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‘Drunken Noodles’ Review: A Breezy, Summery Ode to Casual Sex and Embroidered Erotica
Lucio Castro's playful miniature 'Drunken Noodles' is both well-observed and effortlessly sexy in showing how modern queer men meet and mate.
Following the ambitious genre experiment of “After This Death” — premiered only months ago at the Berlinale — Castro’s third feature returns him to the woozy, sensuous territory of his 2019 debut “End of the Century.” This is a slighter, more mischievous work, however, as befits a story less concerned with long-term existential inquiries than with brief carnal encounters: The Argentine director’s warm, nonjudgmental gaze on youthful, libidinous play is a bracing asset in what continues to be a markedly sexless era even for arthouse and LGBT cinema. With his on-trend mustache and just-oversized-enough wardrobe, he looks the part of a practised urban hipster, perfectly accessorized with a job as an intern at a hole-in-the-wall Williamsburg gallery — but there’s a faintly anxious naiveté to him that draws in other men, of various ages and types, over the course of three chapters sequenced in reverse chronological order. One slyly witty scene sees Adnan sharing with his amused partner a perverse memory of inchoate childhood sexuality: the first secret of many in a sex life storied with passing, private encounters, collected and cultivated by our hero even as he pursues an open, loving relationship.
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