Italian filmmaker Luca Guadagnino has cemented himself as one of the most popular filmmakers of this decade and the last. His next film, Queer, is set to come out soon.
Even before Call Me By Your Name, Guadagnino had been making films in his home country. The story of Elio (Timotheé Chalamet) and Oliver (Armie Hammer) won many people over.
Ever since, Guadagnino has been on an upward trajectory, creating a lot of buzz with his tennis drama, Challengers.
He has four films in the works currently. In a conversation with Cinecittà News, he talked about Queer and how it is different from his other works.
While many of his works have been celebrated, there also has been criticism, especially in how he handles gay sex scenes.
One of the most valid criticisms Call Me By Your Name received was regarding its handling of the sex scene between Elio and Oliver.
Despite showing several of Elio’s (heterosexual and peachsexual) sexual exploits without restraints, viewers have to use their imagination when Elio and Oliver become intimate.
The camera pans outside and focuses on the tree outside.
Guadagnino has addressed the lack of a gay sex scene in the film and explains why he decided not to show Elio and Oliver’s first time having sex.
“To put our gaze upon their lovemaking would have been a sort of unkind intrusion. I think that their love is in all things, so when we gaze towards the window and we see the trees, there is a sense of witnessing that.
“I refuse with strong firmness that I was coy in not showing that, because I think that Oliver and Elio and Armie and Timothée, the four of them displayed a very strong intimacy and closeness in so many ways and it was enough.”
Luca Guadagnino
‘Queer’ to Feature Gay Sex Scenes
Guadagnino has no reservations about nudity and gazing at male characters like the desirable objects they are.
But when it comes to sex scenes, many of his projects have refrained from exploring sex between men, an aspect is missing from his HBO mini-series, We Are Who We Are, to Challengers.
It appears that with Queer, he aims to subvert what people know about him. He tells Cinecittà News that the film is his most personal yet.
But even more surprising, it will feature several unsanitized sex scenes.
“It’s a tribute to Powell and Pressburger . I’ve seen The Red Shoes at least 50 times and I think they would appreciate the sex scenes in Queer , which are numerous and quite scandalous.”
Luca Guadagnino – Cinecittà News
All his projects have not given any notable gay sex scene, but Queer promises to be overtly that — queer.
Guadagnino has consistently defended his acting collaborators from sharp criticism. He defended Chalamet and Armer from speculation of not wanting to do an explicit gay sex scene.
His casting choices have always come under fire, given that he doesn’t cast out queer actors for queer roles.
Guadagnino has defended his casting choices, which is why it’s no surprise that Queer stars Drew Starkey (Love, Simon) and Daniel Craig (Knives Out).
Justin Kuritzkes, with whom Guadagnino collaborated on Challengers, adapts the film from William S. Burroughs‘ 1985 book of the same name.
Set in 1940s Mexico City, it follows Lee (Craig), who wanders around the city’s clubs after fleeing from a drug bust in New Orleans and becomes infatuated with drug user Allerton (Starkey), a discharged American Navy serviceman.
Other cast members include Lesley Manville, Jason Schwartzman, Henry Zaga (13 Reasons Why) as Winston Moor, Drew Droege; directors Ariel Schulman, Lisandro Alonso, and David Lowery; Ronia Ava, Simon Rizzoni, Ford Leland, Sean Cubito, Diego Benzoni, Radu Murarasu, Perla Ambrosini, and Francesco and Lupo Sturani.
Queer will open in film festivals later this year.