Querelle (1982)

56% of critics liked it
(9 reviews)
71% of users liked it
(3,204 ratings)

A sailor learns to take, and give, it like a man in this surrealistic adaptation of writer and thief Jean Genet's novel Querelle de Brest by avant-garde German director Rainer Werner Fassbinder. In a colorful brothel in the port of Brest, proprietor Nono (Gunther Kaufmann) is known for wagering with… More A sailor learns to take, and give, it like a man in this surrealistic adaptation of writer and thief Jean Genet's novel Querelle de Brest by avant-garde German director Rainer Werner Fassbinder. In a colorful brothel in the port of Brest, proprietor Nono (Gunther Kaufmann) is known for wagering with his customers. Win a throw of the dice, and they get to make love with his wife, Lysiane (Jeanne Moreau); lose, and they must take it from behind by Nono himself. One day, Lysiane reads the tarot for her lover, Robert (Hanno Poschl), and learns in the cards of his intense passion for his brother, Querelle (Brad Davis). Querelle himself soon arrives, and the brothers enact a bizarre greeting halfway between a hug and a wrestling match. Querelle, it seems, is looking for partners in a drug deal; Robert points him in the right direction. An argument about the merits of sex between men soon leads Querelle to murder his fellow smuggler, Vic (Dieter Schidor). Back at the whorehouse, Querelle loses on purpose to Nono and finds he has a taste for passive gay sex. Meanwhile, fellow sailor Gil, who looks exactly like Querelle's brother (and is played by the same actor), murders one of his compatriots after the brute publicly impugns his manhood. Wanted by the police for both his own crime and Querelle's, Gil goes on the lam. Querelle soon crashes his hideout, and an intense bond develops between the two murderers -- a friendship that will lead Querelle to the greatest love, and the greatest treachery, of his life. Director Fassbinder was in the process of editing Querelle when he died of a drug overdose in June 1982. Gunther Kaufmann, who plays Nono, was Fassbinder's ex-lover; the film is dedicated to another former lover, El Hedi Ben Salem, the news of whose suicide had just reached the director. Critically derided even by many of Fassbinder's admirers, Querelle earned a Golden Raspberry award for Worst "Original" Song for "Each Man Kills the Thing He Loves," an Oscar Wilde poem set to music by Peer Raben and sung repeatedly by Jeanne Moreau. Moreau had previously starred in Mademoiselle, a Tony Richardson effort co-scripted by Genet. Look for Frank Ripploh, another pioneering German director, in a cameo. ~ Brian J. Dillard, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: R, 1 hr. 46 min.
Directed By: Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Written By: Jean Genet, Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Genres: Art House & International, Drama

In Theaters: Aug 31, 1982 Wide
On DVD: Jul 10, 2001

Critic Reviews

Vincent Canby, New York Times
Except for some things that Miss Moreau does, Querelle is not only humorless but also uncharacteristically witless.
, TV Guide's Movie Guide
Because the film is an experiment, it often seems disjointed or incomprehensible, but more than anything it marks a radical turning point in narrative filmmaking.
Jeffrey M. Anderson, Combustible Celluloid
It's probably worth a look only for Fassbinder's most die-hard fans.
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
Stays faithful to Genet's lurid poetry.
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, Spirituality and Practice
A sour melodrama
Jake Euker, F5 (Wichita, KS)
A real debacle.
Nick Davis, Nick's Flick Picks
Doubtless not a masterpiece, the movie nevertheless puts words, sounds, and images on screen, with welcome creative energy, that have never paraded there before -- or, if in fact they're always on screen, never before so openly.
Jeffrey M. Anderson, Combustible Celluloid
Despite the striking, golden photography, the film comes across as overly eclectic and ambiguous.
Gil Jawetz, DVDTalk.com
Querelle is dense with self-importance.

