ own experiences in the 1950s, during his time in Mexico City where he struggled with heroin addiction and sought out younger men, including an ex-GI he became infatuated with. The film follows the character William Lee, played by Daniel Craig (hello gay James Bond), who embarks on a journey through South America with Eugene Allerton, in search of the ayahuasca plant. The film focuses on their surreal experiences through the jungle, including encounters with eccentric scientists and unreliable shamans.

Beyond its picaresque storytelling, Queer also reflects on the isolation and marginalization of gay men in a homophobic world. In the 1950s, homosexuality was criminalized, and Burroughs’ own sense of alienation was deepened by the tragic incident in which, in a drug-fueled haze, he accidentally shot and killed his wife Joan during a “Wilhelm Tell” act. The film also explores themes of identity and desire, highlighting the complexities of intimacy and the emotional scars left by addiction and trauma. Directed by Guadagnino, a gay filmmaker, the movie is both a personal exploration of Burroughs’ life and a broader commentary on the experience of outsiders in a repressive society.