LEILA FADEL, HOST:
The missteps and blunders of a youthful crush are nearly universal. But what if you never really grew up and those missteps kept happening because society wouldn't let you be or love the person you want. That's at the heart of the new movie "Queer." Daniel Craig of James Bond fame is earning Oscar buzz for his portrayal of William Lee. He's an American expat living in 1950s Mexico City searching for, well, someone.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "QUEER")
DANIEL CRAIG: (As William) It was a wise old queen who taught me that I had a duty to live, you know, to conquer hate with knowledge and sincerity and love. The difficulty is to convince someone else he is really part of you.
FADEL: When Lee spots the young Eugene Allerton from across a neighborhood bar, he's infatuated. And he begins a fumbling courtship of this mysterious stranger. Luca Guadagnino directed "Queer," a story based on the William S. Burroughs novela.
LUCA GUADAGNINO: I've been dreaming of making this movie since I read the book in 1988 when I was a feverish megalomaniac in Palermo growing up over there. Nothing's changed. Nothing has...
CRAIG: It never ended.
GUADAGNINO: (Laughter) The truth is that I've always wanted to make this movie. It was more an obsession. Like, I was obsessed of bringing it to life.
FADEL: And, Daniel, this entire movie takes place at a very different time, when queer had a different meaning, a derogatory one. And people like the character you play had to literally leave the U.S. to feel free. What motivated Lee to move to Mexico City? What's there for him?
CRAIG: I would say he was being drawn out by his need for something, love, whatever. I mean, he was being pushed out and drawn out, all at the same time, I would say.
FADEL: Let's talk about beautiful Allerton, the object of Lee's desire. If you could, talk about that relationship because we never quite figure Allerton out, as Lee really has this desperation to be loved by him.
GUADAGNINO: I don't think that Allerton is a sort of incredible object of affection that is kind of ungraspable. I think that Allerton actually is the active character in the first part of their encounter. Lee is a person that wants more, when Allerton believes that you should be more modest in your wanting. So there is a sort of disconnection in the passion, probably, but not in the attraction and in the possibility.
FADEL: Yeah. Actually, no. It's interesting because I watched it, and I wasn't sure am I watching a love story or a meditation on loneliness and rejection, because I think you can see it both ways. And everybody relates.
CRAIG: Or both.
FADEL: Or both, yeah.
GUADAGNINO: Both. I mean, I believe we are always alone. And I think that the maturity in the relationship is understanding the loneliness of the other. It is one plus one as a sum of two individuals. It is not a fusion - then it becomes codependency.
CRAIG: (Laughter) Very beautifully put. Yes, I mean, I feel the same way. I mean, I think it's all those things. And how complicated it is. There's no answers in the film. It's the moments when they come together that gives hope, and then the hope is taken away. And it's just - as Luca said, it's not one-sided. They're just two very different people trying to find a connection in a complicated situation.
FADEL: Luca, there are some similarities to another film of yours, "Call Me By Your Name," especially the age gap love story.
GUADAGNINO: I'm using the beautiful platform of NPR to clarify one thing that's important to me.
FADEL: Oh, sorry.
GUADAGNINO: "Call Me By Your Name" is a book by Andre Aciman that tells the story of a 17-year-old Elio meeting 24 years old Oliver. In my interpretation of reality, 17 years old and 24 years old do not constitute age gap. To call it like that, to define it like that implies a balance of power that is, for me, telling about the eye of the beholder, not of what happens in this relationship described in that movie, because it is not a relationship of power. No. 2, I don't believe that we are really seeing an age gap relationship either in "Queer."
FADEL: With Allerton and Lee?
GUADAGNINO: Absolutely not because in between the two of them, certainly it is Lee who is the youthful one. Lee is...
FADEL: Oh, that's true.
GUADAGNINO: Comic. Lee is capable of all the false moves that you do when you're a clumsy teenager somehow. He kind of punishes himself by doing things that he shouldn't do.
FADEL: And actually, Allerton seems to have more - I don't know if it's power, but Lee is always constantly looking for affirmation from Allerton, versus the other way. I'd love to bring you in here, Daniel, about the way you played your part of this relationship and how you saw it. And I keep thinking about the moment where you kind of bow when you first have - see Allerton and you really like him.
CRAIG: Mm hm. The bar scene was, I mean, I don't know about you, but I related to so quickly. Like, the attempt that happens in a bar, whatever, you can show that kind of vulnerability, and then flip it. You know, he turns around and tells the owner of the bar to F off, you know? That's the beauty of that little scene. It's like, you know, it goes from complete naivety and vulnerability to aggression. It's like, it's great. It's wonderful to act.
FADEL: Daniel, when you committed to being the next James Bond, were you ever concerned that you'd never...
CRAIG: Well, I'm not, thankfully. I'm not, thankfully, the next James Bond.
FADEL: But what I'm asking is, this type of complicated role that you played in this film is kind of your go-to. That's how you started your career. And then you were James Bond for a while. Were you ever worried that you were going to be locked into playing the action hero and you wouldn't come back to roles like this one again?
CRAIG: Yeah, but you take that risk. You know, I turned the role down kind of famously, I suppose - or infamously - because I was worried about that exact thing. But, you know, I mean, I then thought it through and thought, well, actually, there are worse things than to be typecast as that character.
FADEL: I mean, not terrible.
CRAIG: It's not terrible, no. So I couldn't have done something like this when I was doing Bond. It would've been too self-conscious. And I'm not doing it anymore, and this came along, and it was a very easy decision.
FADEL: Daniel Craig plays William Lee in the new movie "Queer." Luca Guadagnino is the director of the movie. Thank you both so much for your time and congratulations.
GUADAGNINO: Thank you.
CRAIG: Thank you so much.
(SOUNDBITE OF JON DRYDEN'S "ALL APOLOGIES") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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