Querelle

"It will take you into a surreal world of passion and sexuality, further than most would dare to go."

1982 1h 49m EN

👍

6.6

SOLID

★6.6TMDB · 223

DramaCrime

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

French sailor Querelle arrives in Brest and starts frequenting a strange whorehouse. He discovers that his brother Robert is the lover of the lady owner, Lysiane. Here, you can play dice with Nono, Lysiane's husband: if you win, you are allowed to make love with Lysiane; if you lose, you have to make love with Nono... Querelle loses on purpose.

“It will take you into a surreal world of passion and sexuality, further than most would dare to go.”

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Cast

Brad Davis
Querelle
Franco Nero
Lieutenant Seblon
Jeanne Moreau
Lysiane
Laurent Malet
Roger Bataille
Hanno Pöschl
Robert / Gil
Günther Kaufmann
Nono
Burkhard Driest
Mario
Roger Fritz
Marcellin

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Writers: Burkhard Driest, Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Languages: English, German
Countries: Germany, France

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $1.6M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

44 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, German.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 2 countries: Germany, France.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder, shot by Xaver Schwarzenberger. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Peer Raben. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Juliane Lorenz shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Brad Davis and Franco Nero and Jeanne Moreau carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Rainer Werner Fassbinder directs. Xaver Schwarzenberger behind the camera. Peer Raben scores. Juliane Lorenz cuts. Produced in Germany, France. Dialogue in English, German.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Shot for just $1.6M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
244 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
3Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, German.
4International production across 2 countries: Germany, France.
5Directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder, shot by Xaver Schwarzenberger. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Original score by Peer Raben. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
7Editor Juliane Lorenz shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
8Brad Davis and Franco Nero and Jeanne Moreau carry the top of the cast.
9Marketing tagline: "It will take you into a surreal world of passion and sexuality, further than most would dare to go.".
10IMDB entry: tt0084565 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
11Classified under 9 themes, including "based on novel or book", "murder", "male homosexuality", "sailor".
12Released under 15 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Xaver Schwarzenberger
Original score: Peer Raben
Editing: Juliane Lorenz
Makeup / hair: Ingrid Massmann-Körner
Runtime: 109 min · 1h 49m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $1,600,000
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Querelle (1982)

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Rainer Werner Fassbinder

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Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2022-04-04
★ 7/10
Brad Davis (sprayed into his tight white canvas trousers!) is the eponymous sailor, enticed into a seamy life when their ship docks in Brest. This proves to be a port where homosexuality is the currency of the day. The losing roll of the dice could cost you more than a few shekels. This is all something that captain "Seblon" (Franco Nero) is aware of - and he knows that sex can be an effective way to stop frustration becoming violence. It'd be easy to write this off as an out-dated queer-fest, but actually there is quite a bit more to it. The journey of self discovery for the young man; the unrequited love for him from his boss, the complex relationship with his equally handsome brother "Robert" (Hanno Pöschl) and the sparing appearances of teh matter man's current girlfriend "Lysiane" (Jeanne Moreau) - the principal attraction in the "La Feria" bar/whorehouse/general den of ill repute - all intrigue. Wassbinder's last film is certainly not his best, and to be honest it has dated rather badly over thirty years, but it has an immersive, theatrically intense style to it and the sex - though not remotely graphic - has a seediness that leaves much more to the imagination and, I reckon, is therefore much more potent and challenging. Somehow our own imagination (and fetishes) are tantalisingly teased and exposed without anything too specific on screen. It won't be to everyone's taste. A film about guys shagging and drug dealing in a French port won't work everywhere, but it's much more of a work of cinema than I was expecting. Though I didn't really get the ending, I found it oddly compelling.

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