As the Italian-born filmmaker heads the Competition Jury at this year’s Marrakech International Film Festival, I’m reminded of one of my favorite, count-them-on-the-fingers-of-one-hand films from this year’s Venice Film Festival and why Guadagnino will always be a beloved filmmaker of mine.
Films are a language with which we express our deepest selves, in all our best and worst qualities. That’s why when someone tells you their favorite film, or a beloved work they’ve watched recently, you should always listen. While cinema is the work — blood, sweat and tears — of its auteurs, their collective artform belongs to us, the audience. And we are made up of different individuals, as all films are not the same, and shouldn’t be.
During this year’s Marrakech International Film Festival (FIFM) where Guadagnino is head of the Competition Jury, he was asked about his latest film being banned in Turkiye, at the morning’s press conference. His reply is the stuff of legends and probably the reason why I’ve loved his work so much. Even when he takes me on a curveball like with Challengers, I’m left thinking about the images, the message and the music for months following my viewing.
“I grew up watching movies that have been labeled “extreme” — extreme cinema, like Pier Paolo Pasolini’s Salò, Rainer Fassbinder’s Querelle, Slava Tsukerman’s Liquid Sky and many others,” Guadagnino admitted during the press conference inside the Palais des Congres in Marrakech. “Even a movie that was a huge triumph commercially and received a lot of nominations like The Exorcist, I categorize as extreme cinema. It’s a bit of a complicated issue. One is that cinema has seismic power, through profound power in time, real cinema. I’m not saying that Queer is real cinema, I aim to do real cinema but certainly when I’m in front of a movie that has this seismic power, which is a lot of what I believe cinema is, something that is going to change your mind forever. So when we are faced with an objects that shutters our values in a way that is so powerful, I am very happy. Does that mean that I’m happy that my movie Queer has been banned by the Turkish government so that Turkish audiences who want to see the movie can’t see the movie? Not really, because of course one wants their work to be seen and also you want your work to meet the people who want to meet the work, but at the same this is an obtuse censorship. Particularly in this world where we can find things, where you can download a movie. If someone in Turkiye downloads the movie, I’m happy.”
Guadagnino continued on this thought. “They banned the movie because they felt it was creating social disorder. I wonder if they’ve seen the movie…” he went on to ponder out loud. “Or if they are just judging it by the outline, or the facetious stupidity of some journalists who thought of “James Bond going gay”. I really hope that they truly believe that the form of the movie brings about the possibility of societal collapse because this means that my belief in the power of cinema is a truth and not illusional. And I hope that I’m scandalized by cinema, I’m shocked by it and that it will fight the constitution and tarnish its inevitable powers.”
Needless to say, Guadagnino’s speech was met with thunderous applause. And that ladies and gentlemen, is why I loved Queer and will continue to savor its delicious visual language, the yummy costumes by Jonathan Anderson and the unique story of a man looking for love, in the wrong place. And don’t get me started on the dance sequence in the jungle. That’s one of the ages!
Queer is currently in US theaters, distributed by A24 and is a must-watch. It is also an award season contender for Best Film, Best Director for Guadagnino, and many Best performances by Craig and the supporting cast, which include Jason Schwartzman, Drew Starkey and Lesley Manville.
Top image courtesy of A24, used with permission.