20. Querelle (1982)

What? — Querelle, a bare-chested hunk of a sailor with a wandering gaze, is a lonely soul “caught in the world of the living” and “pursuing his own destiny as the very hero of the contemptuous,” as told with dramatic inflection by the voice-of-God-like narrator. Director Rainer Werner Fassbinder uses this technique to incorporate some of writer Jean Genet's prose into the film, which is based on Genet's 1947 novel, Querelle de Brest.

Querelle has the kind of magnetic appeal that naturally lures strangers into his private sphere, although he appears fairly narcissistic and unconcerned with most who cross his path. Such is the case with his commanding officer, whose infatuation with Querelle turns into voyeuristic obsession. He watches the sailor at a distance while recording audio logs of his innermost desires.

After seducing and then killing his drug-smuggling partner in crime, Querelle spends much of his downtime at the Hotel Feria Bar, a brothel merely steps away from where the sailors' ship is docked. Hotel Feria is a discreet haven for men wanting to explore their aggressive sexual fantasies.

As his sexual encounters pile up, Querelle becomes more comfortable with acknowledging his feelings for other men, although frequent bouts of machismo limit the intimacy he shares with them. First there's Nono, a beefy, leather-clad ex-prison guard responsible for Querelle's sexual awakening; then, along comes another murderer, who develops a strong bond with the sailor. Will Querelle surrender to love and become a vulnerable sap, or will the town's notoriously lethal object of desire come out of “the game” emotionally untarnished?

Why? — German wunderkind Rainer Werner Fassbinder's final film before his fatal drug overdose, Querelle confronts the homoeroticism that exists in everyday life by having each character wrestle with his own sexual demons. The only outlet for male love in the morally bankrupt world of Querelle is violence. Homosexual feelings are expressed as an internal tug-of-war, resulting in repressed feelings that erupt in aggressive behaviour and exaggerated machismo. For instance, although Querelle might let the other boys screw him for play, he insists there should be no mistaking him for a fairy.

The film appears to have been too provocative for many critics, who lambasted its brazen cast of masons, sailors, police officers and bearded daddies, along with their conflicted manifestations of desire through both affection and brutality. The highly stylized Querelle is not for everyone: The flashy sets; a striking, sepia-tinged, moody lighting; the actors' intentionally flat delivery; the self-destructive characters; and an overall, surreal feel make it difficult viewing, but definitely not a waste of time.

Almost Made the Cut: Un chant d'amour (Jean Genet, 1950)

Having influenced the work of many filmmakers on this list, Jean Genet's only film was a sexually explicit, black-and-white, silent short about a voyeuristic lust triangle set in a prison. Two inmates separated by a brick wall express their love for one another and carry out their erotic fantasies by blowing smoke into a tiny fissure with a straw. The warden satisfies his sexual urges by observing the men in their confined cells, but soon becomes jealous and goes from passive observer to active participant. The film is a sensuous, fetishistic, artistic treasure that was censored for far too long.

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