“Stranger
By The Lake” is forever going to be infamous for its unsimulated homosexual sex
scenes, which really is a shame, because these actually happen to be the least
interesting aspect of the whole film.
Due to the aforementioned scenes, I will admit that I wasn’t sure I
wanted to watch “Stranger By The Lake” but decided that the fact that these
scenes scared me was reason enough to see the film and I am glad that I did
because I found it to be a good little film about human interactions.
Set on
an unnamed lake where gay men regularly frequent, in the hope of acquiring
anonymous sex which takes place in the forest located just behind the beach, we
meet Franck, a handsome young man who currently is unlucky in love. He has just started coming back regularly to
this nude beach after a prolonged absence and he seems to be more interested in
finding love then most of the men who come to this beach. One day while swimming in the lake, Franck
notices a man who regularly sits further down from the beach and is always by
himself and he decides to introduce himself.
The man is Henri, and after a brief discussion with Franck, we find out
that he is a heterosexual man who has just divorced his long-time partner. When quizzed on why he likes sitting so close
to a beach that is an infamous hunting ground for homosexuals, he casually
replies that he likes the solitude. From
this brief conversation, a beautiful plutonic relationship is formed between
these two men as they regularly see each other and engage in conversation. Meanwhile, Franck is involved in another
relationship altogether on the beach, as he finds himself falling in love with
the very dangerous Michel. The reason
why Michel is so dangerous is because we know that earlier in the film he
drowned his previous lover, but Franck also knows this as he was the only
witness to the crime (unbeknownst to Michel) and yet he still pursues a
relationship with him. However when the
dead body finally surfaces and the police start digging around for clues,
Michel starts to become edgy and even more dangerous as Franck finds himself in
a relationship he may want to get out of sooner rather than later, or he may
find himself as Michel’s next victim.
I
initially felt that this film was going to be too much for me, with all of the
constant full frontal male nudity and graphic sex scenes, but surprisingly I
really liked “Stranger By The Lake”. The
strongest element of the film was the friendship between Franck and Henri
because it was a relationship where no one wanted anything from the other
except conversation and it really became quite beautiful. Henri is obviously a very sad and lonely
figure, but he is a man who also does not make judgments. He knows that most of the men at the lake are
only there for sex and yet, it does not bother him. He accepts people for who they are and
nothing else. There is a lovely moment
near the end of the film when he tells Franck that he gets excited just
thinking about having a conversation with him, so excited that his heart beats
so fast as if in love. Franck smiles and
confirms he has the same non-romantic feeling for Henri too.
This is
another film that is superbly acted with a standout performance from leading
man Pierre Deladonchamps as Franck. He
portrays this man as one who is desperate to make a connection in this world
with someone and in doing so finds himself in trouble with the wrong man,
whilst at the same time forging a true friendship with the most unlikely person
he would have suspected. Deladonchamps
gives Franck a calm presence, he is a quiet man and respectful to everyone. It appears that he is afraid of conflict and
at times, it seems that he may have a death wish. As I highlighted above, his scenes with
Patrick d’Assumcao (who plays Henri) are the standout of the film, with the
casual conversations between the two men feeling totally realistic.
Meanwhile
Christophe Paou gives an absolutely sinister performance as Michel; he is so
unlikable from the outset that it baffles me why Franck would ever be attracted
to the man. He is at times sleazy, is
always jealous, and expects Franck to play by certain rules that he himself
refuses to play by. The fact that he is
also a murderer doesn’t help his cause particularly late in the film when he
starts to get edgier because of the police influence around him.
“Stranger
By The Lake” is a beautiful looking film which is mainly due to the lake in the
title. Director Alain Guiraudie gets the
most out of his location and makes it look stunning on screen. The entire film actually takes place in the
confines of the lake and the forest behind the lake’s beach (as well as the
beach’s car park) where all of the sexual activity takes place. It is well known that “Stranger By The Lake”
has unsimulated sex scenes in it, but these really only consist of a couple of
scenes of fellatio, some masturbation and one scene of ejaculation. While I was not offended by these scenes, I
do wonder why they were necessary. It
would have been just as simple to simulate these moments and not lose anything
in regards to the story in the process.
In fact, I think that the inclusion of these moments works against the
film, mainly because the film will not be able to be shown in as many places
which is a shame as it is quite a good film.
Due to
the quiet and controlled nature of the film, the thriller aspects of it seem to
be more subdued than they would normally be, and as a result are not as strong
as the human interactions. That said,
there is a fantastic suspense sequence midway through the film when Michel
calls out to Franck to come swimming in the lake. Knowing that Michel drowned his previous
lover in the exact same place, Franck tentatively swims out unknowing whether
or not it is for the final time. It is
the one time in the film that generates true suspense. Even at the end of the film when there are a
couple of scenes of violence, these scenes come out of nowhere rather than
being built up by suspense. As well as
the thriller elements, “Stranger By The Lake” is also consistently funny at
times, with a recurring joke about the guy masturbating in the forest and the
hilarious police inspector who appears to have walked off of a “Pink Panther”
film.
Overall,
I was surprised just how much I enjoyed “Stranger By The Lake”, as it turned
out to be a pretty great film. No doubt
it is a confronting film with all of the nudity and graphic sexual scenes, but
it is the human interactions that come across as so genuine that makes the film
as good as it is. While the thriller
elements do not necessarily work as well due to the subdued atmosphere of the
film, at the end of the day “Stranger By The Lake” is well worth seeing.
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