Querelle

Conjured from the unholy meeting of two iconoclastic queer artists, Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s final film audaciously raises Jean Genet’s controversial novel to the level of myth. In an expressionistic soundstage vision of a French seaport town—bathed in fiery hues and complete with phallic spires—a strapping sailor and unrepentant criminal (Brad Davis) comes ashore to arouse passion, rivalry, and violence among the libidinal denizens drawn into his orbit. Enacted with dreamlike stylization by a cast of international stars, including Jeanne Moreau and Franco Nero, Querelle finds Fassbinder pushing his taboo-shattering depiction of gay desire to delirious extremes.

Film Info

  • Germany, France
  • 1982
  • 108 minutes
  • Color
  • 2.35:1
  • English
  • Spine #1221

BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES

  • Restored high-definition digital master, approved by director of photography Xaver Schwarzenberger, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
  • New interview with critic Michael Koresky on director Rainer Werner Fassbinder's aesthetics and visual storytelling
  • Rainer Werner Fassbinder—Last Works, a 1982 documentary by Wolf Gremm
  • Trailer
  • English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
  • PLUS: An essay by critic Nathan Lee

    New cover by Astra Zero

Purchase Options

BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES

  • Restored high-definition digital master, approved by director of photography Xaver Schwarzenberger, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
  • New interview with critic Michael Koresky on director Rainer Werner Fassbinder's aesthetics and visual storytelling
  • Rainer Werner Fassbinder—Last Works, a 1982 documentary by Wolf Gremm
  • Trailer
  • English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
  • PLUS: An essay by critic Nathan Lee

    New cover by Astra Zero
Querelle
Cast
Brad Davis
Querelle
Franco Nero
Lieutenant Seblon
Jeanne Moreau
Lysiane
Laurent Malet
Roger
Hanno Pöschl
Robert/Gil
Gunther Kaufmann
Nono
Burkhard Driest
Mario
Dieter Schidor
Vic
Credits
Director
Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Screenplay
Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Screenplay
Burkhard Driest
Based on the novel by
Jean Genet
Executive producer
Michael McLernon
Produced by
Dietor Schidor
Produced by
Sam Waynberg
Produced by
Daniel Toscan du Plantier
Coproducer
Burkhard Driest
Cinematography
Xaver Schwarzenberger
Set designer
Rolf Zehetbauer
Costumes
Barbara Baum
Sound
Hartmut Eichgrün
Sound
Vladimir Vizner
Film editor
Juliane Lorenz
Film editor
Franz Walsch
Music
Peer Raben

Current

Querelle: Erogenous Zones
Querelle: Erogenous Zones

A radically strange, postmodern adaptation of a novel by Jean Genet, Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s final film is grounded by a sweaty, seething, meaty eroticism—a confrontational sexuality that remains bracing.

By Nathan Lee