DROWN ME, MON AMOUR
Slow burning Stranger By The Lake is French arthouse cinema at its most intense, writes Marc Andrews, a sexy and unsettling day-noir thriller.
The art of the French movie is very different to that of the Hollywood blockbuster. Few, if any, car chases, car crashes, or 3D glasses are required. In their place is a story that thrives on subtlety and nuance. It’s not for those who are easily bored or suffer from ADHD, but if you are able to watch a story unfold in its own time, while drinking in some beautiful cinematography (not to mention a stray penis or three), then bienvenue!
Winner of 2013’s Queer Palm at Cannes, Stranger By The Lake (known in French as L’Inconnu du Lac) is cinéma vérité at its finest (if you like this sort of thing) and its worst (if you prefer multiplex rom-coms or action fests). Languid, foreboding and with a real sense of longing, the movie seems a trifle until something sinister, and totally unexpected, happens.
Shot at the man-made lake of SainteCroix in Provence, this scenic spot is almost the star of the movie itself. Franck (Pierre Deladonchamps in the role that won him a César for Most Promising Actor) is addicted to visiting the lake in summer. Basically he likes to go there, take off his swimming trunks, have a nice long swim and then cruise for sex in the bushes for hours afterwards. He becomes friendly with an unattractive older man, Henri (Patrick d’Assumçao), who never takes his shirt or shorts off. He tells Franck that he comes to the lake because he “likes the peace”. The view, especially in the bushes, doesn’t hurt either.
One day at the lake, Franck spots hunky Michel (Christophe Paou) who looks like he might have stepped out of a 1970s gay porn movie with his generous masculine moustache and sexy, tanned body. Franck is instantly drawn to him, but pulls back when he sees Michel getting friendly with another guy. Later that same day, Franck is cruising in the bushes when he sees Michel and the guy playing out in the water alone. From this surreptitious vantage point, he watches as Michel deliberately drowns the other man and swims off. Not knowing quite what to do with this information, Franck goes home… and then returns to the lake again the next day.
In spite of himself, Franck can’t help but be drawn to the swaggering, sexy newbie at the lake and before too long the two hook up. This all puts Franck into a moral dilemma – he likes Michel but he knows too much about him, especially the murdering stuff.
Franck confides in Henri but Henri tells him that he finds Michel “weird”. Franck doesn’t think too much of this before he and Michel head into the bushes for some rather full-on cocksucking and ass licking, with even a fullon cum shot. If this had been anything other than a French arthouse movie, it would clearly have been considered porn.
After the body is discovered, police arrive on the scene and it appears that everyone who goes to the lake is a potential murder suspect. The inspector in charge reveals that the death was not accidental and begins asking lots of pesky questions of the regulars. Franck plays dumb after Michel tells him: “I need discretion”. But when Franck finally questions his lover about the victim, he realises there may be more danger.
“Aren’t you upset a little that the guy is dead?” he asks. “No, I won’t miss him,” comes the blunt reply. Soon after, when Michel invites Franck to go for a swim in the lake he wisely declines, saying, “You go, I’ll watch”. What happens next turns the movie on its head as it becomes a terse, twisted and terrifying thriller.
Stranger By The Lake is a minor French masterpiece. Having said that, my boyfriend fell asleep watching it with me, so it’s not to everyone’s taste. The sex scenes were actually performed by doubles, although there is so much nudity in this movie that you do get to see all the lead actors’ dangly bits, not to mention tight butts, many times over.
Calling this movie an elegant thriller goes some way to describing it, but it’s much more of a mind fuck. Is Franck so enthralled with Michel that he’s willing to look the other way – even if his lover may actually be a homophobic serial killer as the police inspector has just warned him about?
If you’ve had enough of overblown car chases and silly rom-coms, Stranger By The Lake is just the antidote, and a smoldering French one at that. more: Stranger By The Lake is released on DVD/Blu-Ray through Madman.