Last night I saw Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s 1982 film adaptation of Jean Genet’s novel Querelle at Anthology Film Archives in the East Village. I saw it when it came out, but I had hardly any recollection of it, aside from Jeanne Moreau singing “Each Man Kills the Thing He Loves.” Not only does it still hold up, but it’s quite shocking even by (or especially by) today’s standards. It’s basically a Tom of Finland drawing come to life. I think it might be the most erotic film I’ve ever seen, even though there’s no explicit sex or nudity.
The night before, while I was channel surfing, I happened to catch Luca Guadagnino’s A Bigger Splash on cable, which I had also seen in theaters when it was originally released in 2015. I was particularly struck by a scene where Ralph Fiennes starts dancing to the Rolling Stones’ “Emotional Rescue.” The only words I can use to describe it are pure, unbridled joy.
I’ve always found music criticism to be lacking. How can you convey in words what a song is like? You have to hear it (and, in this case, see it). So here it is:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=623d9vZqF-4I also remembered music playing a pivotal role in another of Guadagnino’s movies, Call Me By Your Name. In this instance, it’s Armie Hammer’s character dancing to the Psychedelic Furs’ “Love My Way.” Again, the feeling is pure, unbridled joy.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Aq_e88Gp8BsOn a side note, when I went to see the Psychedelic Furs (twice) last year, it really pissed me off that they replaced the xylophone part in this song with a keyboard. So here it is as it was originally recorded:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LGD9i718kBU
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