Overview
In 1950s Mexico City, William Lee, an American ex-pat in his late forties, leads a solitary life amidst a small American community. However, the arrival in town of Eugene Allerton, a young student, stirs William into finally establishing a meaningful connection with someone.
About youth, beauty and opportunities.
Beautiful boys love attention and money, but they are not ready to give love in return.
The fear of all gays is to be left alone and not needed by anyone
This is not a movie, but an aesthetic orgasm. The camerawork is beyond praise, every frame and camera movements are so precise that a balanced composition is preserved in all of them. Literally puppet sets, similar to theatrical ones, a warm Mexican day drenched in the sun, a cold blue night. The combined shades of blue and yellow are a separate aesthetic, and all the shots resemble paintings by Edward Hopper, who painted just about the years of the plot. It's interesting how the red room at the end, years later, changes color to the opposite in the spectrum - green.
The attention to detail is amazing - you're afraid to take your eyes off the screen and miss something, you have to stop and look closely - the creators paint us a picture of the book's world quite accurately (the city is a large colony of foreigners, fabulous brothels and restaurants, cockfights and bullfights (Lee watches bullfighting slides), as well as any imaginable perversions" c.). The viewer asks, how did some kind of disgusting metamorphosis take place in the book? What is the meaning of the centipede symbol?". Things that speak about Lee in his apartment: on the bedside table are all the symbols of self-destruction: pills, bullets, gun paste, cigarette butts, a fried curved spoon. Stacks of books, including a novel lying on the table "A date in Samarra ", and a smoldering cigarette on the bathroom, yellow marker fingers of a heavy smoker, two typewriters, immediately hinting at the financial situation of the protagonist and profession. And guns. There are no random interior items that the camera stops at from time to time. References to Burroughs' life also flicker, sending goosebumps from guesses about the ending. For example, at a party, a woman shoots a toy pistol into a glass on the other person's head, as if giving them an idea.
The problem of self-identification is not expressed here as hackneyed as in all films of a similar subject. The hero in the restaurant pours out his soul to Allerton, who doesn't seem to care - he just eats and hardly says a word, but in fact Lee is trying to convince himself of the correctness of his opinion about himself. (In the book, it's very funny that a friend tells him, "You just walk around and pretend to be a fag so that you don't get kicked out of the party.") From the words of the author of the book about the character, "he has a personality breakdown, he desperately needs contact with other people, he is completely unsure of himself and the purpose of his life," which can be seen from Lee's dialogues and behavior, how much he really doubts himself and does not love himself..
It's trite, but the parallel between love and addiction is vividly drawn - the concepts are confused - love for Allerton is like addiction to heroin, which Lee got hooked on. But he doesn't want to quit, he can't. He wraps himself in illusions and his thoughts, attributing to his chosen one something that has nothing to do with reality. He pays him and continues to lie to his face, as if everything will change, as if everything is not so bad. And instead of asking Allerton directly and setting the record straight, the hero clings to the ridiculous idea of a drug that grants telepathy. Asking aloud should give an answer out loud, which he is very afraid to hear and accept. But you can't hide from the subconscious.
The woman in the jungle says that the door is already open - it cannot be closed. And the heroes hurry to turn away, to leave. But you can't run away from yourself.
But if you want to live, you'll have to end your addiction.
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The acting is great - Jason Schwartzman, in an atypical role for himself, steals all the attention when he appears in the frame, an embarrassed Daniel Craig is incredibly touching. English-speaking viewers discussed the issue of queerness in kissing and came to the conclusion that it was noticeable that the actors were straight because they did not merge into a kiss, but seemed to be fighting, posing as a woman. (Although the question here is how exactly this was meant to be shown, and, in principle, fits the problem of self-identification).
For some reason, the announcements say that the film is based on the book naked breakfast. Whoever wrote them knows only one book by Burroughs, obviously. In fact, there's a faggot here (and maybe a little letters to yage.)
Craig is good in this role, it even surprisingly suited him very well.
this is where I can end
the film incredibly beautiful, everything is as expected from Luke, at some points it was very unclear and surreal, if you can call it that