Read all 9 critic reviews

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Featured Audience Ratings

Matheus C

A director's wicked sexual fantasies writen in Shakesperian terms and photographed in lush Technicolor hues. A shame the characters' only motivations seem to be following their hormonal instincts and find revenge and redemption through screwing.
Robert C

Not a film for everyone, but a film that I would recomend to anyone who is a fan of film. If that makes sense? There is SO much going on in this film that repeated views are necessary to really appreciate it all. While the subject matter may be uncomfortable for some (no pun… More
Not a film for everyone, but a film that I would recomend to anyone who is a fan of film. If that makes sense? There is SO much going on in this film that repeated views are necessary to really appreciate it all. While the subject matter may be uncomfortable for some (no pun intended), the underlying theme's should be pause for thought for anyone who dares to examine them. Which is something that I always look for in a film and am thrilled on the rare ocassion when I find it.
_kelly .

I don't know if this film is as great as I think it is or if the director is being just the right amount of pretentious to come off as profound. After a few more views, I will write more on this film (and the rating will certainly change).
jay n

Pretentious as hell and somewhat disjointed but has its moments.
Walter M

Robert(Hanno Poschl) receives a foreboding premonition from Lysiane(Jeanne Moreau) about his brother Querelle(Brad Davis). That proves eerily true when arriving in town, he makes a drug deal with Mario(Burkhard Driest), a crooked cop, that is brokered by Nono(Gunther Kaufmann),… More
Robert(Hanno Poschl) receives a foreboding premonition from Lysiane(Jeanne Moreau) about his brother Querelle(Brad Davis). That proves eerily true when arriving in town, he makes a drug deal with Mario(Burkhard Driest), a crooked cop, that is brokered by Nono(Gunther Kaufmann), before killing a fellow sailor in a fight. Feeling lucky, Querelle makes a wager with Nono... With his last film, "Querelle," Rainer Werner Fassbinder goes out on a very, very odd note with a movie that even with its languorous pacing cannot maintain its focus for very long. I know that he was no stranger to homoeroticism in his films but here it is not that the characters are in denial about their sexuality but that they need to get in touch with their feelings. So, if things seem a little dreamlike, it is not your imagination with the deliberate artificiality of the sets, dueling narration, occasional title cards and anachronistic items like a video game and the tape recorder that Lieutenant Seblon(Franco Nero) uses to dictate his feelings about Querelle into. All of which might be explained by this being based on a novel by Jean Genet.
Sylvester K

Beautiful Set Design, filled with the sadness of sunset
Dimitris S

I loved all of Querelle,regardless of the lukewarm finale of mister Fassbinder,his death marking a significant cinematic loss.His motion picture about all the self-centered egoism all these years reveals itself starring a rebellious young man in the form of an Archangel of Darkness,a… More
I loved all of Querelle,regardless of the lukewarm finale of mister Fassbinder,his death marking a significant cinematic loss.His motion picture about all the self-centered egoism all these years reveals itself starring a rebellious young man in the form of an Archangel of Darkness,a similar reference to Genet's homosexual study.Yes,Fassbinder is not in his forte despite the beloved subject matter of his.Kudos to the theatrical prestige linking the degeneracy of the lower scums such is Moreau's character.

Read all 7 featured audience ratings

Cast

            Brad Davis as Querelle

            Franco Nero as Lieutenant Seblon

            Jeanne Moreau as Lysiane

            Laurent Malet as Roger

            Hanno Pöschl as Robert/Gil

            Günther Kaufmann as Nono

            Burkhardt Driest as Mario

            Harry Baer as Armenier

            Isolde Barth
            
            Roger Fritz as Marcellin

            Y Sa Lo
            
            Karl Scheydt
            
            Volker Spengler
            
            Karl-Heinz von Hassel
            
            Rainer Werner Fassbinder
            
            Wolf Gremm
            
            Michael McLernon as Matrose

            Frank Ripploh
            
            Dieter Schidor as Vic

            Robert Van Ackeren
            
            Vitus Zeplichal
            
            Neil Bell as Theo

            Rainer Will
            
            Jean Genet
            
            Natja Brunckhorst
            
See full cast