Querelle

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Querelle

R

1982

1h 45m

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

65%

Tomatometer

17 Reviews

70%

Popcornmeter

2,500+ Ratings

In a French bordello, a young sailor meets a murderer who also is his supposed brother. Based on Jean Genet's novel.

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Eric Henderson

Slant Magazine

Pride is many things, but this year it’s mostly the cut of Brad Davis’s muscle shirt cradling his cleavage like no piece of cloth has this side of Marlon Brando’s Stanley Kowalski.

Jun 23, 2024

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Richard Brody

The New Yorker

A work of bold artistic self-renewal.

Feb 4, 2019

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Dan Yakir

Boston Globe

It is far from perfect, but a rewarding experience nonetheless - amd a much better film than the derivative "Lola" and the convoluted "Veronika Voss" that preceded it. It is destined to become a cult classic.

Apr 27, 2018

Full Review

Kathy Fennessy

Seattle Film Blog

Compared to more recent queer films, like João Pedro Rodrigues' O Fantasma or Alain Guiraudie's 2014 Stranger by the Lake, it isn't especially explicit, but in every other way, it's among the most deliriously homoerotic films ever made.

Rated: 3/4

Aug 28, 2024

Full Review

Rudie Obias

Battleship Pretension

It’s bold, confusing, off-putting, and at times very ugly and violent.

Jun 12, 2024

Full Review

Michael Bronski

Gay Community News (Boston)

The images on the screen are all the right ones but there is little feeling to back them up, make them valid. It’s homoeroticism without the eroticism.

Jul 12, 2022

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Andrew C

That was some steamy stuff. Continuing my journey through the works of Fassbinder. The film is shot gorgeously, and I really dug it.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

05/16/25

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David K

This is one of those pieces of garbage that comes floating out of the minds of those who think they are oh-so-cerebral, oh-so-artistic, that anyone who doesn't "get" it is obviously an artless rube. I watched this as one of TCM"s entries in their Special Theme (May 2024) The Art of Artifice. This series focuses on the work of set designers/production designers and it is within that context that this film works. And, only within that context. The acting is deliberately stiff, the sex anything but erotic, the script is wooden, the songs are highly forgettable, and not one of the characters is remotely engaging. In a word, self indulgent.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

02/10/25

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PridePosterStudios

You can sail the seven seas- in the navy

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

05/10/24

Full Review

Jens B

An erotic meditation on Genet, an abundance of sexual tension, a lot of sweaty, muscular sailors, casual anal sex, phallic imagery, and next level camera work and lighting.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/09/23

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Audience Member

Worst film I saw in the 80s

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

01/21/23

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Alan

Absolutely Magnificent

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

06/23/19

Full Review

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Rainer Werner Fassbinder

Director

Brad Davis

Querelle

Franco Nero

Lieutenant Seblon

Jeanne Moreau

Lysiane

Laurent Malet

Roger Bataille

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Synopsis

In a French bordello, a young sailor meets a murderer who also is his supposed brother. Based on Jean Genet's novel.

Director: Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Producer: Dieter Schidor, Sam Waynberg
Screenwriter: Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Burkhard Driest
Production Co: Gaumont, Planet Film, Albatros Produktion
Rating: R
Genre: Drama
Original Language: British English
Release Date (Streaming): Oct 15, 2020
Runtime: 1h 45m
Sound Mix: Surround

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