Stranger By The Lake / L’inconnu du lac
[kkstarratings]
Director: Alain Guiraudie
Cast: Pierre Deladonchamps, Christophe Paou, Patrick d’Assumçao
Length: 97 minutes
Country: France
Over the course of the past year, cinema has seen a rise in sexually explicit films that are not afraid to showcase the authenticity and normality surrounding the nature of sex and sexuality. Last year alone, a number of art-house films featuring graphic bedroom action stormed festivals around the world, from Travis Mathews’ I Want Your Love, a tale of gay men in San Francisco featuring unsimulated sex between the stars themselves, to Ulrich Seidl’s Paradise: Love, which unflinchingly chronicled a middle-aged woman’s sex tourism in Kenya. More recently, however, was the controversial Palme d’Or winner, Blue is the Warmest Colour, whose extended sequences of lesbian love-making felt no less intimate for the use of fake genitalia, and gained further controversy by the fact the stars themselves felt that the entire experience was “horrible” leading people to question the use of unsimulated sex in narrative cinema.
However, this weekend sees the release of not one but two art-house films featuring copious amounts of graphic sex and full-frontal nudity (both feature body doubles from the porn industry to stand in for the close-ups) that seems to be part of a new wave of sexually candid cinema. Lars Von Trier’s latest, the two-volume shagnum opus Nymphomaniac, is to be released this Saturday. It has already gained notoriety in its depiction of sex and sexuality, and is set out to be one of the most controversial films of 2014.
The day before sees the release of French writer-director Alain Guiraudie’s Stranger By The Lake, a sexy and tantalising fable of desire and danger which sees Franck (Pierre Deladonchamps), a young and handsome gay man, spending his summer at a secluded beach: a cruising spot for homosexuals. Men gather to lay naked, go skinny-dipping, and generally ‘advertise’ their wares in order to lure other men into the nearby woods for some X-rated fun.
the idea that a 15-foot catfish supposedly lurks in the lake makes for a unique parable on modern-day social media
Throughout his days spent at the beach, Franck comes into contact with a variety of male individuals, including, the older Henri (Patrick D’Assumçao), who is not interested in sex, nor has he ever entered the water for fear of the 15-foot catfish rumoured to lurk beneath the surface; an exhibitionist, who vigorously masturbates near the copulating couples but never actually participates in the acts themselves; and, another participant who insists on the usage of condoms. Franck, however, never seems to draw the line: he swims where the water is deepest, he is open to unprotected sex and his attraction to the moustachioed Michel (Christophe Paou) seems to increase after witnessing him murder his lover in the lake, which is caught in a beautifully composed single-take. When Franck decides to keep his eyewitness a secret from the beady detective (Jérôme Chappatte), tension intensifies. And so does the air of ambiguity.
At this point, Guiraudie is free to shift his emphasis from plot to themes: desire and danger, voyeurism and secrecy. Anyone who wants clear answers from a film should refrain from purchasing a ticket, as meanings here are elusive. Guiraudie’s film is multi-layered and complex; and could be interpreted in a variety of ways. Personally, the idea that a 15-foot catfish supposedly lurks in the lake makes for a unique parable on modern-day social media and how online communities are in the midst of constant voyeurism and lack of privacy; the notion that we are metaphorically naked and on display for the entire online world to view, despite the fact that there is limited-to-no references of actual social media or technology in the film.
Whilst, Stranger By The Lake is very confronting in it’s display of sexuality, it is also, much like the aforementioned films, an integral part of the narrative. It’s disregard for ‘safe sex’ brings me to the layer of the film that is most argued as a potential meaning for its ambiguity, and that is of the ‘HIV/Aids’ allegory at its heart. With a detective spouting lines such as: ”It could be that there is a gay killer in the area, do something before it is done to you…” or the discussions about ‘protection’ that are part of some pre-coital activity in the woods, the allegory manages to be effectively integrated into the plot without stifling the films unique sensibility.
Moreover, the camerawork is often static and captures events through the use of long takes; whilst, the cinematography is beautifully composed to create a sensual and erotic atmosphere that immediately absorbs the viewer into the narrative world and never lets you leave until the closing credits. SBTL is utterly enthralling and perplexing, a must see.
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