Lysiane's husband Nono works behind the bar and also manages La Feria's illicit affairs with the assistance of his friend Mario, the corrupt police captain.

When Nono gloats about Querelle's "loss" to Robert, who won his dice game, the brothers end up in a violent fight.

Back on the ship we discover a builder, Gil, murders his work mate Theo, who had been harassing and sexually assaulting him.

According to Genet's biographer Edmund White, Querelle was originally going to be made by Werner Schroeter, with a scenario by Burkhard Driest, and produced by Dieter Schidor.

However, Schidor could not find the money to finance a film by Schroeter, and therefore turned to other directors, including John Schlesinger and Sam Peckinpah, before finally settling on Fassbinder.

Besides costume design and hair styles, actors were posed in silhouettes and scenarios common to Tom Of Finland artwork.

"The director Rainer Werner Fassbinder took obvious cues from Tom of Finland in his 1982 film adaptation of Jean Genet’s novel Querelle.

[4] Writing for The New York Times critic Vincent Canby noted that Querelle was "a mess...a detour that leads to a dead end.

"[5] Penny Ashbrook calls Querelle Fassbinder's "perfect epitaph: an intensely personal statement that is the most uncompromising portrayal of gay male sensibility to come from a major filmmaker.