Discover Luca Guadagnino: The Beloved Director Behind “Call Me by Your Name”

Through his lens, Luca Guadagnino captures the ineffable. In 2017, he introduced Timothée Chalamet in the passionate “Call Me by Your Name”. The film earned Chalamet his first Oscar nomination and quickly became a modern classic. Since then, the Franco-American actor’s career has soared to great heights.

From emerging talents to established stars like Zendaya and, more recently, Julia Roberts, the Italian director has charmed everyone. Despite his few commercial hits, many are eager to collaborate with him. With each film, Guadagnino explores new cinematic languages, delving into identity, desire, its perils, and resonates with a new, connected generation of moviegoers.

In “Queer”, he casts former James Bond, Daniel Craig, in an unconventional role. Craig portrays William Lee, the literary alter ego of author William S. Burroughs, a gay alcoholic obsessed with the beauty of a young man, Eugene Allerton, played by Drew Starkey, a rising star from the Netflix series, Outer Banks. The film oscillates between psychedelic drama and provocative fable, marking Guadagnino’s most radical and sensitive work to date.

AlloCiné:Queer is described as a “passion project”. You discovered William S. Burroughs’s book at age 17.

Luca Guadagnino, director: I read the book back in 1988 while living in Palermo and dreaming of becoming a filmmaker. I was making numerous short films with my Super 8 camera, dreaming of recreating “Suspiria” [which he eventually did in 2018] among other projects, some of which might still come to fruition.

I devoured the book, probably because the translated title, “Diverso”, and Burroughs’s name were very evocative to me. Sometimes, you see the shape of something like this table [he points to the table in front of him], and it reminds you of something else. The name Burroughs found me. I was captured by the book. Reading it, I felt it matched what I wanted to see on screen and what I wanted to bring to it. I’ve harbored a passion for this book ever since.

Did you ever consider using your own screenplay adaptation from that time?

No. Among the talents I believe I possess, writing like a top-tier screenwriter like Justin Kuritzkes is not one of them. I know my limits.

More than a love story, Queer is essentially about human connection. It’s interesting to see this film now because, more than ever, it’s hard to connect with others, especially for the younger generation.

Personally, I’ve experienced the discomfort of meeting others. People are terrified of allowing someone else into their space. I’m not sure if it’s just now, or just your generation, or if it’s because of social media destroying connections.

I think it’s a fundamental part of our experience with others. We’re afraid of people. When we let go of that fear, the best can happen, provided we accept others in their differences and find common ground. I’m not sure if the film achieves this, but it attempts to use the language of cinema to describe this experience.

My role is to ensure that every actor understands that they can delve deep, explore, and engage fully with themselves.

The film was shot in a studio. The sets are completely artificial and reminiscent of those in Querelle, the classic by Rainer Werner Fassbinder. You filmed in the renowned Cinecittà studios in Italy. Other great names have walked that ground. How did you experience it?

Beyond the fact that some great movies I love, like “Le Mépris”, were shot there, I wasn’t fascinated. Unfortunately, after many years and decades, you feel the devaluation of that place. I believe the past is something to be observed and studied, not nostalgically indulged.

The real thrill for me was seeing our set come to life in that studio, thanks to an architect, Stefano Baisi, who had never worked on a film before. We built a hill with a jungle. I knew he could do an amazing job.

Daniel Craig and Drew Starkey’s performances are remarkable. How did you create a safe environment for them, especially during the sex scenes?

Firstly, I don’t make people comfortable when they have to shoot sex scenes. I ensure they feel they are in a place where they can give their best through their work. My role as a director is to help each actor realize that they can deliver, explore, and engage deeply with themselves, whether they are talking, drinking, running, or making love.

The idea of safety, of security, is a very American, Anglo-Saxon concept. Of course, a big film shot in 2023 with a company like Fremantle is managed with absolute professionalism. All my films have been like that. It’s not about safety. It’s about being.

Understanding how a work environment functions and how everyone must be put in the best conditions possible. From there, we can create a dangerous image. The image is dangerous, but the process should not be.

In an interview, you mentioned that Queer mainly addresses the new generation. Many young people love and identify with your films. Are you aware of this?

Recently, there was a screening at Pathé Convention in Paris, and indeed, there were many young people there. It was incredible to see. That people come out to see my film is a strange sensation that I can’t quite explain. I feel presumptuous assuming this interest in my cinema is a given. When it happens, it’s deeply moving for me.

Throughout my life, especially when I was very young, I was told that cinema was dead. And that’s not true. We must find a way to ensure cinema continues, and in these cinephiles, even the new ones, I see a lot of passion, curiosity, and interest.

Queer is not an American film; it’s an international production. But you’ve made a Hollywood film before this, Challengers. Do you feel that the era we’re entering, where there’s a real pullback on many issues, will complicate your ability to make films as you currently do?

I’ve been incredibly lucky and blessed to have been able to do exactly what I wanted to do throughout my career and life. Whether it’s a small production or a mega-enterprise like MGM, I’ve always been in control of what I was doing. I’ve found pleasure not in compromise, but in conversation with people.

Am I one of those directors who churn out huge box office hits? Not really. And yet, I am able to work with these extraordinary actors and make films that I truly want to make for the sheer joy of making them and for no other reason. So, I am very fortunate.

This also means that the industry is not this dark, gigantic entity that wants to destroy artists. I disagree with that. The opportunities I’ve had, on both sides of the Atlantic, demonstrate that this industry is as much about prototypes as it is about copies.

The most important thing is to be heard and to know how to speak to others. Céleste Albaret, Marcel Proust’s housekeeper, once told him: “Mr. Proust, I read an excerpt from Sodome et Gomorrhe and I am scandalized!” And he replied: “There is nothing that cannot be said. It all depends on how you say it. And I think there is no one you cannot talk to. It all depends on how you talk to them.””

Queer by Luca Guadagnino, now in theaters