I saw this in the theater when it was first released and it remains my favorite Fassbinder film. I frequently find Fassbinder quite preachy, but with Querelle, he just lets the action unfold like a contagious disease infecting the viewer's mind with its rapturous toxins. If the director had tried to turn Genet's "novel" into a linear story, it would have been a disaster. Instead, it's a bizarre mishmash of voice-over narration, written narration and strange, almost ritualized acting. And it's far more erotically charged than any porn film. The visuals, particularly Brad Davis, are so superbly composed that nothing else really matters. Except, of course, Jeanne Moreau singing "Each Man Kills The Thing He Loves". Fassbinder makes a compelling argument that sex and violence go together as well as cake and ice cream. If you don't love perversion for its own sake, this won't be the film for you.
