In Stranger by the Lake, writer/director Alain Guiraudie (The King of Escape) assembles an array of elements deserving of attention: a contained scenario seething with secrets, a confident cast comfortable with confronting material, and a charming setting clouded by murkiness in its midst. All are established and executed with precision, combining to create a meticulous, mesmerising mystery; however, all owe their success to helmer’s exceptional ability to evoke the requisite atmosphere.
Though Guiraudie excels in every aspect of his deservedly award-winning feature, it is the haunting ambience of the film that proves his pièce de résistance. Even as the opening shots sparkle with the swish and sway of the titular body of water, there is no mistaking the illusory nature of the peace and idyll presented, nor the unrelenting eeriness that emanates from the calm. As the film allows the darkness to materialise from mere suggestion to unmistakable eventuality, uncertainty still reigns supreme, ensuring the audience is always alert to the trouble lurking beneath the picturesque surface.
The film’s central character, the young, handsome Franck (Pierre Deladonchamps, French TV’s L’amour en jeu), experiences the simmering unease along with the audience. At first, he is drawn in by the pursuit of sex in the relaxing locale; soon, his basic needs are complicated by festering doubts. Each day he returns, swimming, chatting, and cruising his fellow bathers. He strikes up a friendship with Henri (Patrick d’Assumçao, Coursier), who sits on the edges watching but never interacting. He finds fascination in the alluring Michel (Christophe Paou, The Chef), hoping for a relationship to follow. Then he witnesses the subversion of the seemingly safe space, becoming immersed not only in the associated police investigation, but in the unravelling of his own emotions and motivations.
Guiraudie masterfully doles out the details, crafting a thriller on both narrative and thematic levels. The helmer keeps his tale tight, tense, simple and even somewhat slight as his protagonist seeks a connection only to be conflicted over its repercussions; though twist and turns propel the story, it is the actions, reactions, intentions and reasoning that elicit suspense. Spartanly, he uses everything at his disposal, from the four places of interest that allow different aspects to play out, to the desired and consummated physicality that jolts with its explicit intimacy, to the precise, perceptive imagery lensed by cinematographer Claire Mathon (Angel & Tony). Though the movie’s psychological focus is far from hidden in the dialogue, the director’s aesthetic, atmospheric method is always evident; make no mistake, at all times the filmmaker is showing, rather than telling.
Calculated performances complete what is, at heart, a complex and considered contemplation of human nature – of our wants and the corresponding whys, even when both defy logic. Surrounded by many other barely-clad men but always monopolising attention, the principal trio prove willing accomplices in Guiraudie’s enigmatic quest to understand lust and love. Steeped in the yearning that accompanies eroticism, d’Assumçao channels the quiet distress, and Paou embodies the ever-present danger; however it is Deladonchamps, flitting between both extremes with finesse and feeling, who perfects Stranger by the Lake’s pervasive mood of melancholy.
Rating: 4 ½ stars out of 5
Stranger by the Lake (L’inconnu du lac)
Director: Alain Guiraudie
France, 2013, 97 mins
Queer Screen Film Fest
queerscreen.org.au
19 – 22 September
In general release: 17 October
Distributor: Madman
Actors:
Director:
Format:
Country:
Release:
