Didn’t care for it. It changes a few character and plot points from the novel, but doesn’t solve the major issues with it (Jonathan and and Nina are dull).
Too dark, nothing felt grounded in real place. Depp and Taylor-Johnson have contemporary faces that break the setting. Looking forward to whatever comes after this from Eggers.
Thank god that attitudes about equality between men and women have changed tremendously since this movie came out. I imagine that Clark Gable would have seemed fun and rakish if you ignored the way that he constantly overrules Claudette Colbert’s character’s choices by threatening violence against her. I couldn’t, so this movie doesn’t have much to offer me.
It may be too bad that I’m closing myself off to this movie, important for all of the reasons it’s important, but…
Dull. It's heavily stylized and there's plenty to analyze, it's a rich text in that sense. But there's no joy to it, it's unsexy and limp like a go go dancer at brunch. The whole thing looks like it's been filmed through a highball glass full of piss.
Fassbinder was certainly entitled to view m/m sex through a lens of conquest, violence, and dominance play. That's certainly an aspect of gay, particularly kink culture, and Querelle continues to have relevance…
