Stranger by the Lake is a menacing and erotic thriller from French director Alain Guiraudie that’s so graphic it comes with a warning from the British Board of Film Classification.
Make no mistake, Stranger by the Lake is sure to get hearts racing.
Brooding and morose to an extent, Stranger by the Lake also has real licks of dark humour throughout.
Set in the picturesque pine covered woods of rural France, the film follows a beautiful but naive Franck (Pierre Deladonchamps), who’s enthralled by a dangerous man he meets by the Lake (Christophe Paou).
The story itself starts slow, sensual and almost lackadaisical.
However as the film progresses just a little further a very real dark undercurrent emerges and continues to tentatively bubble throughout the feature, ever more foreboding as the story goes on.
Stranger by the Lake features a good dose of graphic-gay sex, so much so the BBFC report warns of “strong, real sex”, and it certainly doesn’t disappoint on that front.
The film is unashamed and explicit in its homoeroticism. Nudity is common place and the tussles in the bushels definitely have the potential to make people uncomfortable.
That said the sex scenes although intense, do not take away from the film in any way, or feel out of place.
With a stunning backdrop of the French mountains, the cinematography of the film is beautiful, and brings this story to life.
The sound is simplistic yet rigorously executed, no music features throughout and tension is built superbly by the natural sounds by the lake.
The lapping of the waves, noises from the birds and insects and the wind blowing through the trees really give this film a naturalistic kick.
The sub plot of the friendship between Franck and his portly lakeside companion Henri (Patrick d’Assumçao) in many ways drives the film.
Their honest and touching dialogue regarding the loneliness of casual meetings and the nuances between intimacy and sex definitely enriches this picture.
Although slow paced and repetitive in parts, Stranger by the Lake holds your attention, pulling you in closer as the tale of the two men reaches a climax.
Overall Guiraudie’s latest offering can be considered a success: a dark yet amusing piece focused on a part of life often unexplored in cinema.
The film plays with the themes of death and desire, and ends in a way that leaves the watcher aghast, reeling from what they have just witnessed by the lake.
Image courtesy of Strand Releasing, via YouTube, with thanks.
