What a mess!

Having finally seen "Midnight Express", I thought I might investigate some of Brad Davis' other films and, while "Querelle" does seem to have attracted a lot of negative reviews, I thought it sounded intriguing and ordered the DVD... Sadly, I can't really think of anything positive to say about it... The sound quality was dreadful. Though, I'll be generous and assume that's due to a dodgy transfer to DVD, rather than an issue with the original film... The sets look cheap and as if they were built for some second rate '50s musical and, rather than being moody, the constant tangerine glow just annoys... I don't know the original novel. But, the translation into an English-language script was very badly done - clunky and inconsistent, with American slang from several different eras and even some British slang... And, as for the acting... Some seem to single out Mr Davis for acting badly in this. But, I thought everyone was equally poor, which, considering the usually excellent Jeanne Moreau is in it, is an odd thing to find oneself saying... Many were, of course, working in a language in which they may not have been 100% comfortable and, with a script that poor, there wasn't really much point in putting in a great deal of effort... Many seem to suggest that it was this film that prevented Mr Davis from becoming a much bigger name... If that's true, it's a real shame... I can only imagine that he - and everyone else involved - presumed the end result would be considerably better than it is.