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Friday, October 23, 2020


This is a Cocteau illustration for Jean Genet's Querelle de Brest from 1947.

 

8 comments:

  1. Strange combination of a dandy and a ( (almost ) convict but Genet had talents too ! .

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  2. Of course you've seen the amazing film Querelle by the brilliant German director Rainer Werner Fassbinder and starring the captivating late actor Brad Davis? Amazing!

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    1. I need to see that. I really like Fassbinder's work.

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  3. I love that film! But it's very difficult to get the chance to watch it now. No streaming service offers it and prices for old cd's on Ebay, Amazon, etc. are very expensive. But the film is definitely worth watching and full of very sensual actors. However, it essentially destroyed Brad Davis' career in Hollywood. He was riding high after the great success of "Midnight Express" and everyone warned him about doing the role. He was handsome, beautifully built and was being groomed for further "big" Hollywood films. But when you "take it up the butt", like he does in this film, there's no turning back in a rigid, unapologetically homophobic industry such as the movies. Particularly back in 1982 with AIDS just beginning to emerge. After making "Querelle" his career was consigned basically to TV movies. And frankly, not much has changed to this day in Hollywood. If you're a straight movie star you can play gay characters and win Oscar's doing that. William Hurt, Tom Hanks, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Sean Penn, Mahershala Ali, Christopher Plummer, etc. have all won Oscar's playing gay characters (not to mention the nominations) while living irrefutably straight lives and having very successful careers. But openly gay actors are still consigned primarily to "gay" roles and struggle to break out of that mold to achieve true stardom.

    Sorry, I'll get off my soapbox now...

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    1. The truth doesn't require an apology. Thanks for writing.

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  4. Deux amants par hasard.

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  5. Beautiful sketch, just at the very edge of tasteful. NICE, JEAN!

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